Fremont teen sets weightlifting record

FREMONT – A 14-year-old Fremont youth recently set a world record in benching at a weightlifting competition in Grove City.

Bryce Moreland beat the previous record of 105 pounds in the raw modern division for 14- and 15-year-olds in the 114-pound weight class with a 130-pound bench at the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate competition July 18.

Bryce is the son of Bryan and Betsy Moreland, owners of Ironcore Gym in Fremont. Bryan is Bryce’s weightlifting coach.

The RPS competition was Bryce’s first powerlifting meet.

“He’s been wrestling since kindergarten. He’s always worked out in some way, but this year, he got a little more serious with training,” Bryan said. “He didn’t want to play football this year. He just wanted to train in the gym and wrestle, so I said let’s try powerlifting.”

The RPS competition was a full power meet, incorporating squatting, benching and dead-lifting. Competitors were given three attempts for each event.

For the bench event, Bryan said, the plan for Bryce was to lift 110, 120 and 130 pounds consecutively for his three attempts to beat the previous 105-pound record.

Bryce lifted 110 in his first attempt, but the lift was ineligible.

“You have to lift on command, and he didn’t follow directions,” Bryan said.

On his second attempt, he benched 110 pounds, and on his third, he benched 125 pounds, setting a new world record. RPS competition rules allow for a fourth attempt when a world record has been made.

“The judge told us to go for a fourth attempt, because he still looked like he had something in him,” Bryan said. “He decided to try 130 pounds. He had never done 130 before, but he did it. It was cool. People were yelling his name. They were so supportive.”

Hundreds of people — both competitors and spectators — attended the event.

“He was a little celebrity. People were taking pictures with him,” Betsy said.

Even with all the attention and a world record under his belt, Bryce remains humble about his achievement.

“It feels pretty good,” was his summation of it all.

For Bryan, it was a defining dad moment.

“What a thing to share with your son. To see him take himself to that level — it was just crazy,” Bryan said.

In addition to setting the bench record, Bryce also tied for the world record for the total of the three events with a score of 505 combined, and he is in the top three in the world in dead-lifting.

When Bryce began powerlifting this year, he didn’t have his eyes set on world records. He simply wanted to do the best he could at the gym. Now that he’s a world champion, those early goals remain the same. Although he might compete in upcoming events, his focus is on simply getting better.

“I just want to keep improving,” he said.

Luckily for him, his dad owns Ironcore Gym, a private club at 109 N. Columbus Ave. that is open all day every day for its members.

“You come and go as you want. We have lots of great members. It’s a great culture,” Bryan said. “We’re not a fitness center. We’re just a little hole-in-the-wall, rugged, rough club where the main goal is to get better and stronger.”

Ironcore Gym can be reached at 567-342-2272.