The Cannon Falls weightlifting team finished their season stronger than ever at the state tournament in Moorhead, Minnesota. After working extremely hard throughout the entire winter season, the team got the opportunity to send a large amount of their team to the state tournament. With 8 girls and boys qualified this year, the team was overall proud of their astounding accomplishments this year. 

Everyone who qualified for state on the Bomber weightlifting team didn’t place any lower than third. Lifters who placed first at the event include August Wagner, Addison Richter, Colton Otto, and Kenny Otto. Those who placed second were Addison Miller and John Delk. Third place finishers were Clinton Otto and Miah Barsness. Overall, it was a very successful weekend in Moorhead. 

Miah Barsness, a senior on the weightlifting team, said that “our biggest accomplishment as a team was being able to send so many lifers and have every lifter place.” It isn’t every year Cannon Falls gets to witness an abundance of lifters at a variety of ages at the state tournament. “We were also fortunate enough to be able to place third as a team in the state,” Barsness concluded. 

While the team is proud of their success at state, the team is also proud of the new beginnings and new confidence the season brought. Barsness shared that “since it was my first year lifting competitively, I was just grateful to make it to state. I made it a lot farther than I thought I was going to.” She emphasized how proud she was that she could step out of her comfort zone to try something completely new. “It was nice to be able to prove that you can do anything if you put your mind to it,” Barsness stated. 

Lifting three days a week at 6:00 A.M. in the morning is no joke. But, perseverance and determination allowed the lifters to prevail. Their hard work was clearly proven sufficient at the state tournament. Now, the team is incredibly eager to continue lifting in the mornings, hitting new personal records, and watching next year’s season unfold.