EDINBURG — Edinburg North ran away with the team title at the Texas High School Powerlifting Association Region V Division I Meet with five first-place finishers Saturday at Edinburg High School.
Christian Gomez (1,495 total), Juan Saenz (1,660 total), Allan Benavides (1,860 total), Dante Ramones (2,055 total) and Maximiliano Zepeda (1,860 total) all claimed regional championships in their respective weight classes, which helped the Cougars post 40 team points. Edinburg Vela placed second as a team with 19 points, and Weslaco East took third with 12.
“We had some unexpected turns at the beginning of the year with getting a brand new coach, and just for everybody to come back and bring 10-11 guys to regionals and possibly to state is insane for our program to do that — to turn around,” Ramones said. “I’m proud of our team. We worked hard, and hopefully we can bring back a state title.”
They were among a group of South Texas powerlifters to punch their tickets to the THSPA state powerlifting meet March 24-25 at the Taylor County Expo Center in Abilene. Divisions II and III will kick off the state meet March 24, followed by Divisions I and IV on March 25.
| Edinburtg North’s Juan Saenz during a RegionV Boys THSPA Powerlifting meet at Edinburg High school gymnasium Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Edinburg,Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
“Sending 10 guys to state is pretty good,” Saenz said.
Powerlifters qualified for the state meet in three ways: finishing in the top two in their respective weight class at the regional meet, reaching the weight class’ automatic qualifying total at the regional meet, or being one of the top two lifters in their respective UIL classification at the regional meet.
Points are awarded for the top five finishes in this manner — 7, 5, 3, 2 and 1. Each lifter goes through three different sets of lifts — squat, bench press and deadlift. The total weight combined from the three lifts determines the winner.
Edinburg Vela’s second-place finish was led by regional champs Justin Chapa in the 114-pound weight class and Marco Diaz in the super heavyweight class.
Diaz broke the regional bench press record with a lift of 565 pounds, topping Laredo United South’s Rudy Flores’ 525 set in 2015. Chapa broke the previous deadlift record of 470 pounds on his last lift of the day, which weighed in at 475 pounds. He scratched on his first attempt of 475 pounds but nailed his final attempt for the record. That added to his 1,195 total pounds from all three lifts, which set a new total record in the 114-pound weight class.
| Edinburg Vela’s Justin Chapa during a RegionV Boys THSPA Powerlifting meet at Edinburg High school gymnasium Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Edinburg,Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
“On the first one, I knew I had it in the bag as soon as it came off the floor. They red-lighted me for completely pulling (the bar) off the ground before I started the lift, so the second attempt, I had so much confidence because if I could do it once, I could do it again,” Chapa said.
Donna North repeated with a regional champion in the 123-pound weight class, but this year it was Deondre Moody who had a dominant day to punch his ticket to state. Moody broke three regional records with a 545-pound squat (previous record 515), 315-pound bench press (previously 285) and a 1,290 total (previously 1,280).
“All the hard work finally paid off. All the work in the summer, it really means something to win,” Moody said. “I feel good about my squat and my bench (records), I really wish I could get that deadlift, though. On very little sleep, it feels good.”
| Donna North’s Deondre Moody during a RegionV Boys THSPA Powerlifting meet at Edinburg High school gymnasium Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Edinburg,Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
Weslaco’s Sergio Lerma set a regional record in 2022 with a total of 1,680 pounds. He pushed himself to top last year’s mark and ended up setting a new regional record at 181 pounds with a 1,735 total, in addition to a new regional high in the deadlift with 675 pounds, five pounds more than the previous record.
“You can always be better, especially better than yourself,” Lerma said. “That’s my biggest thing — most people try to beat other people, but I want to beat myself. I want to be better than I was.”
| Weslaco’s Sergio Lerma during a RegionV Boys THSPA Powerlifting meet at Edinburg High school gymnasium Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Edinburg,Texas. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
McAllen Rowe’s Ryan Creasy won his regional title in the 242-pound weight class with a 650-pound deadlift, which increased his total to 1,760, five pounds ahead of Victoria East’s Ryan Cain’s 1,755. Weslaco East’s Logan Maldonado (1,325 total) finished first at 132 pounds, and La Joya Palmview’s Rey Pecina took first at 198 pounds (1,650 total).
A complete list of Region V state qualifiers from Division I-IV can be found at RGVSports.com.