Powerlifting Nationals 2017

The 2016-2017 powerlifting season began in November like nearly every other season of the past decade: with the majority of the students attending tryouts to make their mark in Woodward Academy’s most accomplished sport. The history of Woodward Academy powerlifting goes back to 2003 when it was simply an organized extracurricular activity. Today, the team annually travels to the USAPL High School National Championships that rotates venues every year. To date, Woodward Academy teams have traveled across the United States and lifted in eight different states.
   
After a couple months of training, the team competed at their first sanctioned meet of the season at the Des Moines Invitational. All nine lifters who competed at the event qualified for Nationals during that meet. In order to compete at Nationals, all lifters must qualify, meaning they must lift the designated amount for their weight class in a sanctioned event. Their second meet of the second was held at Peru State in Nebraska, which allowed for the lifters to get good competition repetitions, but it was a non-sanctioned event. The final event prior to Nationals was the Woodward Academy Open, the Knights home meet in March. During that meet, 6 additional lifters qualified forNationals, bringing the team total to 15 lifters.
   
Everything centers around the team competition for the Knights, and at Nationals a team consists of 10 lifters who were selected from the pool of 15 qualifiers. The Knights had won the Nationals team competition since 2006 when they competed in Omaha, Nebraska, and this group of lifters looked to continue that streak. On March 29, the team boarded a plane for Scranton, Pennsylvania, this year’s home of the USAPL High School National Championships. After a day of rest, the team competed
on March 31.

Winter Sports Posters 2016-2017 // Basketball and Powerlifting

The winter sports posters for the 2016-2017 season are out and both can be picked up on campus. Basketball is currently entering the post season and have looked solid throughout the year. The poster shows the team in action with a retro font feel and muted color scheme.

The powerlifters are just getting their competition season rolling. They performed well at the Des Moines Metro Classic in January where 9 lifters qualified for Nationals. Their next events are in Nebraska in February, and a home meet in March, with the end of the season happening at the USAPL High School National Championships at the end of March. This year, Nationals will be held in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

We have produced sports posters for each one of our teams since the 2008-2009 basketball season and often get asked how they get made. Each one is different and unique and is produced and printed on campus. For these two posters, individual pictures were taken of each athlete and composited together for the final poster. For the most recent updates, follow our Facebook page to get updates throughout the season and be sure to get a poster for your office next time you're on campus. After the break, you can view full images of each poster.

World's Coach // Guthrey Fritz

Guthrey Fritz, Admissions Director and former Knights powerlifting coach, recently returned from Szczyrk, Poland, after a week of representing the United States team as a coach at the IPF Sub-Junior (high school) and Junior (collegiate) World Powerlifting Championships. The U.S. delegation brought four teams with 36 of the best lifters in the country to compete at the international competition.

Fritz’s history with elite powerlifting goes back more than a decade. He started the Woodward Academy powerlifting program 2003 and over the course of his tenure as head coach, won 10 consecutive USAPL High School National Championships, crowned 24 individual National Champions, and brought a total of 116 lifters to the national competition. The bookend of his coaching career at Woodward Academy occurred in the fall of 2015 when he travelled to this same competition in Prague, Czech Republic. He coached WA lifter, Julious Walker, to a runner-up World Championship.

After his experience with the team last season, U.S. Head Coach, Curt St. Romain, offered Guthrey a spot as a coach on this year’s team. He was assigned specific lifters and worked with them throughout the competition in getting checked in, setting rack heights, during weigh-ins, and calling squats for the lifters. At the end of competition, the U.S. team performed exceptionally well. The sub-junior boys were crowned World Champions, with the junior boys earning a bronze metal. Both the sub-junior and junior girls teams won silver.

Guthrey has already been asked to coach on next year’s team, with the 2017 international competition taking place in Orlando, Florida.

Powerlifting Nationals 2016 // Video

Watch the Knights of Iron powerlifting team as they traveled to Orlando, Florida and won an 11th consecutive USAPL High School National Championship.

Powerlifting Nationals 2016 // Universal Studios

The day after competition, the team spent an entire day at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, and Marvel Super Hero Island. The entire team took in the amazing sights and pulse-pounding rides that the park had to offer. For a three-hour stretch during the day, central Florida got drenched with rain, but it didn’t stop the team. With many of the attractions and waiting lines indoors, the rain did not slow anyone down. The team took in the Dragon Challenge rollercoaster three times, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man twice, and one of the big highlights was the spectacular Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The day was a great celebration to a hard-fought season.

