HS POWERLIFTING: National Championships set for this weekend in Scranton
Mar. 31—Athletes from Lackawanna Interscholastic Athletic Association schools will be among the more than 200 competing at the Powerlifting America High School National Championships this weekend at The Radisson at Lackawanna Station.
Seventeen members of the Abington Heights team, which is coached by Claude Welcome, along with Lackawanna Trail's Cole Schirg, who is coached by Jim Brown, will be lifting in various weight classes in the bench press, deadlift and squat.
There are 240 total athletes from 30 states competing. Lifting begins with junior varsity on Friday, and varsity on Saturday and Sunday.
There are two sessions, one at 9 a.m. and another at 2 p.m. each day. General admission is $15 for the day and $35 for the weekend and are available at the door.
"I am really looking forward to this," said Steve Mann, the organizer of the event from Pure Powerlifting, LLC. "It is always exciting to bring an event of this size to the area and to give young scholastic athletes the opportunity to compete in a national competition."
Pittston Area, Wyoming Area, Holy Redeemer, Moravian Academy, Jim Thorpe, Southern Lehigh, Delaware County Christian School, JP McCaskey, Dover Powerlifting Club, Parkland, Emmaus, Fox Chapel, Sokol 410 Powerlifting, Shamokin, Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Susquehannock, Whitehall and Episcopal Academy also have athletes competing in the three-day event.
Parkland (Class 6A) won the Pennsylvania State Teenage Powerlifting Big School championship and has state champions Satoshi Rosenblum (130 pounds), AJ Moncman (231 pounds) and Russell Clark (264 pounds) in the meet.
Abington Heights won the medium school (Class 4A-Class 5A) division in the girls competition at the state championships hosted by Parkland High School in February.
Athletes qualify for the national championship by lifting a required total at a number of sanctioned powerlifting meets throughout the season.
Among the top contenders for national titles from Abington Heights are Amelia Gercken (168 pounds), Ayana Rivera (104 pounds), and Geneva Reese (152 pounds). Gercken is a member of Team USA for the IPF World Bench Press Championship that will be held in South Africa in May.
Other lifters from Abington Heights who are contenders are Ava Lawless (152 pounds), Kaylee Mann (185+ pounds), Domenic Peters (145 pounds), Yanni Galanakis (163 pounds), and Brandon Lezinski (265 pounds).
Alivia Lawless, Lindsey James, Mallory Knott, Joseph Flora, Marshal Gordon, Gretchen Reese, James Reese, Colin Knott, Jannaleah Newman, and Jacob Mann will also represent Abington Heights in the meet.
Contact the writer: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9125; @sportsTT on Twitter
