Breaking records, Contest held by girls wrestling coaches allows local teen to set new record

An inaugural weightlifting competition held on Saturday, July 13, went better than expected and even resulted in a Newcastle High School record-breaking deadlift.

The competition was put on by the high school girls wrestling coaches, Brooks and Shaide Bowthorpe. Head coach Shaide said that she and her assistant coach, who is also her husband, had a powerlifting coach where they grew up who did something similar.

“It was kind of my idea to do it as a fundraiser for our team,” Shaide said.

To raise money for the team, the Bowthorpes charged competitors a $60 entry fee, sold T-shirts and concessions and received funds from sponsors. Eleven sponsors supported the event, 10 of which were local businesses.

“If (a business) did a sponsorship of over $200, they got their name and logo on the back of our meet T-shirts,” Shaide said.

Despite being the first time the Bowthorpes put on the competition, Shaide said she “(does not) think it could have gone any better.”

Over 20 competitors and 40-50 spectators made for a successful event and a crowded ag shop, which is where the competition was held. According to Shaide, the crowd was energetic, clapping and cheering for the lifters.

This excitement was, in part, due to the announcing of Keisha Brueggeman. Shaide said that she asked Brueggeman whether she could fill this role. Even though Shaide does not think Brueggeman has much, if any, prior experience with announcing, she expressed great satisfaction with Brueggeman’s performance.

“I was, like, just announce the names. And by the end of it, she really got into it,” Shaide said. “It was a great environment to be in …, and I think she helped with that.”

The performance of the lifters also made for an excited crowd. Two competitors who, in particular, put on a great show were Don Botkin and Jayde Harrington. Botkin was awarded best overall male, and Harrington was awarded best overall female.

The Bowthorpes used a standard weightlifting formula to determine the winners.

“It’s body weight divided by total poundage. And that gives you your score,” Shaide explained.

They also separated the lifters by sex and age. There were four age groups, each split into male and female. The age groups were junior (13-15), high school (16-19), adult (20-40) and master’s (40+). In addition to the two overall awards, awards were given to the first-, second- and third-place holders for each group.

Botkin earned the best overall male title by managing to bench press 290 pounds and deadlift 455 pounds.

Harrington won the best overall female title with a bench press of 105 pounds and a deadlift of 300 pounds. Brooks was especially proud of the later lift, which broke the Newcastle High School record for girls’ deadlift.

“I think that was a big, big accomplishment,” he said.

Harrington was excited to learn that she had broken a school record, especially considering her lack of experience in competitive weightlifting. She expressed gratitude for the support of the local weightlifting community, many of whom participated in the competition and had encouraged Harrington to sign up.

“I’m very blessed to be in that community,” she said.

Giving athletes an opportunity to shine and fund raising for the girls wrestling teams were not the only reasons the Bowthorpes put on the weightlifting competition. They were also motivated to keep their own athletes active and in great shape.

At the beginning of the summer, the coaches started holding an hour of practice in the weight room on Tuesday and Thursday so that their athletes could prepare for the competition.

“Not very many of these girls have competed in one of these, so we really wanted to prepare them,” Shaide said.

However, the coaches were slightly duplicitous in this, for they also wanted to create an opportunity for their athletes to build strength.

“(Weightlifting) goes along with girls wrestling because if you’re strong, you’re going to win more,” Shaide said.

The approach worked.

“We consistently (had) four to five girls (show up),” Brooks said.

The success in fund raising, performance and preparation for the wrestling season has the Bowthorpes excited about holding the competition again next year. The only changes they plan on implementing are to hold it in the evening when it’s cooler and to possibly include a division for younger kids.