NATCHEZ — A year after taking the MHSAA Class 5A state title, the Natchez High powerlifting team is back in the championships.

But this time, there won’t be a team title for the Bulldogs to win. They finished in a tie for fifth place with Oak Grove in the south state meet.

Seniors Keith Dee, who finished second last year in the 308-pound weight class, and Willie Newman, who finished ninth in the148-pound class, will return to the meet for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Cornelius Redding will attend the meet as a first-year lifter.

“We only advanced three lifters to the state meet,” coach Joseph Johnson said. “But we had some guys place fourth in the top three events (at regionals). Only the top three in the region meet advance to south state, and the top three there advance to the state meet in each weight class.”

The Bulldogs were state runners-up in 2007 before winning the title with 32 points in 2008. But six of last year’s state competitors were seniors, and the majority of the team graduated.

Now Natchez High has a team full of young lifters.

“This team has 15 sophomores on it, so in the next two years we should be back on top,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he had hoped to fare better in the regional meet, but four Bulldog lifters scratched out, meaning they could not qualify for the South State meet.

“When you lose four, it’s kind of hard to bounce back,” he said. “If they had been seasoned lifters, we probably would have gotten second place in South State.

“The guys had tears in their eyes, and I told them to remember that feeling for next year.”

Johnson said it was disheartening not to match up to the success of previous years, but it’s not unexpected when the majority of your team is no longer in place.

He said the team has used this season’s struggles as a stepping stone for next season.

“As a coach it’s hard because you’re hoping for more success from your young lifters,” Johnson said. “But the young people bounce back faster than the coaches do.

“It was a hard lesson, but a learning lesson. We have a game plan to stay in the weight room and be focused on the task at hand.”

The team will travel to Jackson tonight for pre-meet weigh-ins.

The meet, which will be at the Mississippi Coliseum, begins at 8 a.m. with session one — boys weight classes from 114 to 181 pounds and girls from 97 to 132 pounds — and session one awards will be handed out at 1 p.m.

Session two will start at 2:30 p.m., with boys from the 198-pound to super-heavyweight classes and girls from the 148-pound to super-heavyweight classes competing.

Session two’s awards will be given out at 8 p.m.