Loughner becomes first sophomore in 1000 pound club
Zack Johnson, Reporter
April 6, 2010
Filed under Sports
Sophomore Matt Loughner became Belton’s youngest lifter to enter the 1000 pound club. Loughner has maxed out at 320 pounds on bench press, 265 pounds on hang clean, and 425 pounds on squat. Loughner‘s maxes on the three main lifts total 1010 pounds.
Loughner started his lifting over the summer, during an off-season weight program for football. Loughner‘s starting maxes were 215 pounds on bench press, 145 pounds on hang clean, and 150 pounds on squat. His low weight on squat was due to poor hip flexibility.
In the past two years, Casey Lewis has been the only other Belton lifter to reach the 1000 pound club. Coach Eric Scherfenberg said that it took Lewis until the last week of his Senior year to reach 1000 pounds.
“The fact that Matt has reached 1000 pounds in the second semester of his Sophomore year is amazing,” Scherfenberg said.
Since Scherfenberg took over as the advanced physical fitness coach, Loughner and Lewis are the only two weight lifters to enter the 1000 pound club.
Loughner has worked toward this goal all year, and was really excited when he finally reached the 1000 pound goal. He stayed dedicated to the weight room and listened to the advice given to him by Scherfenberg and his football coaches.
“I just worked really hard and didn‘t give up,” Loughner said.
Loughner has decided to work toward even higher weight-lifting goals over the next two years. He expects to enter the 1200 pound club his junior year, and then the 1500 pound club his senior year and bench press 500 pounds.
Loughner also enters weight lifting competitions throughout the area, where he competes with other top lifting students, and frequently wins the overall weight lifting award in his class. He will continue working on his lifts in school and at commpetitions.
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