Tamaqua captures Bomber Invitational
The gold medal winners in the 16-18 year old division at the Blue Bomber Football Invitational Weightlifting Competition include, from left, Gavin Sonntag (Salisbury), Zach Breiner (Lehighton), Pete Conforti (Tamaqua), Austin Forte (Mahanoy Area), Anthony Damiano (Marian Catholic), Anthony Iacoviello (Tamaqua), Salvatore Merenda (Tamaqua), Nick Hollenbach (Tamaqua), and Jon Long (North Schuylkill)
Last Sunday, nearly 100 football players along with their family members, friends, and coaches packed the Palmerton High School gymnasium for the 7th annual Blue Bomber Football Invitational Weightlifting Competition.
For the first time in the seven years of the competition, Tamaqua captured the team championship on the strength of five gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. The 33 team points earned by the Blue Raiders were enough to comfortably better Salisbury's total of 25 and Lehighton's 24 for the team title.
Four meet records were broken and one tied in the event and three of them were accomplished by TIMES NEWS area athletes. In the 14/15 age bracket, Palmerton's Josh Evans tied the 120 lb. class best ever and Salisbury's Dom Rossetti set a new standard in the 210 lb. class. In the 16-18 group, North Schuylkill's Jonathon Long set a new mark in the 150 lb. class on the strength of an outstanding bench press. Locally, Pete Conforti of Tamaqua squatted 450 and benched 275 to rewrite the record in the 210 lb. class, while Marian Catholic's Anthony Damiano smashed the previous record in the 225 lb. class by 25 pounds with lifts of 460 in the squat and 310 in the bench.
In addition to establishing a new record, North Schuylkill's Long was names the meets Most Outstanding Lifter in the 16-18 year old category for his lifts of 330 in the squat and 260 in the bench while weighing in at 150 lbs. In the 14-15 age group, top honors went to Mike Abraham of Salisbury with a 325 lb. squat and 250 lb. bench, while weighing just under 158 lbs.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Tamaqua 33 points; 2. Salisbury 25; 3. Lehighton 24; 4. Palmerton 24; 5. Mahanoy Area 19;
Listed below are the medal winners with their overall total and squat and bench lifts in parenthesis. The lifts were performed 'raw' meaning no knee wraps, bench shirts, or wrist wraps.
14-15 year-old division
120-pound weight class
GOLD: Josh Evans, Palmerton 375 (195/180) *Tied Meet Record
SILVER: Nick Sander, Palmerton
BRONZE: Isaac George Palmerton
135 pounds
GOLD: Kris Knappenberger, Lehighton 370 (225/145)
SILVER: Josh Suveg, Panther Valley
BRONZE: Matt Althouse, Palmerton
150 pounds
GOLD: Austin Watson, Salisbury 475 (275/200)
SILVER: Alan Ramirez, Lehighton
BRONZE: Thomas Ruzicka, Lehighton
165 pounds
GOLD: Mike Abraham, Salisbury 575 (325/250)
SILVER: Darien Correa, Salisbury
BRONZE: Jacob Staines, Panther Valley
180 pounds
GOLD: Josh Kachmar, Mahanoy Area 560 (305/255)
SILVER: Tyler Skripko, Tamaqua
BRONZE: Eugene Kuchan, Panther Valley
195 pounds
GOLD: Trevor Skripko, Tamaqua 565 (350/215)
SILVER: Kyle Troch, Lehighton
BRONZE: Alex Ververeli, Salisbury
210 pounds
GOLD: Dom Rossetti, Salisbury 665 (385/280) * New Meet Record
SILVER: Jake Ditzler, Blue Mountian
BRONZE: Trent Clay, Salisbury
225 pounds
GOLD: Alex Zmyewski, Palmerton 555 (350/205)
SILVER: Rian Shubeck, Panther Valley
HWT
GOLD: Stephen Bolousky, Mahanoy Area 540 (315/225)
SILVER: Joe Damiano, Marian Catholic
BRONZE: Devin Murphy, Tamaqua
16-18 year-old division
150 pounds
GOLD: Jonathon Long, North Schuylkill 590 (330/260)
SILVER: Nick McArdle, Panther Valley
BRONZE: Steven Shanton, Lehighton
165 pounds
GOLD: Nick Hollenbach, Tamaqua 585 (330/255)
SILVER: Mitch Moyer, Lehighton
BRONZE: Jacob Peck, Palmerton
180 pounds
GOLD: Austin Forte, Mahanoy Area 650 (400/250)
SILVER: Josh Agosto, Lehighton
BRONZE: Mike Balliet, Lehighton
195 pounds
GOLD: Anthony Iacoviello, Tamaqua 690 (420/270)
SILVER: Aaron Cook, Palmerton
BRONZE: Zach Tidmore, Blue Mountain
210 pounds
GOLD: Pete Conforti, Tamaqua 725 (450/275) * New Meet Record
SILVER: Tyler Groner, Tamaqua
BRONZE: Joe Oriel, Lehighton
225 pounds
GOLD: Anthony Damiano, Marian Catholic 770 (460/310) * New Meet Record
SILVER: John Snyder, Palmerton
BRONZE: Gage Cara, Mahanoy Area
240 pounds
GOLD: Zach Breiner, Lehighton 690 (450/240)
SILVER: Steven Semmel, Palmerton
255 pounds
GOLD: Salvatore Merenda, Tamaqua 700 (375/325)
SILVER: J.T. Krincek, Pen Argyl
BRONZE: Colton Davidson, Lehighton
HW
GOLD: Gavin Sonntag, Salisbury 710 (450/260)
SILVER: Aaron Broomell, Mahanoy Area
BRONZE: Tyler Wolfe, Tamaqua
