If you need a pick me up or some motivation to get yourself going today, then look no further than Texas powerlifter Joseph Pena. This past weekend the Texas High School Power Association held their annual Boys State Meet. Pena was in attendance competing in the Division II category in the super heavyweight (SHW) class.
Pena squatted what would be an IPF Sub-Junior would record with a 1,025 lb equipped back squat. Keep in mind, he’s 18 and currently a senior in high school.
This video is the definition of goosebumps caused by a heavy lift. From when the crowd gets behind him and goes wild to the point of silence in anticipation of the white lights…everything is perfect.
The meet was held in Abilene, Texas, and Pena’s home high school is Holy Cross High School. He finished first in his division and put up an insane 2,145 lb total, which would be another IPF sub-junior world record. His final lifts were the 1,025 lb squat, a 515 lb bench press, and a 605 lb deadlift. In addition to his first place finish, to no surprise, Pena is also ranked first in the SHW Division II standings for Region five on the Texas High School Power Association’s site.
If you recall, less than a month ago we wrote about this young lifter’s epic 1,005 lb equipped squat. He recorded this squat at the Holy Cross Invitational on February 25th.
We’re only three months into 2017 and Pena’s performances have all been increasingly more epic. He’s competed in seven meets since the start of 2017 for the THSPA, and with every meet his numbers continue to rise.
His bench press and deadlift have each increased around 40-65 lbs respectively (in competition), while his squat has sky rocketed. On January 12th, Pena squatted 800 lbs at the TSS-UTSA meet and totaled 1,820 lbs. Now we’re seeing him squat 1,025 lbs, or 225 lbs more less than three months later.
He’s only 18 years old and is already recording numbers that are challenging the world records in the age class (junior) above him. To say his future looks bright would be an understatement. It’s going to be interesting to see where Pena’s strength will take him over the course of the next few years.
Feature image screenshot from Michael Brown YouTube channel.
