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Pike peaks

Senior wins state title, team finishes second at finals

By Robert Morgan | Published Thursday, April 2, 2009

Paradise High School powerlifting coach Kevin Pitman knew his team had a lot of talent going into this season, but he would have been hard-pressed to write a better ending than what he saw Saturday afternoon in Abilene.

The most successful powerlifting season for any Wise County school came to a golden finish for the Panthers. Standout Nick Pike won the Class 2A state championship, three of his teammates finished in the top four to earn medals, and the Panthers were second overall in the team standings.

"I cannot describe how proud I am of the Paradise Panthers," said Pitman, who last week saw his girls team finish third at state.

The day belonged to Pike who won the sport's first state championship at Paradise, but it did not happen without a little drama. In the 198.5 weight class, Pike carried an 80-pound lead into the final event - the deadlift - which is not his best of the three lifts.

Nic Pistolis of Simms Bowie beat Pike by 50 pounds in the event (540 total), but his attempt for 600 to win the overall title by five pounds failed and Pike won his first title.

"It was scary. Deadlift is not my best thing, and I knew the other guy was pretty good in it," said Pike. "I just wanted and waited and hoped for the best. I got him."

Pike finished with a personal-record total of 1,470 and finished ahead of Pistolis with 1,435. He had a personal-best 575-pound squat and tied two other personal marks with a 510 deadlift and a 385 bench press.

His teammates came through with solid performances as well, making Paradise the only team out of 92 schools in the division to have four medalists.

Cody Webber, who has battled a hand injury since football season, was ranked second in the 220.5 division and finished tied with Chance Dziuk of Poth for that spot after the state competition. Webber lost the tiebreaker based on body weight (215-218.6). The senior captured third-place honors at the biggest event of the year by lifting a team-high and personal-record 1,530 pounds, which included a 630 squat, a 375 bench press and a personal-record 530 deadlift.

Caleb Page is also the state's third best in the 181.5 weight class where he finished with 1,420 pounds.

The senior broke a state record in bench press with 390 pounds, which went along with a pair of personal records in the squat (540) and deadlift (500).

Justin Tucker made his final meet a success as he was fourth overall in the 148.5 weight class where he tallied a personal-record 1,180 pounds thanks to a setting new marks in all three lifts. The senior had a 495 squat, 275 bench press and a 450 deadlift.

Paradise's youngest competitor is now one of the state's strongest in the 242.5 division where he took ninth place with 1,340 pounds.

The freshman, who entered the meet ranked 11th, had personal-bests in overall weight, squat (540) and bench press (370), and tied his mark in the deadlift at 500.