Powerlifting Nationals 2016 // Competition

Last November, the powerlifting team held tryouts and began the long season of training and preparation. After three qualifying events, the road to the USAPL High School National Championships ended in Orlando, Florida on April 1. The team kicked practice into high gear in the final weeks of practice, and every ounce of that effort may have been necessary for what turned out to be the toughest Nationals ever for the Knights.

At 2 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the team left campus for a flight out of the Des Moines International Airport. They made a stop through Chicago O’Hare, and arrived in Orlando at 3:30 in the afternoon. Over the next day and a half, the team took in the pool, caught a movie, and for some, actively watched their weight.

On Friday, April 1st, after the athlete’s weights were finalized, the lifting began and the competition was stiff. A powerlifting meet consists of three individual events: the squat, benchpress, and deadlift. Each lifter has three attempts to record the biggest lift they can. They are then added together for a total weight to determine the winner in each weight class. The common strategy is to record an opening lift that is nearly guaranteed for the lifter and progress upward from there. The coaches know that athletes will miss lifts, it is a part of competition. How this team responded is what distinguishes them from other teams.

Read about how lifters competed after the break.

Athlete of the First 20 Years

This month, Julious Walker returned home after an illustrious athletic career at Woodward Academy. Throughout his stay, he participated in football, track & field, but powerlifting was the sport he dominated. He did things that had never been done before at Woodward Academy, and honestly may never happen again. He was a member of two USAPL National Championship teams (2014-15), and became an individual National Champion when he destroyed the competition in 2015.

The unprecedented part of his powerlifting career came last fall when he became runner-up World Champion as a member of the U.S. National Team at the IPF Sub-Juniors World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. He has 5 American records, and 11 Woodward Academy school records to his credit, and this year was on track to earn more accolades. One of his last meets, he squatted a personal best 750 pounds in competition. To label him a world-class athlete sounds a little cliche, but as a 16 year old with these credits, it is certainly within reason that he could become just that. He was recently given an honor that no Woodward Academy athlete has ever received: Athlete of the First 20 Years. Congrats Julious, and good luck.

Winter Sports Posters 2015-2016 // Basketball and Powerlifting

Both of the winter sports posters for the 2015-2016 seasons are out and can be picked up on campus. The basketball team is entering the post-season with a first round game against CMB, while the powerlifting team is preparing for the USAPL High School National Championships at the end of March. The posters are composite images with each athlete taking individual picture, which were later assembled for the final product. Both teams are looking to have a strong end to the season and we will provide updates on our Facebook page. So "like" us and stay in tuned with Knights athletics. 

The End of an Era // Guthrey Fritz

The Woodward Academy athletic program officially began in 2003 when Guthrey Fritz turned an extracurricular strong man competition between dorms into a structured weight lifting club. Two years later (’05), he brought three powerlifters to Texas where they competed in the USAPL High School National Championships for the first time and Corey Noring (SHW) became Woodward Academy’s first powerlifting National Champion.

Ten years later, Guthrey has built a pretty impressive resume with 10 consecutive team
National Championships, 24 individual National Champions, and has travelled across the country (and the world) representing Woodward Academy. More than anyone else, and any other sport, Guthrey showed what athletics could do at Woodward Academy and he gave many students an experience they will never forget.

Guthrey initially planned to step away at the conclusion of the high school season in March. But when the call came to represent the United States, he stayed on for one final competition. The IPF Sub-Juniors World Championships in Prague turned out to be the best bookend to a career that any coach could ask for. Next year, he will be passing the torch to assistant coach, Glen Miller. Although he is stepping away from coaching powerlifting, he will remain active on campus as Admissions Director and a member of the management team.

Powerlifting in the News // World Championships

When Julious and his coaches returned from Prague, Czech Republic after the IPF Sub-Juniors World Championships earlier this month, the local news media wanted to get their story. They went on a mini press tour with KCCI Channel 8 and The Des Moines Register both coming to campus for the story. The KCCI video is embedded above and the Register article can be read here.

