The Iola High powerlifting team hosted a home meet Saturday with 14 other schools in attendance.
Iola came away with team victories for both the girls and boys teams. The Mustang boys placed first out of 13 schools while the Mustang girls finished first out of 11 schools.
Iola boys set 41 personal records, 22 of 43 lifters scored points, 26 earned medals, and six were top-three finishers. Brock Sander was the top lifter with a 5.2 average.
The girls were led by their three-personal records, 29 medals and seven top-three finishers. Kinzey Wilhelm finished as the top Mustang powerlifter on the girls side with a 4.18 average.
“The thing I like about this group is everyone is getting better every week and the kids are buying in,” said Iola head coach Mike Wilhelm. “Our numbers are growing. Last year I think we had about six or seven kids that went to meets and this year it’s around 15 kids.”
THE IOLA boys were led by Sander’s first place finish with a 950 overall score in the 181-pound weight class. Charles Rodgers placed first with 1,040 points in the 220-pound weight class and Kolton Greathouse finished first with 1,140 overall points in PWT.
The Mustang girls were paced by a trio of first place finishers. Aysha Houk had 370 points in the 114-pound weight class, Kinzey Wilhelm had 505 points in the 123-pound class and Tatum Boyd had 470 overall points at 132 pounds.
“Kinzey’s definitely been one of the leaders for the girls,” Wilhelm said. “And though Carter is not winning meets, he has been improving every week and showing leadership. Jarrett has been consistent there too and pushing his teammates. Jake has improved a lot this year in the squat. They’re young, but I really like Hayden and Brooklyn, they work really hard.”
Sanders placed first in the bench press with a 270 lb. press while Rodgers also came in first with a 315 lb. push. Kolten placed first with a 275 lb. press.
The girls were led in the bench press by Jessica Kroenke’s first place 105-pound bench press in her 114-pound class. Wilhelm placed first with a 135-pound press and Boyd earned first with a 125 lb. push. Aysha Houk also placed in third in her weight class with a 95 lb. bench press and Jackie Fager took third place with a 110-pound press in the 132-pound class.
Brooklyn Ellis finished in third place in her 140-pound class with a 110-pound bench press.
The squat portion was led by Iola boys Jarrett Herrmann’s first place finish in his 181-pound weight class with a 460-pound lift and Rodgers’ first place mark with a 435-pound squat. Greathouse also came in first with a 565-pound press and Sanders came in second with a 390-pound squat in his 181-pound class.
Trapper Boren and Isaac Jordan also placed in third in the squat in their respective classes.
The Iola girls were highlighted by Kroenke’s first place squat of 165-pounds, Wilhelm’s first place squat of 220-pounds and Boyd’s first-place squat of 225 lbs.
Olivia Tremain came in second with a 155-pound squat, Peyton Weast came in second with a 215-pound squat and Ellis was in second place with a 245-pound squat. Houk came in third place with a 155-pound squat.
The clean lift had three Iola boys take home first place with Sander and Rodgers each cleaning 290 pounds and Greathouse cleaning 300 pounds. The Mustang boys also had six third-place finishers including Jayden Beene, Korbin Cloud, Tre Wilson, Keaton DePaola, Skahan and Boren.
