PALESTINE —
In the world of amateur competitive powerlifting, there’s not much that Palestine’s Arron Gonzales hasn’t accomplished.
The 2009 Westwood High School grad set the state squat record — 840 pounds — at the state powerlifting meet his senior year. He finished second at the meet, but was named the meet’s outstanding lifter. He also finished third as a sophomore.
From there, he moved on to collegiate lifting, and is currently lifting for the powerlifting team at Sam Houston State University.
But, beginning Aug. 28, Gonzales is going to try and outlift the world, when he takes part in the Junior World Powerlifting Championships in Krekaw, Poland.
“I feel like I’m doing what I set out to do,” Gonzales said recently. “To represent the U.S.A., it feels big.”
Gonzales qualified for the event by winning the U.S.A. Powerlifting (USAPL) men’s nationals in June in Florida.
He captured the gold medal there, and vaulted himself to third in the world rankings in his class in the process.
He said he and the other two lifters in the top-three — a German and a Russian — are only separated by less than 20 pounds.
To many that may seem like a lot of weight to make up, but Gonzales said it’s not so much.
“It depends on how you put it. If you’re fully maxed, it’s a lot to catch up on,” he said. “But, seeing as how they ranked me off of my last meet, I think I have a shot at first.”
To do that, he said he’ll have to “make no mistakes.”
Along with all of the lifting he does within the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF), Gonzales is also very involved with the Natural Athlete Strength Association (NASA).
NASA organizes meets with lifters committed to “drug free powerlifting.” As Gonzales put it, it’s mostly “diet and working out.”
At the NASA World Cup in July in Oklahoma City, Gonzales staked his claim to yet another bit of history.
No one in the history of NASA lifting had ever before captured three-straight World Cup titles.
That is, until Gonzales won the junior division for 2012, his third title in a row.
“It makes me feel like I’ve done what I’ve set out to do. I’ve accomplished what I set out in store for myself.”
He said he takes pride in the lifting he does within NASA, because it means as a lifter he is “constant.”
“It’s not just a one-time deal,” he said. “You can do the weight for sure.”
While lifting and vying for a world title are priority No. 1 for the trip to Poland, Gonzales also is allowing himself to be a bit of a tourist too.
No. 1 on his to-do list? Ride the train.
“I’ve never been to Europe,” he said. “I hear they have a really good railway system, and I want to see what that’s like.”
His parents will accompany him on the trip, and Gonzales said they have been huge in supporting him in all of his lifting throughout the years.
He also said he wouldn’t be where he is without the help of so many other people.
“(I’d want to give) a big thank you to everyone who helps me,” he said. “People don’t realize how much goes into it. It takes a lot of people.”
Even last month, a month removed from his national title, the gravity of what he had and was accomplishing hadn’t really hit him, Gonzales said.
“Until we get on the plane ride over there, I don’t think it’s going to hit.”
Sports editor Justin Rains can be reached via email at jrains@palestineherald.com
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