Crawford: Powerlifter headed to state gets big sendoff

A local powerlifter headed to state competition this weekend had a big sendoff at school Friday morning as the top-ranked athlete in the state is looking to bring home some hardware.

Crawford High School junior Seth Kohlscheen won the Class 2A regional powerlifting tournament in West to advance to Saturday’s state meet in Abilene by squatting 700 pounds, benching 385 and pumping 585 pounds on the dead lift.

On Saturday, he’ll go for gold.

“He is very humble so he doesn't like to brag about himself,” his mother,

Jodi Kohlscheen, said.

“But he is very strong. It kind of makes me nervous sometimes when I know he had 700 pounds on a squat but I’m just proud of him and I cheer him on and tell him I don't care if you get first place or last place, I’m still proud of him.”

It’s pride that’s felt throughout the tight-knit community of Crawford.

On Friday morning, students and staff gathered in the school to rally around the 55-foot-11, 300-pound athlete.

“We expect big things from Seth because he’s a big guy and let me tell you this, he is the number one ranked super heavy weight in the Division 3 in this state,” Seth’s powerlifting and offensive line coach Greg Jacobs told the crowd.

“I know him well enough to know he’s going to stay that way by the end of tomorrow.”

Jodi says that her husband, Bob, calls their son a gym rat because during the summer he’ll sometimes lift as often as three times a day.

It’s a passion that sort of developed by accident after a football coach encouraged Seth to give powerlifting a whirl if for nothing else than to be better prepared for the football field, his parents said.

“Powerlifting is not a UIL sport. It’s his own thing and Crawford has a good program and he wanted to lift weights to get strong for football and his coach wanted him to compete. Once he got in to start lifting he realized he really liked it,” his mom said.

Jodi says the unexpected journey has been a fun one even if it means occasionally cooking a few more meals at home.

“Well, he tries to eat healthy but sometimes he's like a bottomless pit,” Jodi said.

“But he doesn’t eat junk food or anything like that. He’s pretty solid. He'll flex up and say ‘momma hit my stomach.’ It’s like a brick wall.”

Jodi said all of Crawford is rallying behind her big boy who took the last few moment of the pep rally Friday to thank the town.

“Thanks for all the support,” Seth said.

“Hopefully I can come home with some hardware.”