The Farmersville boys’ powerlifting team poses for pictures after winning the team title at their home meet, held Feb. 13 inside Farmersville Arena. Submitted photo

By David Wolman

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The Farmersville powerlifting team got the opportunity to compete in an event that was held in the comforts of their brand-new arena on Thursday, Feb. 13.

And the Farmers made the most of the time in their home gymnasium. Eleven lifters placed in the top five of their respective weight class, while crowning two champions, to lead Farmersville to a first place showing with a total of 35 team points.

Rafe McComack and Orasio Suarez both struck gold in Farmersville Arena. McComack won the 148-pound weight division after he lifted a total weight of 1,480 pounds. Suarez took top honors in the 275-pound class with a 1,555-pound total weight.

Jayden Matthews, Damian Gonzalez, Mark Vasquez, Yeray Penaloza and Gio Cobrarubbio also cracked the top three after they placed in the top three of their respective weight class division. Matthews placed second at 114 pounds with a total weight lifted of 735 pounds. Gonzalez was second overall at 198 pounds after he lifted 1,375 pounds. Vasquez was the runner-up at the 308-pound weight class. He lifted a total weight of 1,595 pounds.

Penaloza captured bronze in the 148-pound class with a 1,190-pound total and Cobrarubbio was third at 308 pounds with a total weight lifted of 1,160 pounds.

Antony Rivera took fourth place at 165 pounds with a total weight lifted of 1,100 pounds. Justin Queneau also captured a top four finish, finishing with the fourth highest total in the 275-pound class with a 1,315-pound total.

Noah James and Vicente Luna rounded the medal winners for Farmersville. James was fifth at 148 pounds with a 1,090-pound total, while Luna captured fifth place in the 198-pound weight class division. Luna lifted 1,175 pounds.

Other lifters that finished in the top 10 for Farmersville were: Nicolas Gennette (sixth place, 1,050 pounds, 148-pound class), Blake Malena (seventh place, 815 pounds, 198-pound class) and Logan Gournay (seventh place, 1,185 pounds, 220-pound class).

“It is always good to win your own meet that you host, especially with the amount of quality teams that competed at our meet,” said Christopher Anderson, Farmersville head coach. “Several of the teams we invited will push to win their own regional championships, so it was good to see the guys’ hard work pay off and compete at that level. We had several compliments from visiting coaches about our facilities, town, and support that our meet got from the administration and the town.”