In his first year as a lifter, Ethel junior Kendall Dotson won the MHSAA 1A powerlifting meet for the 148-pound weight class at the Mississippi Coliseum last Saturday.
“I decided to try a new sport,” Dotson said. “I was just trying to do my best to compete with the other guys.”
It came down to his third and final attempt at the dead lift. With lifts of 350 for the squat, 175 for the bench press and 415 for his second dead lift attempt, he trailed Brandon Young of Okolona by 40 pounds. He successfully lifted 460 on his final attempt to finish with 985 pounds, five more than Young.
Four other Ethel lifters qualified for the state meet by finishing in the top three at the North State meet.
Luther Clark was second at 198, with 1,250 pounds, 90 pounds less than Shawn-Dalton Weath of Thrasher. Clark broke the 1A weight class record of 540 pounds for the dead lift set by Robert Lowe of Durant in 2011, then broke it again. He lifted 550 on his second attempt and 575 on his final lift.
Sean Williams was third at 181 with 1,055 pounds, Austin McDaniel fourth at 148 (825) and Hayden Langford fifth at 132 (470).
In the team competition, Ethel was fifth with 18 points. Sacred Heart won the title with four individual champions and 44 points. Leake County had 29 points, Okolona and Tupelo Christian 20 each.
Mike Rimmer of Kosciusko competed in the 4A meet in the super heavyweight division, but scratched in the squat and did not post an overall score.
