Boys and girls high school powerlifting seasons are officially underway, and for the Rio Grande Valley’s defending state champions, it means protecting their titles while shooting for personal records.
Weslaco High junior Sergio Lerma put himself on the powerlifting map last season with a state-record 700-pound squat and 1,575-pound total at the Division I State Powerlifting Meet in Abilene. Lerma is back to defend his title and ready to continue to build on his standout performance as a sophomore. A powerlifting meet includes a series of three lifts — the bench press, squat and deadlift.
“That squat built me a name, but to be honest, you can never be satisfied,” Lerma said. “I’m not going to settle for less and I’m going to try to increase my personal record. … I think that state championship set a high bar for me, so I’m going to keep working towards it.”
Weslaco High boys powerlifting coach Heriberto Ramirez said he’s seen Lerma grow into a team leader during his first 2 1/2 years with the program.
“He understands that once you set a benchmark, the plan is to repeat and he wants to do that. Now that he has his sights set pretty high, he wants to improve on the success that he had last year,” Ramirez said.
The Panthers boys powerlifting program is set to host the Weslaco High School Boys Invitational Meet today.
The Edcouch-Elsa girls team, the defending Class 5A Division II state champions, hosted the first powerlifting meet of the 2022 season last weekend with a tri-meet against Edinburg Economedes and La Villa. The Yellow Jackets finished in first.
Back on this year’s E-E girls powerlifting team are Anabel Martinez and Georgina Alaniz, the 97-pound and 132-pound 2021 state champions, respectively. Also returning for the Yellow Jackets is Aisha Garcia, the state runner up in the 259 and above weight class, and Zilah Velez, the third-place finisher at 97 pounds.
“We won (state) last year in Division II 5A and we’re hoping to do the same thing this year,” Edcouch-Elsa girls powerlifting coach Patrick Boutwell said. “I got seven of the lifters we took to state last year back and we got some younger girls coming up.”
With the popularity of high school powerlifting continuing to grow in the RGV, the Valley will be hosting the powerlifting state championships in four years.
“In 2025-2026, the state meet will be down here at Bert Ogden Arena,” said Boutwell, who serves as the business director for the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association. “That’s something we’re really proud of. We finally got it moved down here, so we can have a state competition in the Valley. “
Rio Grande Valley Boys Powerlifting State Record Holders
114-pounds: Rudy Garay, Los Fresnos, 2011 — Squat 500 pounds, Bench 275, Total 1,190; Eric Torres, Weslaco East, 2009 — Deadlift 465; Fabian Garcia, Edinburg IDEA College Prep, 2021 — Bench 255 (Division II); Hisaac Guerrero, Rio Hondo, 2021 — Bench 255 (Division II); Angel Garcia, Edinburg IDEA College Prep, 2018 — Squat 455, Total 1,115 (Division III).
123-pounds: Anibal Martinez, Los Fresnos, 2010 — Squat 520.
132-pounds: Nick Laznovsky, Los Fresnos, 2010 — Squat 560, Deadlift 540, Total 1,370.
148-pounds: Isaac Nunez, Los Fresnos, 2010 — Squat 620; Ricky Ortiz, Edcouch-Elsa, 2019 — Bench 400, Total 1,535.
165-pounds: Javier Pichardo, PSJA High, 2021 — 655 Squat.
181-pounds: Sergio Lerma, Weslaco High, 2021 — 700 Squat.
198-pounds: Seth Garcia, Edcouch-Elsa, 2016 — 705 Squat; Abram Ramirez, Rio Hondo, 2016 – Bench 450.
242-pounds: Cody Alvarado, Edcouch-Elsa, 2019 — Total 1,880.
275-pounds: Bobby Gonzales, Raymondville, 2015 — Total 2,010.
308-pounds: Kevin Lopez, PSJA Memorial, 2021 — Squat 775, Bench 475.
