A total of eight members of the Brookhaven High powerlifting team recently qualified to lift one more time at the MHSAA 5A State Meet next month in Jackson.

The Panthers and coach Russ Britt finished behind host Gautier at the MHSAA 5A South State Meet. BHS finished ahead of third placed East Central and fourth placed Stone Count.

In order to make state, a lifter needed to finish in the top three at the south state level. The state competition will be held at the Mississippi Coliseum on April 6. The Panthers have finished in third in the last two years at the state level and were title contenders in both those meets.

At Gautier, the Panthers got a first-place finish in the 132-pound class from Zach Moore. Moore had a personal best squat of 330 pounds and had a three-lift total of 915 pounds.

Britt’s team also got a first-place finish from Nathan Lewis, lifting for the first time as a senior, with a 1,320-pound total in the 181-pound class. Lewis edged out his teammate and classmate Xavier Gayten, who finished second.

Lewis broke the 5A South State record with a deadlift of 565-pounds, which was a personal best along with his total. Gayten had personal bests on squat (450-pounds), deadlift (520-pounds) and combined total (1,200-pounds).

Jamall Brown finished second in the 123-pound class with a total of 755-pounds and a personal best squat of 275-pounds.

Landon Newman placed third in the 132-pound class with a personal best of 200-pounds on bench and a best total of 735-pound combined on his three lifts.

Ramiereze Edwards placed third in the 165-pound class. He had personal bests on squat (385-pounds), deadlift (515-pounds), and total combined weight (1,060-pounds).

Kenan Quinn finished third in the 165-pound class, setting personal bests in all three lifts of squat (385-pounds), bench (215-pounds) and deadlift (450-pounds). That gave Quinn a career best total of 1,050-pounds lifted.

Eric Williams placed third in the 220-pound class. He had a personal best on squat (405-pounds) and deadlift (520-pounds) to give him a career best total of 1,155-pounds.

Senior Sharpe Walker, another first-year lifter, just missed out via a tie breaker in making state in the 198-pound class. His teammate Gavin Bridgeman finished in fifth in the same class. Tay Drummond came in fifth in the 242-pound class and Brice Ashley finished sixth in the 242-pound class.

“I’m proud of all my guys, they have all competed for me through their final lift,” said Britt. “All the boys gave their best effort, and we’ll take eight of them to state to compete for a championship. The guys have their last major goal ahead of them, which is attainable for us. When it’s all said and done, either Brookhaven High, Cleveland Central, Corinth or Gautier will leave as 5A State Champions on April 6.”