New Richmond girl powerlifters win second meet championship

• Tiger girl powerlifters

The New Richmond girls power lifters show off their championship trophy from the regional meet they won in Osceola on Jan. 19.

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The New Richmond girls power lifters are on a roll.

They won their second straight meet title, taking first place out of seven teams at a regional meet in Osceola on Jan. 19. The Tigers won by 14 team points over Phillips and 15 over Eau Claire North.

All 32 lifters competing for the Tigers broke their personal records.

“We have a young driven team that will put us in a competitive category for the next few years,” said Tiger coach Brandon Paletta. “That is a direct result from our leadership in the weight room from our captains, Bethany Haag, Maddy Riemenschneider, Allan Wollenberg and Kaden Meeds.”

The next meet for the Tigers will be on Feb. 16 in Phillips.

The Tigers now have nine lifters who are state qualifiers. Freshman Tamarah Clemmens, sophomores Sabrina Keyes and Taylor Klemmensen, juniors Haag, Riemenschneider, Tina Montpetit and Wollenberg and seniors Jordyn Bonney and Jenna Wallace have all earned a spot in the state tournament.

All 32 lifters who competed in Osceola recorded a total, including six first-time competitors. Getting every lifter to record a successful lift is a key reason behind the team’s success.

“We tell our lifters that it doesn’t matter where you start but where you finish,” Paletta said. “That way, our opening lifts in squat bench and deadlift are lifts we know the lifters can complete, even on a bad day.

The Tigers are a young team and they got younger in this meet. They had seventh grader Abby McNitt lift varsity to help the team win the meet. She stepped up to the challenge and placed seventh in the 165 weight class to give her team four crucial team points.

Paletta said his “Lifter of the Meet” would have to go to Klemmensen, a sophomore at the 114-pound class. She took first place, with PR’s in all three of her lifts. She squatted 215 pounds, benched 80 and dead lifted 245. It came down to her final deadlift. She needed to pull the 245 to win and she did.  

“Taylor is one of the most coachable athletes we have ever had. She has the grit and the attitude to be very successful in this sport.  Her focus and mental game is ahead of her years,” Paletta said.

Wollenberg produced one of the most impressive lifts of the meet, dead lifting 475 pounds. He weighs 152 pounds.  

“He has separated himself from a good lifter to an elite lifter this year,” Paletta said. Wollenberg squatted 395 and benched 175 for a total of 1045, winning his class by 20 pounds.

Other top lifts by the Tigers include Haag deadlifting 300 pounds in the 148-weight class, Keyes squatting 260 and deadlifting 350 pounds in the 198-weight class and Wallace squatting 250 pounds and deadlifting 340 in the 198-weight class.

Freshman Liam Mehls had a big meet in the 181-pound class. He deadlifted 380 pounds, breaking the New Richmond freshman record held by Wollenberg by 40 pounds. He placed first in his junior varsity class, needing the 380 pound to do it.

Two Tigers competed against each other for the 132-pound female championship: Maddy Riemenschneider and Jordyn Bonney. Riemenschneider had her best meet of her career to win the class. She squatted 220 pounds, benched 115 (a new Tiger female bench record) and dead lifted 255 to beat Bonney by 10lbs. Bonney also had her best meet, qualifying for state with a monster deadlift of 275 pounds.

Here are the Tiger place winners from the meet, followed by the total pounds from their three lifts.

First

Taylor Klemmensen 114-pound female, 540

Maddy Riemenschneider 132-pound female, 590

Allan Wollenberg 165-pound male 1045

Second

Vickie Holbrook sophomore 105-pound female, 390

Jordyn Bonney senior 132-pound female, 580

Sabrina Stacken sophomore 181-pound female 565

Sabrina Keyes sophomore 198-pound female, 695

Kaden Meeds senior 181-pound male, 955

Third place

Tara Bierbrauer senior 181-pound female, 565

Jenna Wallace senior 198-pound female, 680

Fourth place

Bethany Haag junior 148-pound female, 655

The powerlifting team will be holding a fund-raiser this Saturday. It will be an indoor car wash at Bernard’s Northtown from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

The Tigers had several lifters compete in a meet at La Crosse this Saturday and two more qualified for state. Vicki Holbrook and Sabrina Stacken were able to punch their ticket for the state meet on Saturday. Holbrook qualified in the 105-pound division and Stacken in the 181-pound division.

There are now 11 Tigers who have qualified for state, 10 of them from the girls team.

Tags: sports, tigers, powerlifters, prep