North Bay lifters golden in Scarborough

Norsemen club lifter Andrew Holland making 88 kilos in the snatch. Photo submitted.

On Saturday the Ontario Weightlifting Association’s Annual Winterlift contest took place at the Variety Village Sport Complex in Scarborough. Five North Bay male lifters entered the competition, coming away with two golds, one silver, and one bronze medal.

Anrew Uyeda led off the day by posting the top total in the 62 kilo class. The 23 year old Nipissing University Physical Education student did 81 kilos in the snatch and 100 in the clean and jerk for a total of 181. The silver went to Yantin Parasher of St Catherines who finished just one kilo back at 180. Hiro Zhou of the University of Toronto took bronze with a 170 aggregate.

Matt Blanchard of the Canadore Panthers Weightlifting team lifted in the tough 77 kilo division.

Blanchard posted bests of 85 in the snatch and 108 in the clean and jerk for a 193 total and the bronze. The weight class winner was Ian Webb of the Orillia Trojan team, William Lien of Variety Village was the silver medalist.

Ten lifters were entered in the 85 kilo class including Norsemen Club members Glenn Ogletree and Andrew Holland.

Ogletree put on a great display of power; making 109 kilos in the snatch and 139 in the clean and jerk. His total of 248 was the best in the division; Ryan Allan of Orillia was the runner-up with 226. Meanwhile, 17 year old Andrew Holland finished just outside the medals in fourth. Still, the West Ferris Secondary School student broke all his records, making 88 in the snatch and 116 in the clean and jerk for a 204 kilo total.

Veteran lifter Richard Found took the silver in the 94 kilo division.

Found hoisted 110 in the snatch and 138 in the clean and jerk.

The gold medal went to Justin Spencer of the Toronto Weightlifting Club, while Mike Misztal of the Niagara team took bronze.

The next major event on the provincial weightlifting schedule will be the Ontario Seniors in Cornwall on March 31.

To date nine athletes from the North Bay Norsemen and Valkyries have reached the standard to compete.

Submitted to BayToday.ca