By The Banner Staff
McCloud — The Bray-Doyle Donkeys were a dominate force in 8-man powerlifting. Within two years, they have now established themselves at the next level.
Bray-Doyle racked up 26 points to take runner-up at the Class A Meet in McCloud last weekend. Luther won the overall title with 30 points, followed by Bray-Doyle. Jacob Roller led the Donkeys with an individual state championship at 123.
It was a vast improvement for Bray-Doyle over last year when three qualifiers finished with three points. This year, the Donkeys qualified eight after winning a regional championship.
“It is quite an improvement,” Bray-Doyle coach Warren Butler said. “Anywhere else that I have been, it has been reflective of the next football season so we are looking for bigger things around here. They did an excellent job and they have worked hard.”
Both Roller and Kevin Norris were invited to the United States Powerlifting Nationals for their effort. Norris placed fourth at 132 and set a state record in the deadlift with 465 pounds.
Cody Lyles was 13th at 123 and Joshua Butler took 8th at 132 despite battling a broken back early in the season. Cody Douthit was 12th at 157. Chris Womack was 16th at 181 and Blake Grigsby was fifth overall in the deadlift with 485 pounds. Sammy Santiago competed at 198.
“We knew Joshua would be good but he broke his back and has been set back a little bit,” Butler said. “Norris dropped from 150 to 132 and we knew that he would be good. We also knew that Roller had a chance to be good and be an All-Stater and he did that. He had a phenomenal day.”
Roller was coming off of a regional championship and was a favorite at state. A regional championship set the tone for Bray-Doyle leading to state. Norris also won a regional championship while Butler and Grigsby finished second. Lyles was third as well as Douthit while Womack and Santiago took sixth.
Bray-Doyle has one more competition scheduled as it will compete at the National Tournament in Oklahoma City and will field both a full boys and full girls team.
The Donkeys also had a strong showing at Junior High State with Dylan Lyles leading the way. Lyles won overall state as a 7th grader at the 198 division. Flint Wilson was third at 132 while Samuel Henderson and Greg Perez each competed.
