Pulaski students qualify for World Powerlifting Championships
Cherokee Widner and Ryan Melton. Photo courtesy of J.P. Widner
The 100% RAW Powerlifting Federation 2012 American Challenge National Championships results were posted this past week after nine different regional contests reported.
Pulaski Middle School’s Ryan Melton was declared the National Champion in the 12-13-year-old/165 lb. category, while Cherokee Widner was declared the national runner-up in the 12-13-year-old/114 lb. category. Both Melton and Widner have qualified for the World Powerlifting Championships in Las Vegas in October. The two teenage boys will be playing linebacker for the Pulaski Orioles this fall.
Seven a.m. comes early enough for most middle school students to get up and get ready for school. Many are figuring out what outfit to wear or what to eat on the way out the door. For two rising eighth-grade Pulaski Middle School students, those decisions are made at 6 a.m. five days a week. Within an hour of rising, Ryan Melton and Cherokee Widner are entering the PMS weight room to strength train for the upcoming football season and their next powerlifting meet. Their months of hardwork and dedication paid off on Saturday, June 9 as they competed in the 2012 American Challenge 100% RAW Powerlifting Challenge near Charlottesville.
Melton was competing in his first-ever powerlifting meet and competed in the 165-pound category as a 13-year-old. He established Virginia State records for powerlifting as he benched 148.8 pounds, squatted 176.4 pounds and deadlifted 231.5 pounds for a total of 556.7 pounds. In the final stage of the competition, Melton set a state, national and world record in the strict curl with 66.1 pounds.
Widner, the reigning world record holder in the bench press for 114-pound 13-year-olds, was competing in his third powerlifting contest. Widner benched 137.8 pounds, but missed his two world record breaking attempts after that. Cherokee set a state record in the squat with 137.8 pounds and broke his own state record in the deadlift with a 203.9 snatch. Widner’s powerlifting totals was 479.5 pounds. In the strict curl, he established a state record with a 55.1 lift, barely missing a world record in his final attempt.
“I was very proud of two young men,” said their coach, J.P. Widner. “The hundreds of hours they have dedicated themselves to very strict training all year paid off this past weekend. These athletes are some of the youngest competitors that are performing in front of many spectators and strict judges. They compete in the toughest powerlifting federation in the world, the 100% RAW. Competitors are not allowed to use bench press shirts or knee wraps. The bench press is with a 1-2 second pause on the chest, and the squat must be below a 90 degree angle.”
– Submitted by J.P. Widner
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
