Powerlifting is different from Olympic weightlifting and is composed of three events: bench press, squat and deadlift
Posted by africanpress on January 5, 2009
Karnes City power lifter a hometown hero
KARNES CITY — Dustin Witte readily admits that he’s competitive by nature, always setting his goals high.
These days, that’s a little under a ton.
“I’m actually going to shoot for 1,840 pounds this year,” said Witte, a 20-year-old powerlifter from Karnes City, who hopes to achieve the weight goal this year. “It’s going to be a little more difficult.”
A junior animal science major at Texas A&M, Witte is something of a hometown hero in Karnes City, where people buzzed with excitement in September when he placed fifth in the world at an international powerlifting competition.
A total of 32 countries participated in the International Powerlifting Federation’s World Championship, where Witte said the experience of representing his country on the award podium left him speechless.
Powerlifting is different from Olympic weightlifting and is composed of three events: bench press, squat and deadlift, a move in which the athlete bends down to lift a weighted barbell; the athlete returns to a standing position with his arms extended toward the ground.
Witte placed fifth in the world in his 181-pound weight class, and won gold for his deadlift in South Africa, which was his personal best at 672 pounds. His fifth-place finish combines the poundage of his deadlift, bench press (his personal best is 369 pounds) and squat, another personal record for him of 644 pounds.
His current personal best is 1,625 pounds for his 181-pound weight class, although he’s moving up a weight class, to 198 pounds, so that he can aim to lift 1,840 pounds.
To this end, Witte said he is on a special diet: one large pepperoni pizza for lunch, and two cheeseburgers, two orders of tater tots and two sodas for dinner.
Witte said he began powerlifting during his junior year of high school to compensate for injuries and boost his performance in football, a sport he played throughout high school. But after a while, he said his competitive nature compelled him to dedicate more time to powerlifting.
“At first I just did it to get strong, but then I did it to get first (place),” a smiling Witte said of his evolution from linebacker to powerlifter. He would spend three hours after school working out in the gym, go home and return in the evenings for more practice.
“I lived in the gym,” he said.
Witte was born to be a powerlifter, said Karnes City High School powerlifting coach Charles Hoffman, who coached Witte in high school. Not only does Witte have an incredible work ethic, Hoffman said, but he also has the right body type: not very tall but with strong legs.
“He’s the best we’ve had come from here,” Hoffman said, adding that Witte stands as an inspiration for the high school’s current powerlifting team. It shows them that someone from Karnes City can succeed in the sport and even continue beyond high school, into college and beyond, he said.
Witte’s success has been something the 3,300 people in Karnes City have become excited about, said Mark Witte, Dustin Witte’s father.
Mark Witte, along with his wife Debbie, journeyed to South Africa to see their son compete on an international stage. Both said they never dreamed they’d go to South Africa to see their son represent his country as an athlete.
“People at church, on the streets, in the stores, just about everyone would come up and congratulate us,” Mark Witte said about the September competition. It seemed like the whole town had thrown their support behind his son’s powerlifting.
“There were even those who thought we ought to have a parade — you never see that here,” he said.
source.mysanantonio
