2001 runnerup Shelton unseats Davis as boys powerlifting champion

"We just didn't have the numbers to compete. Everybody ahead of us had a full team of 10 lifters and we were sitting there with five," CHS coach Larry McCutcheon noted.

But what the White Salmon boys lacked in quantity they made up for in quality, starting with senior Mike Wild.

Wild earned CHS's only victory of the day, taking first in the 220-pound weight class for his first state championship.

He finished eighth in the same class a year ago because he failed to complete a dead lift. This year, though, in his second state competition, he wasn't to be denied.

Wild lifted a best-ever aggregate of 1,320 pounds -- including a monster 560-pound dead lift -- to edge Cody Simmons of Shelton by 20 pounds.

Senior David Avila and sophomore Zane Howard completed CHS's scoring with second-place finishes in the 114-pound and 132-pound classifications.

Avila, a first-time state competitor, picked up 685 pounds in his best squat, bench and dead lifts. His performance marked a 95-pound improvement over his previous personal record.

Howard, another newcomer on the state powerlifting scene, beat his PR by 15 pounds, elevated 955 pounds overall.

Sophomore James Cowan and junior David Simmons provided eighth-place efforts but finished out of the points.

Cowan put up 1,085 pounds in his first powerlifting competition of any kind.

Simmons, who was fourth at state last year in the 132-pound class, moved up to 148 for this year's meet.

He was in the running for a top-four finish after the squat and bench press rotations. But he came up empty in the dead lift, missing on his three attempts.