We want to thank both Mark Tauscheck (KCCI) and John Naughton (Register) for picking up the story and sharing it with central Iowa. Earlier this year, Mark came to campus to cover the Knights basketball team when they qualified for state. John is also familiar with Woodward Academy and ran a front page article in 2010 when we started our football program. 

Runner Up World Champion // IPF Sub-Juniors World Championships

When Julious committed to the U.S. team in May, practice revved up into high gear again. He had already taken a month off of lifting after the USAPL High School National Championships (where he break 3 American records and became a National Champion) under the assumption that his season was over. So with 4 months to prepare for the biggest stage, Julious went to work.

 Coach Glen Miller saw a renewed work ethic in Julious when practice for World’s began. “He wanted to do more during practice because he knew the competition would be harder.” Julious started to realize that he was on the verge of being a truly great powerlifter; one of the best in the entire nation. But raw talent doesn’t get a lifter very far when competing at this level. The only way was to do lift the weight every week. He did just that and got his max squat up to 700 pounds.

The coaches changed some workouts for Julious during this time and added another day so that he was lifting 5 days instead of 4 during the high school season. Normally, the weight room is packed during practice with the entire team creating sounds of metal weights and bars banging against steel racks. But now the room was quieter with just Julious and the coaches. It was easier for them to focus on technique during this time, but it was also a good bonding experience.

IPF Juniors and Sub-Juniors World Championships

Julious and his team of coaches, Guthrey Fritz and Glen Miller, left for Europe today to represent the United States in powerlifting on the world's stage at the IPF Juniors & Sub-Juniors World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. He is competing in the 105 kg weight class and lifts on Friday, September 4. You can watch live and see results on this website: http://goodlift.info/live.php.

Earlier this year, Julious became a National Champion at the USAPL High School National Championships in Milwaukee, WI. He set 3 American records at that event that included a 622 pound squat, 325 pound bench press, and a 573 pound deadlift, for a combined total of 1,520 pounds. As one of the best powerlifters in the entire country, Julious got the call to represent the world in May and has been training hard ever since. In the past month, he upped his squat to 700 pounds and has made progress in the other events as well.

Competing on the world's stage is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Julious and the most significant accomplishment from any Woodward Academy athlete to date. Mark your calendars for Friday, September 4 and watch Julious live. The most recent schedule posted shows that Julious will compete at 6 pm, Prague time, which will be 11 am in the United States, CST.

WA Powerlifter Makes the WORLD'S Team

Julious Walker is 16 years old and is having the best powerlifting season of any Woodward Academy lifter. This past season, he broke 5 American records and at the USAPL High School National Championships in March, became a National Champion when he squatted 622 pounds, bench pressed 325 pounds, and deadlifted 573 pounds, for a total of 1521 pounds. He thought that was the end of his season until we received a fateful phone call a couple weeks ago. 

As one of the best powerlifters in the nation, Julious has been asked to represent the United States at the IPF Sub-Junior and Junior World Championships that will take place August 31 - September 6 in Prague, Czech Republic. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for Julious and was made possible by the dedication he exhibited this season and the fact that he was a Woodward Academy Knight. 

This year's Knight's Scholarship golf outing will take place on June 26 at the Beaver Creek Golf Course in Grimes, Iowa. Some of this year's proceeds will help Julious travel to Prague. If you would like to sign up as an individual or a foursome, please contact Tami Santi: 

tami.santi@sequelyouthservices.com

(515) 438-3499

Powerlifting Nationals // Video

You can now watch the Woodward Academy Knights win their 10th consecutive powerlifting team national championship in the video embedded above. It follows the Knights as they traveled to Milwaukee, WI to compete in the USAPL High School National Championships that were held March 27-29. In addition to the entire team lifting, you'll also be able to see Julious Walker break 3 American records when he squatted 622.8 pounds, and deadlifted 573.2 pounds for a total of 1,521.2 pounds. He was also named Best Outstanding Lifter of the competition. Congrats to Coach Guthrey Fritz and his team of assistant coaches on 10 straight championships. This year marked the end of an era as Coach Fritz is retiring from the program that he started and passing on the keys to the weight room for next season.

