Senior Brennan Morrell fights through the pain. The muscles in his arms begin to fatigue, but he manages to extend his arms and accomplish his goal. Metal hits metal as he lets the 215 pounds of weight down from its previous position, above his head.
After being involved with powerlifting his entire high school career, Morrell remains a part of the team as a senior and plans to continue after high school.
“Going to other schools and seeing who is the strongest in Mansfield is exciting,” Morrell said.
Morrell and the rest of the powerlifting team test their strength in meets between the other high schools in the area. The lifters showcase their talents in the squat, bench press and the deadlift. They are required to lift unnatural amounts of weight and push their muscles as far as physically possible. One of the hardest parts of the sport for the lifters would be maintaining their weight. If a lifter gains too much weight, they can be bumped up a weight class.
“It’s the most challenging part, because then you’ll have to go up against stronger competition that you aren’t used to competing against,” Morrell said.
Despite the fact that there are more inexperienced lifters this year compared to past years, Head Powerlifting Coach Rodney Nutley wishes to have built the team up enough to compete on a larger level towards the end of the year.
“The state meet may be a long shot due to our youth, but I think there are very good chances of several kids making regionals,” Coach Nutley said, “The kids are all very coachable, they have great attitudes and are hard workers.”
This season, Coach Rodney Nutley hopes to set goals and gradually become more tenacious.
“I want each kid to improve their totals weekly,” Nutley said. “ I want them to have a good foundation to build on for the following seasons.”
