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Bluffton powerlifting team shares its journey

...and thanks Bluffton school board

Note: On Dec. 20 Greg Denecker told The Icon that Andrew Spallinger was approved to assist powerlifting team members in the Ricky Matter Center. Click here for the school board story leading up to this.

The following article is submitted by Tanya Augsburger, with contributions from the Bluffton powerlifting team, their parents, and former Bluffton powerlifting team coach, Kelly Prichard.

On Saturday, Dec. 15, the Bluffton powerlifting team won five medals at the Northeastern High School meet. They took 5th place as a team, with Kayla VanAtta placing 2nd in her weight class, and Shyanne Mortimer, Elizabeth Bourassa, Elizabeth Swisher and Morgan Nusbaum each placing 1st in their respective weight classes​.

Bluffton powerlifting has had a place in Bluffton since 2011, thanks to the work of Coach Prichard. For the last three years, Andrew Spallinger, a 2015 Bluffton graduate, football player and powerlifter during his high school years, served as assistant powerlifting coach and was approved to volunteer his time in the Ricky Matter Center.

There is an increase in interest in the sport, with an average of approximately 30 students in training and competing each year between 2015 and 2018.

Bluffton schools are blessed with the Ricky Matter Center (RMC), a state-of-the-art training facility. The Ricky Matter Center, at the high school football stadium, was purchased in part by the community and outfitted with phenomenal apparatus supplied by Rogue, the most sought after supplier of strength training equipment.

It was built with the intent for use by Bluffton students in memory of a well-loved high school athlete Ricky Matter. It is, and has been, the ideal setting for the Bluffton powerlifting team to work on perfecting member’s individual form and improve upon lifting abilities as they prepare for meets.

The powerlifting team is permitted to lift at the RMC during open lifting hours, recently expanded to time slots on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 - 8 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:30 – 7 p.m., Fridays 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 9-11 a.m.

Kelly Prichard resigned her position as athletic instructor of the Ricky Matter Center and moved on to Allen East this fall. This left powerlifting students, both those who have participated in powerlifting before and those just starting, to determine how to continue the team’s success as an entirely student-led interest group.

Those with prior powerlifting training and experience made the trip to the first two meets of the season to compete, riding on what they had learned from past instruction and coaching. As the team had no one to take on the role of coach at the meets, these students sought help from other schools that they compete against. Coaches from these other schools saw the need and embraced and supported the team.

Since the season began this fall, the older powerlifting members had been willingly sacrificing their valuable and limited lifting time to instruct new and younger members, sharing their passion for the sport and introducing the others to its benefits. This is the only instruction these new members received at the RMC at the time, outside occasional on-site instruction, from a supervisor on duty to oversee all of the students working out during each particular block of open lifting time and be sure they were lifting safely. Until recently, and for unknown reasons, assistant coach Spallinger was not permitted to enter the RMC to help the team prepare for this season.

Until now.

In response to this on-going need for a leader on site at the RMC, approximately 30 powerlifting team members, past and current, and a number of concerned community members aware of the situation, attended the Dec. 17 Bluffton school board meeting.

During the allotted 30-minute involvement of visitors time slot, many of these people stood up and voiced their concerns about the need for the school to support the team by allowing the volunteer instructor to enter the RMC and work with the team.

Many powerlifters (former and current) gave testimonies of how powerlifting gave them a place to belong, to find encouragement, to improve one’s self esteem and physical health, and to give them something to be a part of that kept them out of trouble.

Many did not find success in other winter sports, were cut, or never played. Some of these Bluffton students cannot play the school sports due to health issues and yet still want to be active through the winter.

Some haven’t had an interest in sports until recently and powerlifting attracts them because it provides a positive experience where success is based on the individual athlete’s input of time and effort.

A coach from Bluffton told how powerlifting is an asset to the sports made available to area students, as building and maintaining a strong core in the off season and through the winter months would help to prevent many injuries throughout the year.

