SEWARD, Neb. – It was a historic day for the Concordia University Powerlifting program, which hosted a home meet for the first time ever. There were 25 athletes from four different institutions that showcased their strength inside the PE Center Gym on Saturday (April 20) morning. The meet offered the opportunity for three Bulldogs to improve on their personal bests in a conclusion to the 2023-24 season. Awards for top lifters of the meet went to Midland’s Niquela Vallejos on the women’s side and to Coffeyville Junior College’s Micah Barron on the men’s side.
Head Coach Freddie Myles’ program has completed its second season of existence. The home meet was something Concordia hopes to build upon in future years. Myles was especially thankful to Assistant AD Levi Calhoun for how smoothly the meet ran on Saturday.
“I think it worked out really well,” Myles said. “The person who was really the key was Levi Calhoun. The setup was great, it ran really smooth and we had all the bells and whistles from a technology standpoint. Aaron Sweazy dead great announcing. Our athletes did a great job with loading weights and spotting. It was a bigger crowd than I expected. I was really pleased with that. In my mind, it couldn’t have gone any better. I think we set the bar pretty high for future meets.”
The three Bulldog competitors at the inaugural Concordia Collegiate Powerlifting Meet were Jack Freeman (117kg), Tyrek Fuller (98.85kg) and Adam Widmann (87.5kg). The event marked the first ever powerlifting meet for both Freeman and Fuller. Out of the 17 men in the competition, Widmann earned the highest place finish (11th), according to the DOTS points formula that compares lifters across weight classes. Meanwhile, Freeman placed 13th and Fuller 14th. Their complete totals are listed below.
Powerlifting tests athletes in three lifts: squat, bench and deadlift. Each competitor gets three tries at each of those lifts. Combined, Freeman, Fuller and Widmann made 23 of their 27 lifts.
Said Myles, “Our athletes did great. We had a lot of made lifts. We had two first-time competitors – Jack Freeman and Tyrek Fuller. They did great and set some new records for themselves based on their training. It was Adam Widmann’s second meet, and he competed phenomenally. I was pleased with how our kids did on the platform and how the team came together to put this meet on. I can’t say enough about Levi and our upper leadership.”
Bulldog results:
· Jack Freeman (117kg): 227.5kg squat | 150kg bench | 240kg deadlift | 617.5kg total
· Tyrek Fuller (98.85kg): 177.5kg squat | 135kg bench | 230kg deadlift | 542.5kg total
· Adam Widmann (87.5kg): 182.5kg squat | 150kg bench | 232.5kg deadlift | 565kg total
The attention now shifts towards the offseason and preparation for the program’s third season of existence. Myles and his staff plan to host a weightlifting competition this coming fall. Both the Concordia Powerlifting and Weightlifting squads made gains in 2023-24 while increasing in terms of quantity and quality on the national championship stage.