They've won national and world titles. These powerlifters, though, aren't in it for glory.
Pat Huntley has been powerlifting competitively for nearly 25 years.
Ray Carr started powerlifting just last year.
Huntley, Carr and 19 other powerlifters from Erie County will soon share a competition platform at the 100% RAW powerlifting world championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They range in age from 16 to 78 and in weight from 148 to 275 pounds.
They’ll compete in different classes and chase different records. Most of these athletes, however, were drawn to powerlifting for the same reasons.
For Carr and the newer ones, those reasons made them quickly invest in the sport. For Huntley and the veterans, powerlifting has kept them coming back for decades — and they plan to stay in it for decades more.
'It feels like I’m back in high school wrestling'
Ray Carr squatted 430 pounds at the 100% RAW American Challenge in Bedford, Ohio.
That was in June. Now, the 29-year-old is training toward Nov. 16, when he’ll lift at the world championships.
Carr competes at 275 pounds and the American Challenge was his third career meet. Formerly a multi-sport athlete at Northwestern High School, powerlifting has been a throwback for Carr.
“It feels like I’m back in high school wrestling again,” Carr said after completing his Monday training session at Joe’s Gym on West Ridge Road. “When I was in high school, I wasn’t one of the top guys, so I didn’t get recognized. With this stuff, the numbers don’t lie. It’s the best training I’ve had.”
Powerlifting competitions involve three movements: Squat, bench and deadlift. Competitors are divided by age and weight, and each gets three chances at each lift.
Ideally, an athlete will lift progressively more weight over their three attempts. Judges determine whether the lift is satisfactory and the athlete’s best lift from each of the three movements are added together to form their score, or “total.”
These competitions happen at hundreds of gymnasiums, fire halls and convention centers across the United States and the world. Powerlifting has grown and evolved over decades and has spurred a handful of federations which regulate it.
It’s an escape for its competitors, most of whom work regular jobs and fit training into their free time.
“The really good part about training and competing in powerlifting is that there are no excuses,” said Huntley, a 57-year-old who has recently competed at 181 and 198 pounds. “You either can lift it or you cannot lift it. Egos and attitudes get checked at the door. It doesn’t matter what you weigh or what class you’re in; you give your best at whatever level it is and you have a good time with it.”
From last year: Joe's Gym lifter sets Special Olympian records with 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation
Health, fitness and friendships
Huntley and Jeff Lawson have been training partners for 25 years. On this evening, they traded pulls at the deadlift platform, stacking plates on either side of a barbell until it was sufficiently loaded.
Lawson, a 58-year-old 275-pounder, deadlifted 600 pounds at the American Challenge. With a 513-pound squat and 287-pound bench, his 1,400-pound total was the top mark for the Joe’s Gym Elite Power team that won the meet.
Friendships like that of Huntley and Lawson are common on the Joe’s team, as are family connections. For many, the sense of community among powerlifters is just as enticing as the competition.
“When you’re competing in sports and (you're) young, you compete to compete,” Huntley said. “When you’re competing and lifting as you get older, you’re doing it for your health first and competing second. Every single person in here is doing it for their health first.”
Improving personal health is why Joe Orengia, the owner of Joe’s Gym and coach of its powerlifting team, began powerlifting in the first place.
Orengia returned to Erie from the Vietnam War in 1968 at a measly 130 pounds and started lifting with local competitors who taught him about strength training, eating protein and taking vitamins. By 1973, he was deadlifting 555 pounds while weighing 148 himself, and in 1976, he opened a basement gym.
Orengia began fielding powerlifting teams in the 1980s. By the late 1990s, he was taking teams to the Amateur Athletic Union’s world championships — and winning them.
Now 77 years old, Orengia plans to continue coaching until someone beats him.
Finding a new home
There are several domestic federations which govern competitive powerlifting, including 100% RAW powerlifting, in which the Joe’s team has competed since 2012. The United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) is the nation’s largest, whereas the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) and United States Powerlifting (USAPL) are other popular bodies.
