STAFF REPORTS
ABILENE — Brownsville schools recorded four top-five finishes at Saturday’s Texas High School Powerlifting Association state meet at Abilene’s Taylor County Expo Center.
Leading the way for Brownsville in the Division I competition was Rivera’s Justin Garza, who took second place in the 275-pound weight division with a combined lift total of 1,750 pounds in the dead lift, bench press and squat lift.
Edcouch-Elsa’s Jorge Soto won the 275-pound weight division with a lift total of 1,820 pounds and was one of two state champions for the Yellowjackets, who won the Division I team title.
Also for Brownsville, Joel Sanchez of Veterans Memorial was third in the 123-pound weight division and Julio Hernandez of Pace was third in the 275-plus pound weight division.
Brandon Esteves was the top finisher for Hanna as he took fourth place in the 198-pound weight division.
Other lifters at state who placed for Brownsville schools were Rey Salazar of Brownsville Veterans (sixth in 198-pound division), Roman Garay of Hanna (ninth in 165-pound division), Adrien Martinez of Hanna (11th in 242-pound division), Chris Medina of Hanna (11th in 114-pound division) and Jose Porras of Hanna (11th in 165-pound division).
Also from the Metro Area, Los Fresnos’ Sebastian Gonzales was 10th in the 181-pound division.
E-E won the Division I title with 19 points, which included two individual state champions and a second-place finisher. Besides Soto, the other individual winner for E-E was Ricky Ortiz in the 148-pound division.
It was another strong showing at the state meet by the Valley in the final team standings as right behind E-E was second-place Weslaco East (13 points) and third-place Sharyland Pioneer (12 points).
No Brownsville schools finished in the top 10. The best team showing was by Rivera (18th with five points).
The Division I meet included 229 lifters.