Power lifters qualify for world championships

Wesley Beach won his title with this 650-lb. deadlift.

Just three years after the Mountain Home Barbell (MHB) powerlifting club started, it has produced its first three national champions, which has qualified those three for the world championships.

Gena Doyle, 40, Jessica Doyle, 17, and club head coach Wesley Beach, 45, competed at the USA Powerlifting National Championships in Aurora Colo., on July 26 and all three won in their respective divisions.

The competition was officially the largest powerlifting meet in the nation's history, bringing in 465 powerlifters from all over the United States.

Jessica Doyle, who recently graduated from Mountain Home High School, won the women's teen RAW division with a 240-lb. squat, a 120-lb. bench press and a 280-lb. deadlift for a three-lift total of 640 pounds.

Gena Doyle, Jessica's mother and a working mom of three, took first place in the women's division with a 240-lb. squat, a 105-.lb bench-press and a 308-lb. deadlift for a three-lift total of 653 pounds.

Meanwhile, Beach, a civilian firefighter at Mountain Home AFB, won the 120-kg. division with a three-lift total of 1,550 pounds. Beach said the highlight of the meet for him was pulling a 650-lb. deadlift to win the competition.

The three national champions qualified for the Team USA Powerlifing World Team, and are now looking for sponsors in hopes of attending the World Powerlifting Championships, which will be held in Finland in June of 2015.

For more details, see this week's Mountain Home News.