SEYMOUR — The Naugatuck Valley League came together Saturday at Seymour High School to proclaim who is the strongest of them all the NVL weightlifting championship.
Woodland placed third in the 14-team field by putting up 11,400 pounds. Naugy racked up 10,220 pounds to earn seventh. Wolcott took the title by lifting 12,100 pounds.
The Hawks were led by Coby Vaccarelli, who finished second in the bench (290) and third in the power clean (250) to win the 181-200-pound class with an overall score of 910. Woodland’s Sean McAllen was first in the power clean (290) and second in the squat (375) as the Hawks dominated the class.
Alex Varhol finished second in the squat (500) and third in the power clean (265) in the over-220-pound class. Varhol was the top lifter for the Hawks putting up a total of 1,045.
“We had big contributions all the way around,” Woodland football coach Tim Phipps said. “All of the credit goes to our strength and conditioning coordinator Chris Moffo.
“Chris plans the workouts and the conditioning program and for the third year in a row we have finished in the top three winning the NVL in 2013. With that kind of continued success he deserves all the credit.”
Woodland also received big numbers from Jason Rodriguez and Austin Torres as they both lifted 800. Captain Jake Laliberte and Nick Denze both contributed to the top three finish.
Naugatuck had two first-place winners, but didn’t have the depth to compete with the top three teams in the league. Dan Jones finished first in the bench (245) in the 160-and-under class. Logan Bond took first in the squat (405) in the 201-220-pound class.