WHOTV Channel 13 // Story on the Powerlifting Team // Video

John Sears of the Des Moines news channel,WHOTV Channel 13, visited campus on Monday to do a story on the Woodward Academy powerlifting team that aired on March 31 on the 10 o'clock news. You can see the news segment in the embedded video. Head coach Guthrey Fritz along with lifters Julious Walker and Hector Espinoza were interviewed for the segment that highlighted the Knights 10 straight powerlifting National Championships and Julious' 5 American records. This story continues the string of positive publicity that the Knights have received in the past month when many news outlets reported on the Knights basketball team.

USAPL High School National Championships, March 27-29, 2015

Many of the past Woodward Academy powerlifting championships have relied on the feats of some of the smaller lifters (114 – 148 pound weight classes). This year, it was the bigger guys that came to lift hard and bring the 10th consecutive USAPL National Championship home for the Woodward Academy Knights.

The 2015 USAPL High School National Championships were held in Milwaukee, WI on March 27-29. The lifting was split into two sessions with 6 of the 9 WA lifters competing in the morning. Out of that group, the team gained three 3rd place finishes, and a couple 4th place finishes. The points gained by those lifters were good additions to a team total, but more was needed.

Read more after the jump.

A Historic Day for Woodward Academy Athletics

This past Saturday (February 28) was the most historic athletic weekend in Woodward Academy history where 3 separate events were taking place across the United States and where Woodward Academy students were performing at the highest level. In Des Moines, the Knights basketball team was playing in a Substate final to qualify for the State tournament for the first time in school history. The Knights of Iron powerlifting team was competing in Nebraska in a meet as they continue to prepare for the USAPL High School National Championships, and a WA alum was long jumping in Boston, MA at the USATF Indoor National Championships.

The specifics to each event are absolutely amazing and you can read more about each one after the break. If you just want the details, Cal Lane (WA alum) finished in the top 10 in the long jump event, the powerlifting team won the competition and Julius Walker continued to break his own American Record by squatting 625 pounds in this meet, and the basketball team made a historic comeback to qualify for the state tournament.

Powerlifting Poster 2015

Here is the official poster for the 2015 Woodward Academy Knights of Iron powerlifting team. The lifters already have 2 meets under their belt this season and have 2 more coming up in preparation for the USAPL High School National Championships, March 27-29 in Milwaukee, WI. This year's team won their second meet (there was no team competition during the first meet) and several lifters have earned individual honors including one who is now the American record holder in the squat and for his three-lift total.

The poster is a combination of individual shots of the lifters with images from practice in the background. If you're an campus, pick up a poster of the team and put March 14 on your calendar to attend Woodward Academy's home meet held in the Knights gymnasium.

American Powerlifting Record // Video

Julius Walker replicated his 600 pound squat at the Capital City Clash this past weekend in Lincoln, NE and is now the American record holder for his age (15) and weight class (231). The previous record of 551 pounds lasted for nearly a decade before Julius came along. You can see the actual American record squat above. He continued his dominance at the meet with a first place victory and a near American record in the deadlift as well, which will be next on his list of amazing accomplishments for this season. He finished the competition with 1,440 total pounds between the squat, bench press, and deadlift, also an American record.

Even with the amazing accomplishments that the Knights have achieved over the past 10 years (9 team championships, 22 individual National Champions, and 106 qualifiers to Nationals), Julius is having a historic season. Julius and the Knights will travel to Nebraska again in February for a meet at Peru State. They will then lift at their home meet on March 14 before traveling to Milwaukee, WI for the USAPL High School National Championships, March 27-29.

600 Pound Squat // Video

Have you ever seen a 15 year old squat 600 pounds? Not many people have, but that is exactly what happened when Julius Walker, a lifter on the Woodward Academy Knights powerlifting team, competed at the USAPL Iowa Open this past weekend. After getting his first two lifts, he went for 600 pounds and set a new personal best. He now has his sights set on being the American record holder. For his age group and weight class, the American record is 551 lbs., which he destroyed. But at this event, not all of the judges were certified to award American records, so he'll give it another shot later this year.

The team has been training since November, but this was their first meet of the year. They travel to Lincoln, NE next weekend and Peru State in February. In March, Woodward Academy will host an event on the 14th and it will all lead up to the team traveling to the USAPL High School National Championships, March 27-29. This year, the event is being held in Milwaukee, WI. The Knights have won 9 consecutive team National Championships in the freshman/sophomore division.