On Saturday, nearly 100 athletes are scheduled to hit the Madison High School auditorium stage to take part in the 32nd annual South Dakota State Powerlifting Meet.
The meet is co-ed and will feature lifters from Madison, Sioux Falls O'Gorman, Watertown, Dell Rapids, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Brandon Valley and several schools around the state.
Madison Coach Tom Milne is looking forward to seeing his 40-plus athletes lift in the state championships.
"It's a great sport. You know where the kids are at because you are working with them for 12 or more weeks. You know where their maxes are at," Milne said.
Boys are divided into nine weight classes -- 114, 123, 132, 148, 165, 181, 198, 220 and heavyweight.
The girl lifters all compete together in one class and the winner is decided by who has the most weight lifted over their total body weight.
Each lifter has three attempts to lift as much weight as possible in the squat, bench and dead lift. The individual with the most weight lifted will be named the winner.
"The biggest thing in powerlifting is that the kids don't start too high on their first lift," said Milne. "The kids get three attempts for each lift, and you want to increase your weight each lift. Once you announce your original weight, you can go up, but you can't go down. So it's important to start at a good opening weight."
For junior Derek Mogck, who placed second in the O'Gorman Powerlifting Invitational on Feb. 6, his goal to lift more than he did earlier this season.
"My goal is to lift more than 1,025. It was a good score, but I can do better," he said.
Mogck's additional goal in his 181-weight class is to increase his weight each lift.
"I didn't get all my three sets, so that would be cool to do at state. Getting 480 in squat would be a good goal, too," said Mogck. "It's more of a mental thing than a physical one."
Sophomore Mathew Hoadley, who was named "Outstanding Young Lifter" at the O'Gorman meet for his third-place showing at 165 pounds, is anxious to see where he ranks against the state's best.
"As a freshman I got fifth, and three graduating seniors are no longer lifting, so it might be really close. Lifting has been pretty great," he said.
Mogck and Hoadley, along with the other Madison lifters, will have the home field advantage.
"When you go to O'Gorman, all the weights feel way different. Our equipment is really nice, and the equipment feels just right when you're competing," said Hoadley.
Competing at home, Madison has had a history of strong girl lifters in recent years -- Brooke Postma, Brittany Postma, Laura Niedert, Marti Schoeberl and Randi Hackett, among others.
Lady Dog Malorie McCarthy will attempt to dethrone Dawn Williams of Sioux Falls O'Gorman on Saturday.
"There's a lot of girls that are very good. I'm going to have to keep my head in it," said McCarthy. "You have to be cocky in your training. And whoever wins the state meet, the girl is going to lift a lot. There's definitely some competition."
Other Lady Dog lifters who are scheduled to appear are Megan Wettlaufer (who Milne expects be to be in the top 5 in state), Brooke Johnson, Samantha Thompson, Danielle Bloom, Ashley Currey, Haley Wire, Rosie Chapin, Lexi Finck, Tiffany Heeren and Lorena Hinton.
Madison boys to watch include Trevor Holbrook, Wyatt Fender, Jon Waba, Leo Farfan, David Langner, Jordan Finck, Cody Cudmore, Aric Olson, Caleb Hawkes, Marcial Solis, Zach Hansen and Tyler Johnson.
Potential MHS athletes also scheduled to compete are Aaron Williams, Tyler Ebsen, Nate Dreeszen, Andrew Nelson-Long, Tyler Page, Matt Goth, Jacob Ricke, Marcus Palli, Chris Gorry, Michael McComish, Cody Breck, Ellis Higley, Ian Thompson, Jacob Jager, Mikael Palli, Brandon Booth, Matt Jensen, Ryan Lovro, Ayson Jones and Austin Thames.
The club sport was brought to Madison by former coach Jerome Garry, who handed off the reigns to Milne.
"The state meet was designed to give athletes something to do in the winter," said Milne, who said the meet has grown throughout the years.
Last year, Madison lifters placed second to team champion O'Gorman. Team points are decided by each school's 10 best lifters, which are determined by the coaches after the state meet is completed. A coach may not select more than two lifters from a given weight class.
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