Powerlifting is an activity that is empowering and offers lifelong benefits built into these kids, and from the testimonies given by graduated students, the benefits last long past graduation.

The board members graciously listened to everyone who spoke, some applauding them for speaking up about something the students are passionate about, but at the time, did not discuss or make a decision on the matter.

The persistence and courage of the powerlifting team and their supporters paid off. Thursday afternoon, the team was informed by Superintendent Greg Denecker that volunteer Andrew Spallinger is now permitted to enter the Ricky Matter Center during open lifting time.

The team and their supporters express their sincere thanks and appreciation to the Bluffton school board for not only hearing, but listening to the heart of the team as it sought to move forward this season.

You have made it possible for the team to have the level of training needed to continue to perform well at meets, to grow and to offer this opportunity and all of its positive benefits to other youth down the road.

The next meets are Jan. 12 at Bellefontaine High School and Jan. 19 at Kenton Ridge High School. Everyone is encouraged to come check it out. Like and follow ​Bluffton Powerlifting​ on Facebook and Instagram and stay tuned to the Icon for future meet results.

Additional Information
Bluffton powerlifting team’s results over the years, provided by former coach Kelly Prichard:

2012 - 1st in Bench Kylee Barnett

2013 - 4th overall Hannah Conley, 5th overall Gabby Sneary, 9th overall Alex Roob, 10th overall Darby Prichard

2014 - 1st overall top deadlift Arielle ONeal, 3rd overall top squat Hannah Conley, 3rd overall Olivia Amstutz, 4th overall Jaden Barhorst, 6th overall Ana Spiridigliozzi, 4th overall Andrew Spallinger, 5th overall Joey Bertka

2015 - 1st overall top squat and bench Hannah Conley, 2nd overall Arielle O’Neal, 3rd overall top bench Jaden Barhorst, 3rd overall Chase Koontz, 3rd overall Emily Metzger, 4th overall top deadlift Justine Mitchell, 4th overall Darby Prichard, 5th overall top deadlift Ana Spiridigliozzi, 5th overall Morgan Nusbaum, Olivia Amstutz, Andrew Spallinger, 6th overall Leah Conley, Allison Wise

2016 - 2nd overall top squat Hannah Conley, 3rd overall top deadlift Justine Mitchell, 3rd overall Arielle O’Neal, 3rd overall Brady Basinger, 4th overall Chase Koontz, 5th overall Lily Shadle, 9th overall Sam Crisp

2017 -1st overall top deadlift Allison Wise, 1st overall top deadlift Shyanne Mortimer, 1st overall top squat Arielle O’Neal, 1st overall top deadlift Chase Koontz, 2nd overall top deadlift Katie Wright, 2nd overall Grace Hill, 3rd overall Kim Gordon and Amelia Mitchell, 5th overall Darby Prichard and Jayme Siefer, 6th overall Garrett Habagger and Morgan Nusbaum, 8th overall Chad Veit, 10th overall Levi McClain, 11th overall Daniel Monday

2018 - 1st overall top bench and deadlift Allison Wise, 1st overall top squat and deadlift Arielle O’Neal, 2nd overall Shyanne Mortimer, 2nd overall top bench Chad Veit, 2nd overall Zavier O’Neal, 3rd overall Isaiah Schelb, 4th overall Lizzie Bourassa, 5th overall top deadlift Katie Wright, 6th overall top deadlift Garrett Habegger, 6th overall MaKaighla Morris and Kim Gordon, 9th overall Braydon Businger, 11th overall Daniel Monday

Here is the powerlifting schedule for the rest of the season:
Jan. 12 - Bellefontaine HS
Jan. 19 - Kenton Ridge High School
Feb. 2 - Kenton High School
Feb. 9 - Tri-Village HS
Feb. 16 - Shawnee HS
Feb. 23 - Bradford HS
March 9 - State meet, Division I-4 at Kenton HS
March 16 - State meet, Division s5-7 at Kenton HS

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