The strongest in 'The Basin'

WORLAND - The second annual Heavy Metal Classic powerlifting competition is in the books in what showcased some of the strongest lifters the Big Horn Basin has to offer.

In total, 33 lifters from Worland High School, Cody High School, Riverton High School, Ten Sleep High School and Lovell High School participated in a day full of impressive shows of strength in the squat, bench press and deadlift.

"I was really proud of the Worland kids," said WHS teacher and Classic co-director Ryan Utterback. "We would have liked to have a few more but we have a lot of kids in other activities. The ones that showed up did really well."

Of the Worland competitors, junior Matthew Sanchez, 181 pounds, and freshman Alejandra Rice, 181 pounds, won their weight classes.

Sanchez easily won his class by 40 pounds, scores are tabulated by adding the best weight lifted from all three events, while Rice was a single percentage point off from being named the Classic's most outstanding female lifter.

"The highlights were Matthew Sanchez winning his weight class. He put some good lifts together and beat out some good lifters," said Utterback. "The other one that did really well was Alejandra Rice. It was exciting to see her do so well."

Riverton's Julia Masson was the Classic's outstanding female lifter and Cody's Jared Grenz was the outstanding male lifter.

Overall Utterback was excited all through the Classic as he watched the lifters from all the schools perform very well and display incredible sportsmanship.

"It was good to see the kids so excited and enthusiastic about lifting. They enjoyed the competition and competing against one another. There were some kids pulling some big weight, (Raven Finch) from Cody deadlifted 515 pounds. It's fun to see kids pulling that much weight. Even watching the kids who weren't pulling as much weight, you can look at their body weight and it's impressive to see how much weight the smaller kids can pull. It was just exciting to see the kids interacting and cheering each other on no matter the school," said Utterback.

The positive atmosphere among the lifters and even the spectators had some of the lifting coaches complimenting Utterback on a well-run competition.

"They really enjoyed competing. Generally there was an excitement about getting to compete in weightlifting which is something that they're all passionate about. I talked to the Cody coaches and they were thinking of holding a meet as well. It was just fun to see everyone get excited about strength training and powerlifting, and just something new for a lot of those kids," said Utterback.

Utterback was quick to thank all of his volunteers, like Mark Bennett (Worland Health Club), Randall Homan, (Chopper CrossFit) and Diana Swalstad (Worland CrossFit), who helped keep the Classic moving along.

"I really enjoyed the help from the other volunteers. We had a wealth of knowledge helping us out. Worland is not a huge town but to have the expertise and enthusiasm for strength training that's a great resource that Worland has. I have all the respect in the World for all three of those places and it was great to see all three work together. They all had their own abilities and expertise they brought to the table. They're part of the reason why the competition ran so smoothly," said Utterback.

Results from the Classic, scores are based on total weight lifted, are as follows.

Girls

148 pound

1, Ryan Blaylock, Cody, 505.

2, Rhiannon Kozlowski, Worland, 425.

165 pound

1, Julia Masson, Riverton, 620. (Outstanding Female Lifter)

2, Tonya Tarbett, Cody, 500.

181 pound

1, Alejandra Rice, Worland, 655.

Heavyweight

1, Zoe Miller, Worland, 570.

Boys

123 pound

1, Ethan Johnston, Cody, 500.

2, Thomasson, Cody, 485.

132 pound

1, Nathan Whalen, Cody, 555.

148 pound

1, David Plummer, Cody, 905.

2, Tristan Blatt, Cody, 660.

3, Richard Hall, Cody, 650.

165 pound

1, Jared Grenz, Cody, 1045 (Outstanding Male Lifter)

2, Jacob Deardorff, Cody, 905.

3, Silas Ward, Cody, 850.

181 pound

1, Matthew Sanchez, Worland, 875.

2, Peter Klessens, Cody, 835.

3, CJ Lindsay, Lovell, 830.

198 pound

1, Matthew Skinner, Cody, 1065.

2, Jeff Williams, Cody, 795.

220 pound

1, Quinn Lindsay, Lovell, 720.

2, Connor McLeod, Cody, 710.

242 pound

1, Dylan Hereth, Lovell, 1165.

2, Daniel Luna, Lovell, 960.

3, Mac Simpson, Cody, 735.

275 pound

1, Kendall Diaz, Cody, 1075.

2, Kaden Alphin, Cody, 975.

Heavyweight

1, Raven Finch, Cody, 1295.