Whitehall wins Bomber weightlifting competition
Gold Medal winners in the 14-15 Age Group were, from left, Jeff Cordon and Ronnie Okungu of Whitehall; Seth Oriel, Nathaniel Hower and Dylan Moyer, all of Panther Valley; Tre nelson of Palmerton and Josh Katchmar and Steve Bolusky of Mahanoy Area. Anthony Dex of Whitehall was also a winner.
Nearly 100 football players along with their family members, friends, and coaches packed the Palmerton High School gymnasium this past Sunday for the eighth annual Blue Bomber Football Invitational Weightlifting Competition.
Meet newcomer Whitehall captured the team championship on the strength of six gold, seven silver, and eight bronze medals. The 40 team points earned by the Zephyrs were enough to comfortably better Palmerton and Panther Valley's total of 21 each for the team title. Palmerton finished in second and Panther Valley in third based on the tie-breaker criteria of more gold medals.
Three meet records were broken and one tied in the event. One of the new record holders, Palmerton's John Snyder, stole the show. Weighing in at 251 pounds, Snyder smashed the previous weight class and overall meet record by squatting an astounding 565 pounds to go along with his bench press of 365 pounds to total 930 pounds beating the previous meet best total by 85 pounds.
Both of the Meet's Most Outstanding Lifters came from team-champion Whitehall. In the 16-18 year old category, James Wah earned the trophy for his lifts of 400lb in the squat and 225lb in the bench while weighing in at just 150lbs. In the 14-15 age group, top honors went to Jeff Cordon with a very impressive 510lb squat and 285lb bench, while weighing 225lbs.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Whitehall 40 points; 2. Palmerton 21; 3. Panther Valley 21; 4. Tamaqua 16; 5. Mahanoy Area 15
Individual Results
14-15 year-old division
120-pound weight class
GOLD: Seth Oriel, Panther Valley 255 (150/105)
135 pounds
GOLD: Ronnie Okungu, Whitehall 465 (290/175);SILVER: Austin Young, Whitehall; BRONZE: Zane Eickoff, Panther Valley
150 pounds
GOLD: Nathanial Hower, Panther Valley 515 (325/190); SILVER: Kyle Ferryman, Panther Valley; BRONZE: Conner Sullivan, Whitehall
165 pounds
GOLD: Anthony Dex, Whitehall 520 (320/200); SILVER: Mike Tsamutalis, Whitehall; BRONZE: Saquan Barcley, Whitehall
180 pounds
GOLD: Dylan Moyer, Panther Valley 500 (285/215); SILVER: Matt Meyers, Whitehall; BRONZE: Jacob Horn, Palmerton
195 pounds
GOLD: Tre Nelson, Palmerton 630 (365/265); SILVER: Tyler Skripko, Tamaqua; BRONZE: Danny Roustic, Whitehall
210 pounds
GOLD: Josh Katchmar, Mahanoy Area 665 (365/300) * Ties Meet Record; SILVER: Anthony Maradeo, Palmerton; BRONZE: Zach Merenda, Tamaqua
225 pounds
GOLD: Jeff Cordon, Whitehall 795 (510/285) * New Meet Record; SILVER: Rian Shubeck, Panther Valley; BRONZE: Devin Murphy, Tamaqua
HWT.
GOLD: Stephen Bolousky, Mahanoy Area 650 (385/265); SILVER: Orlando Bonilla, Whitehall; BRONZE: Edgardo Rivera, Whitehall
16-18 year-old division
150 pounds
GOLD: James Wah, Whitehall 625 (400/225) * New Meet Record; SILVER: Garrett Stahler, Palmerton
165 pounds
GOLD: Nick Hollenbach, Tamaqua 635 (355/280); SILVER: Darius Young, Whitehall; BRONZE: Jacob Peck, Palmerton
180 pounds
GOLD: Austin Forte, Mahanoy Area 655 (410/245); SILVER: Nick Sommer, Whitehall; BRONZE: Carlos Figueroa, Whitehall
195 pounds
GOLD: Zach Tidmore, Blue Mountain 685 (380/305); SILVER: Nick Coccio, Tamaqua; BRONZE: Eugene Kochen, Panther Valley
210 pounds
GOLD: Jake Kerchner, Whitehall 720 (475/245); SILVER: Richie Smith, Panther Valley; BRONZE: Kenny Mann, Whitehall
225 pounds
GOLD: Alex Zmyewski, Palmerton 620 (375/245); SILVER: Shawn Glosek, Whitehall; BRONZE: Pat Lynch, Whitehall
255 pounds
GOLD: John Snyder, Palmerton 930 (565/365) * New Meet Record
HWT
GOLD: Aaron Genevese, Whitehall 770 (450/320); SILVER: Cody Houser, Tamaqua; BRONZE: Shawn Cramsie, Whitehall
NOTE - Listed 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.
