By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
OXFORD — Powerlifters took over Oxford Middle School for the O-Town Showdown, Jan. 20.
Forty-eight student-athletes from the Oxford Powerlifting team competed in the meet.
“They did exceptionally well,” said Carol Carpenter, head coach. “It’s exciting to have 48 of your kids, most of them have never even seen a powerlifting meet, to be ready and excited. I think the biggest thing was it was at home. We often travel quite far to go to these meets so to be able to compete in front of their classmates and parents who are right here definitely gave them the courage to compete for the first time which was nice.”
She added they are in a good spot, considering this is the second year for the program.
One of the highlights from the day was having two lifters take the first and second places in the women’s varsity 105 weight class with Raquel Gayten in first place and Noelle Schwab in second place.
“We took the top two spots in the smallest weight class which is pretty exciting,” Carpenter said. “Then, we had a lot of kids who hit personal records at their very first meet which is really cool, too. We had a seventh grader, Lana Rosseel, qualify for the JV state meet – that’s the youngest you can be to compete. She competes against other kids in high school, just on her weight class.
For men’s varsity, ten placed in the top ten in their respective weight classes. In the 123 weight class, Evan Jergler finished in fourth place with a combined total from squat, bench and dead lift of 665; Josh McDonald, fifth, 660; in 145 weight class, Jake Bunting, ninth, 790; in 165-weight class, Michael Hung, second, 1,075 pounds; Ethan Kussner, fourth, 960 pounds; in 181-weight class, Tommy Bremer, sixth, 925; in 194-weight class, George Acosta, ninth, 995; in 207 weight class, Ethan Roberts, ninth, 720; in 220 weight class, Kylan Pociask, third, 1,055; and in 245 weight class, Dominic Fazzari, tenth, 875.
For men’s JV, six placed in the top ten. In the 114 weight class, Christian Labelle finished in second place with a total weight of 485; in 132 weight class, Connor Vanhulle, eighth, 450; in 155 weight class, Ryan Cicero, second, 740; Dalton Werner, seventh, 550; Thad Firment, eighth, 475; and in 275 weight class, Alex Jadwin, third, 675.
For women’s varsity, seven placed in their respective weight classes. In the 105 weight class, Gayten finished in first place with a combined weight of 430; Schwab, second, 395; in 123 weight class, Kayla Kipp, second, 535; in 132 weight class, Dee Dee Hernandez, fifth, 470; in 140 weight class, McKayla Sedlock, fifth, 625; in 155 weight class, Savannah Bailey, fifth, 530; and in 181 weight class, Jenna Bauer, third, 625.
For women’s JV, five placed in the top ten in their respective weight classes. In 144 weight class, Tamsyn Bochenek finished in third place with a combined total of 325; Anna Burgess, fourth, 270; in 123 weight class, Riley McCann, fourth, 405; and in 155 weight class, Lana Rosseel, second, 475; and Jada Novak, third, 435.
The powerlifting team has 75 members.
“It’s huge for a team in their second year,” Carpenter shared. “There are teams that have been around for 10 years that have 20 kids on it. We had about 35-40 last year and it over it pretty much doubled in the second year so we’re considered one of the larger powerlifting teams. There are areas of the state where the teams are very big. Lake Orion they’re over 150, close to 200 lifters. We’re catching them, but they’ve been around 19 years.”
“A handful of our varsity kids are in the current top 22 which if they stay there by the end of regional play, which is at the end of February, they’ll also be invited to the varsity state meet.”
The Wildcats compete in Troy on Saturday, Feb. 10. They have a state meet for JV at Croswell-Lexington and a state meet for varsity at Lake Orion, which they are excited to be right down the road.
Carpenter added it’s a great group and a great sport.
“Powerlifting is a sport where anybody can compete,” she said. “Nobody gets cut and it’s very cool. It’s really fun to watch these kids who all of a sudden they’re winning. It’s just awesome.”