WOODVILLE &045; For Wilkinson County’s powerlifting team, it’s the same old, same old.

For the third consecutive year, the Wildcats won the MHSAA Class 3A State Championship Saturday, this time running away with the win over second place Charleston, the North State champions.

Wilkinson had four individual champions in the 12 weight classes at the event and score a total of 37 points, 13 more than Charleston managed.

Kelsey Jenkins, Urenzo Ephion, Alvin Fosselman and Kendrick McDonald each won their weight class at the event.

The team, 12 members strong, was almost loaded down with the hardware they took home from the state competition including a trophy for the team victory and medals for individual awards. Luckily, these guys don’t mind carrying that extra weight.

For this team, winning has become a tradition. Now that the team has won three sate titles, recruiting new athletes is easy, Webb said.

&uot;Today everyone wants to be a powerlifter,&uot; Webb said. &uot;If we won a state title in football, everyone would want to do that.&uot;

The team has four seniors, some of whom have been there to experience all three state titles.

&uot;We went to state every year I’ve been here,&uot; Jeremy Hamlin said.

Hamlin finished third in the 123-pound division, scoring some points to keep his team afloat in the morning lifts at the state meet., when things weren’t going easy for the Wildcats. A look at the scoreboard after the morning lifts &045; when the smaller weight classes compete &045; might have worried some of Wilkinson’s supporters. The Wildcats had 13 points, putting them in a tie with Port Gibson for second place behind Charleston, which had 18.

Then the big boys took center stage.

&uot;Our big kids got out there and we scored 24 points in the afternoon,&uot; Webb said. &uot;That’s as many as Charleston finished with total.&uot;

Fosselman, Jenkins and McDonald, competing in the higher weight classes, helped Wilkinson take control of the meet. The four champions for the Wildcats scored 28 points by themselves, enough to win the meet over Charleston by themselves.

But key to winning the team competition is simply qualifying enough athletes for the state event. Ten of the Wildcat’s 12 team members advanced through the division and south state meets to make the state event.

Eight of those ten &045; the four champions and Jeremy Hamlin, Roderio Hunt, Matthew Maidens and Shelton Woods &045; scored points for the Wildcats at the meet. Antonio Ross and Albert Dennis also competed at the state meet for Wilkinson.

The competition at the state meet is much higher than other meets, McDonald said.

&uot;There’s nothing like it,&uot; McDonald said. &uot;You have to step it up to a whole ‘nother level. There’s three lifts on everything and if you muss one, you can ruin your chances.&uot;

Getting the ball rolling was the tough part, Webb said.

&uot;We were runner-up three years to Pontotoc,&uot; Webb said. &uot;We had a burning desire to beat them and we did. From that point on, it’s ours to lose. That’s not to say it’s easy, but we don’t want anyone else to beat us.&uot;

From 2000-2002, the Wildcats had three second place finishes, all behind Pontotoc. Wilkinson and Pontotoc are the only teams to win three state titles in Class 3A.

And the winning tradition Webb and the Wildcats have created is self-perpetuating.

Take the case of Fosselman, a multi-sport athlete for the Wildcats. As a senior this year, Fosselman came out for powerlifting for the first time.

&uot;Coach had been begging me for years to do this,&uot; Fosselman said. &uot;He said I came just in time.&uot;

Fosselman, competing in the 275-pound weight class, not only won his division but set two state records in the process, squatting a record 615 pounds and amassing a total &045;squat, benchpress and dead lift together &045; of 1,495 pounds, also a record.

Fosselman said 1,495 is about 100 pounds more than he had lifted in previous meets.

&uot;He’s a good kid and a tremendously strong kid,&uot; Webb said. &uot;He’ll letter in five sports here and he got a scholarship to go play at Southwest (Mississippi Community College).&uot;

McDonald and Hamlin also set state records. McDonald squatted 605 pounds and Hamlin benched 220.

Even for a team that had set 12 state records in the past few years, setting four on one day is an impressive feat.

If Webb has his way, the Wildcats will be back next year to defend their title.

&uot;We’ll come back,&uot; Webb said. &uot;I’ll lose four seniors but we have eight coming back. The other kids want to come back.&uot;