These groups use different standards to regulate their meets, minute differences which would take a book to explain. The most common inconsistencies involve weigh-in timing, permitted lifting gear, drug testing and what exactly constitutes a successful lift.
The Joe’s team stopped attending Amateur Athletic Union meets in 2000 when it stopped testing for performance-enhancing drugs. The group limited itself to local, state and regional meets until 2012, when it won the first-ever 100% RAW world championships in Las Vegas.
“I wanted an organization that drug tests and I don’t want the gear,” Orengia said. “We go out there, look normal and we still lift great weight.”
This federation allows the use of a weightlifting belt, wrist wraps and knee sleeves. It does not permit elbow or knee wraps, compression clothing or sport-specific equipment such as a bench suit.
Orengia likened the use of a bench suit, and similar performance-enhancing equipment, to a swimmer wearing flippers.
What’s their secret?
Joe’s Gym has won the master’s division at every 100% RAW world championship meet since 2012. Master’s is for athletes aged 40 and up, one of several age groups that also include youth (11 and under), teen (12-19), junior (20-24), open (25-34) and sub-master’s (35-39).
The team practices twice weekly, training to failure on each athlete’s final set. Four movements are at the heart of their programming — squat, bench, deadlift and overhead press.
They strive to eat 100% organic food, especially hormone-free red meat and other quality proteins. Everything they do is calculated.
“(Orengia) has me on a good program for eating with proteins and vitamins and everything,” Carr said. “You need that stuff.”
Carr does heavy welding and fabrications by trade, and even after 12-hour days, he looks forward to training.
“I came back to something just like when we played sports in school — clean, fun, enjoying it,” Huntley said. “There are a lot of people in here that were in something. They might not have been in the best at that, but then they get back in here and they have this new team.”
Joe’s will take 21 athletes to worlds, including 10 master’s, eight open and three juniors. Ten will be selected to count toward team scoring.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world meet was attended by about a dozen countries. The team now expects six nations to attend, plus domestic lifters.
“There’s always another age group; always something else right there,” Huntley said. “Time is not a friend to anybody. You watch the numbers, and the numbers don’t lie. It’s all about staying healthy as you get older in mind, body and spirit.”
Joe's Gym recent results
Below are Joe’s Gym Elite Power Team results from the American Challenge in Bedford, Ohio.
Christine Cedzo: 54 years old, 165 pounds – 138 squat, 94 bench, 298 deadlift
Arianna Rochester: 21 years old, 198 pounds – 298 squat, 138 bench, 402 deadlift
Ben Nola: 15 years old, 148 pounds – 237 squat, 171 bench, 342 deadlift
Doug Nola: 52 years old, 165 pounds – 265 squat, 198 bench, 364 deadlift
Rich Smith: 30 years old, 181 pounds – 370 squat, 265 bench, 502 deadlift
Jared Cedzo: 21 years old, 181 pounds – 325 squat, 188 bench, 452 deadlift
Chris Cedzo: 54 years old, 181 pounds – 237 squat, 165 bench, 320 deadlift
Jordan Peterson: 25 years old, 220 pounds – 502 squat, 320 bench, 562 deadlift
Jeff Lawson: 58 years old, 275 pounds – 513 squat, 287 bench, 600 deadlift
Ray Carr: 28 years old, 275 pounds – 430 squat, 287 bench, 535 deadlift
Note: For those interested in powerlifting locally, a USPA meet is scheduled Dec. 2 at Crossfit FBO/212 Degrees Fitness on Chestnut Street. USPA membership is required to enter.
Offseason training: Erie-area youth wrestling clubs keep training going during summer
Q&A: How Erin Vandiver plans to build Gannon into a national women's wrestling power
More: Late-season pushes affect the latest District 10 Power 4 Football Rankings
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter,@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: For Erie PA's world champion powerlifters, health takes priority
