Scholastic Weightlifting Championship

The first ever provincial Scholastic weightlifting championship will be held this Saturday, April 4 in the main gymnasium of the North Bay YMCA. The contest will feature some 60 lifters, representing schools from across the province. All male and female weight classes will be contested.

Canadore College and Nipissing University will be in the mix for individual awards and the team plaques for both male and female contingents. Other teams vying for the College-University plaques are from York, Waterloo, U of T, Windsor and Laurentian. Some well known local lifters favored to top their weight divisions include: David Staniszewski and Andrew Uyeda of Canadore, Josh Ranger of Waterloo U, and Kayla Turner of Laurentian.

Widdifield High School looks like a lock to take the Wingate Lottery plaque as the top female high school contingent. Volleyball coach Dan Gosselin has entered a number of his top girl players in their first ever weightlifting meet and they seem to be the strongest group on paper. On the male side the powerhouse, West Ferris Trojan team features some accomplished lifters including: Jarret Cauchy , Jesse Masterangelo, and Jordan Scott. Nevertheless, the Neil McNeil Secondary School team of Scarborough may grab enough points to pull off an upset.

The competitive format for the OWA’s Scholastic Championship sees athletes competing in the various weight categories on an open basis – regardless of age or school. Points are awarded in each division based on order of finish, and then the points of the top three scoring athletes from each squad are factored into determining the male and female team winners. Obviously, the bigger squads have a better chance of winning by covering more weight divisions. For example the West Ferris Trojans have double the entrants of Neil McNeil, with 6 and 3 respectively.

The contest gets under way at 9:30 a.m. with the lighter male divisions up to, and including, 69 kilos. At 11:00 a.m. the lighter females, up to and including 63 kilos, take the stage. The upper limit female weight divisions start at 1:00 p.m. The last two sessions are for the heavier males; the 77 and 85 kg lifters will start at 3:00 p.m., and the 94, 105 and +105 classes at 5:00 p.m.

Photo of Kayla Turner

Submitted to BayToday.ca