On Feb. 7, the ETSU weightlifting team will be hosting the Handle Barbell Invitational at the Basler Center for Physical Activity (CPA). The purpose of the invitational is to raise funds to send the team to the USA Weightlifting National Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, this spring.
“We have an excellent weightlifting team, easily top three in the nation,” said Marten Baur, assistant coach for the ETSU weightlifting team.
The team, led by Head Coach Satoshi Mizuguchi, typically places in the top three at nationals. This year, they are striving for first place. The hope for the Handle Barbell Invitational is to raise enough funds to send all 17 ETSU team members to the competition.
Mars Hill University, which Baur says is great competition for ETSU, will be competing, as will three students from Science Hill High School. ETSU has a partnership with the school that enables a graduate student from the university, initially Baur, to run a weightlifting club at Science Hill.
There will also be weightlifters from the general public and the non-scholarship ETSU weightlifting club. This club is open to all students and is led by Caleb Wheakland, a member of the scholarship team.
“Being able to get coached by Caleb is pretty awesome,” Baur said. “I mean, he’s number one in the nation, so having that elite level coaching and athleticism at our disposal, we’re really taking advantage of that.”
The Handle Barbell Invitational in the CPA is just one example of what the ETSU weightlifting team is doing to get involved.
“We’re hoping to really spread the word. We have some phenomenal athletes…some of the best in the nation. We continuously rank top three in the nation for the university team and want the public to know that we’re here,” Baur said. “We want campus to know that we’re about to lift some crazy weights, oftentimes over 400 pounds over our heads, and we want people to show up and support us.”
