By Jayden Mies
Freelance Reporter
Special to the Tribune

With a team composed of lifters of varying ages, the Pratt High School powerlifting squad has had a very successful year on both ends. The team, which has a squad of dedicated competitors, competed at the 3A State Powerlifting Meet on Saturday, March 29. There, all students lifted very well in three separate categories, and a couple of Greenbacks were crowned state champions.

This year, the team took twelve lifters. These were split between two boys and ten girls. At the meet, the Greenbacks would try to lift as much as they could in three separate lifts: Bench, Squat, and Clean. From these results, they would be given overall placements in their respective weight classes.

First, on the boys’ side was Owen Schmidt, who competed in the 156 lbs. class. Owen ended up benching 210 lbs. in a stacked weight class with over 20 competitors, which earned him tenth place in that lift. Next was squat, where he did an impressive 370 lbs., giving him

fourth place in that category. Lastly, he was able to take the championship title in clean, where he posted a 250 lbs. mark. These results were enough to give Schmidt a third place overall finish.

The other male competitor for Pratt was Wesley Liggett in 172 lbs. He started his day off with a fourth place finish in bench with a 235 lbs. lift. His next category was squat where he lifted 365 lbs. to earn a third place title in that lift. Liggett’s last lift was a solid one in clean. He was able to get 265 lbs. and a second place title in that category. Overall, Liggett was third in his weight class.

For the girls, several competitors claimed podium spots in their weight classes. First was Kamryn Deucy, who was in 105 lbs. She began the day by pushing 95 lbs. in the bench division, which earned her second place for that. Next, she squatted 160 lbs., earning first there and beating her nearest competitor by ten pounds. Lastly, Deucy posted a 125 lbs. clean, which was second in her class. With these numbers, she was able to be the 2025 3A 105 lbs. State Champion.

Brystal Roberts and McKenzie Piland were next for Pratt. They competed in 105 lbs. and 114 lbs. respectively, with Roberts getting fifth overall and Piland finishing third overall. Roberts’ numbers were 80 lbs. on bench, 130 lbs. on squat, and 70 lbs. on clean. Piland finished with a bench of 110 lbs., a 205 lbs. squat, and a 150 lbs. clean.

Next was Kate Wiltshire, who had a successful day in 123 lbs. She started by lifting 100 lbs. in the bench division, which was good enough for a third place mark. She followed that up with a first place 215 lbs. squat and a third place 125 lbs. clean. Overall, Wiltshire was third in her weight class.

Gabriella Cervantes and Audra Arensdorf were in the 132 lbs. and 156 lbs. classes respectively. Cervantes finished fourth overall with lifts of 115 lbs. in bench, 190 lbs. in squat,

and 125 lbs. in clean. Arensdorf had a very successful day, earning second overall in a tough weight class with a 140 lbs. bench, 265 lbs. squat, and a 160 lbs. clean.

The last lifter for Pratt was Mica Stapleton in the 181 lbs. class. She was the individual champion in both bench and clean, lifting 145 lbs. and 170 lbs. in those events respectively. She also did very well in squat, finishing second with a 285 lbs. mark. Together, these numbers gave her the State Champion title for the 2025 3A Meet. Altogether, these girls’ efforts allowed Pratt to earn a third place team title.

Stapleton also wanted to discuss the season and her memories from it. First, she was asked about the preparation she had to do to be successful at this meet.

She said, “I had a lot of preparation from Coach Hoelting and my weights group, because they pushed me to work harder each and every day in weights. I knew that state wasn’t going to be easy to win, and I would have to put in extra work if I wanted to win a state title.”

Stapleton was also asked what her thoughts were on the team’s performance at the state meet.

“I thought that everyone did fantastic on Saturday in Iola. Everyone fought as hard as they could and did their job in each event. We came home with a lot of medalists and quite a few new PRs from the team.”

Lastly, Stapleton said that she greatly enjoyed her junior season of powerlifting, and it produced many memories.

She said, “My favorite thing about this season was getting to compete against the great competition that there is throughout Kansas. Our group of powerlifters were also very encouraging, and everyone supports one another. It was just a great environment to be a part of.”