Powerlifting at Peru State

The road to the USAPL High School National Championships continued for the Woodward Academy team this past weekend as they traveled to Peru State in Nebraska. The Knights have made this a regular stop over the past several years and have had great success in the past. The meet serves as a good barometer of the competition that they will face in nationals and another opportunity to lift in front of spectators to ease the nerves of competition.

The competition this year was intense with a lot of weight classes being determined with the last dead lift. In all, the Knights walked away with 2 third place finishes, 3 in second place, and 4 first place finishes, including Julius Walker earning the best lifter award after his meet record 545 pound squat. The Knight's next meet is at home, March 8, and then off to Nationals in Killeen, Texas, March 28-30.

Powerlifting Poster 2014

Even though the powerlifting season started last November, the season poster does not generally get done until this time of year. It showcases the lifters who are competing in events and trying to qualify for nationals.

The season has already gotten off to a great start. At their first meet in Lincoln, the team recorded a nearly perfect score with nine lifters qualifying for Nationals. The team has two more meets leading up to the national competition that will be held in Killeen, Texas over the weekend of March 28-30. We'll have a lot more on the powerlifting team in the next couple months, but in the meantime, here is the official team poster for the 2014 season. At first glance, it appears to be just one picture of the team in the weight room, but in actuality there is a lot more going on in the poster. Learn about the photographic process that went into it after the break.

WWE Smackdown in Des Moines

About once a year, the WWE show comes to central Iowa, and this week some select students were able to attend the WWE Smackdown wrestling event in Des Moines, Iowa with Program Director Bill Badgley. The students who were able to attend loved it. It was teenaged boys at a wrestling event, so that seems obvious. But beyond the entertainment value of it, it is important to understand that these students have earned that opportunity to go. They spend a lot of their time helping to improve the dorm, the campus, and their individual programs. So for these students, it was a night away from campus and a chance to have some normalcy.