Talented U.S. Team Aims To Defend Team Titles At Youth World Weightlifting Championships

Hampton Morris competes in the men's youth 61kg at the 2021 USA Weightlifting National Championships.

 

USA Weightlifting has sent a stacked squad of 20 athletes to the 2021 IWF Youth World Championships, which starts Tuesday, Oct. 5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All eyes will be on this team as both the U.S. men and U.S. women are defending team champions from the 2019 edition.

When the United States hosted Youth Worlds for the first time two years ago in Las Vegas, it also marked the first time the U.S. won the men’s team title and women’s team title at Youth Worlds as well as the first time the U.S. won both team trophies at a single world championship at any level.

As Saudia Arabia hosts its first IWF world championship over the next eight days, the U.S. is eager to repeat its dominance from 2019 and is off to a strong start having qualified the maximum 20 athletes, 10 of each gender. The next closest country in team size is Russia with 17, followed by Iran with 14.

The meet features 223 athletes in total from 51 nations.

Russia and Saudi Arabia also have 10 men each. The American men, who will compete in seven of 10 weight classes, are:
Timothy Davis (96kg; Owensboro, Ky.; ODC Barbell)
Raymond Downes (+102kg; Port Orange, Fla.; AMP Training)
Ashby Floyd (81kg; McDonough, Ga.; Floyd Farms Weightlifting)
Hutch Friend (67kg; Alexandria, Va.; Team Divergent)
Logan Lockwood (49kg; South Lyon, Mich.; 4 Star Strength)
Kyle Martin Jr. (81kg; Fleetwood, Pa.; Garage Strength)
Hampton Morris (61kg; Marietta, Ga.; Unattached)
Dominik Polverini (61kg; Bloomington, Ind.; 1kilo)
Keontay Price (89kg; Savannah, Ga.; Coastal Empire Weightlifting)
Colin Reis (+102kg; Denison, Iowa; Jake Pudenz Strength & Power)

The U.S. has the most women, while Iran has eight and Russia seven. The American women, who will compete in six of 10 weight classes, are:
Alyssa Ballard (76kg; Amarillo, Texas; Panhandle Power Olympic Weightlifting)
Katie Estep (55kg; Auburn, Wash.; Alpha Barbell)
Amber Fazio (71kg; Orlando, Fla.; Catalyst Athletics)
Brianna Marquez (64kg; Mission, Texas; BEXAR Barbell)
Haley Reeves (81kg; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Unattached)
Mia Rhodes (71kg; Deland, Fla.; Vero Beach Weightlifting)
Isabella Rivera (76kg; Leesburg, Va.; CHFP Weightlifting)
Amanda Robles (+81kg; Oakley, Calif.; Team Divergent)
Haley Trinh (64kg; San Francisco, Calif.; Team Divergent)|
Miranda Ulrey (55kg; Grantville, Pa.; Fourteen Forty Strength)

The U.S. team ranges in age from 14 (Kyle Martin Jr., who turns 15 on Oct. 16) to 17, with 13 of the athletes being the latter in the 17-and-under event.

The American contingent is responsible for 30 of the standing youth American records, including 22 set by three members of the men’s squad.

Hampton Morris currently holds two junior American records at 61kg: the clean and jerk (155kg) and total (271kg). His clean and jerk is also the youth world record.

Twelve of the athletes competing this week medaled at the Youth Pan American Championships in August: Alyssa Ballard, Timothy Davis, Katie Estep, Amber Fazio, Logan Lockwood, Martin Jr., Dominik Polverini, Keontay Price, Amanda Robles, Colin Reis, Mia Rhodes, Haley Trinh.

The U.S. won 16 medals at the 2019 Youth World Championships, including five for totals.

Hutch Friend and Morris return from that team, though in different weight classes. Friend was sixth at 49kg then and has since moved up to 67kg. Morris was 10th in 55kg and will contest for a medal at 61kg in Jeddah.

Two athletes on this year’s team follow in the footsteps of their older siblings who competed in Las Vegas two years ago: Haley Reeves and Rhodes. Reeves’ sister, Olivia, swept the 71kg silver medals then; Rhodes’ brother Coby was eighth at 61kg.

Jeddah is the second world championships of the year for Estep, Robles and Trinh, all of whom featured at the IWF Junior World Championships in May in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Estep and Morris, meanwhile, were recently named to the team that will compete at the inaugural Junior Pan American Games, to be held Nov. 25-Dec. 5 in Cali, Colombia.

A live stream will be available at usaw.live when competition begins on Tuesday. A competition schedule of the U.S. team can be found below in order of session date/time, with all times in Eastern:

 

Logan Lockwood;  49kg A;  Tuesday, Oct. 5, 8 a.m.

Dominik Polverini;  61kg B; Wednesday, Oct. 6, 3 a.m.

Hampton Morris;  61kg A;  Wednesday, Oct. 6, 12 p.m.

Hutch Friend;  67kg B;  Thursday, Oct. 7, 3 a.m.

Katie Estep;  55kg A;  Thursday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m.

Miranda Ulrey;  55kg A;  Thursday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m.

Ashby Floyd;  81kg B;  Friday, Oct. 8, 3 a.m.

Kyle Martin Jr.;  81kg B;  Friday, Oct. 8, 3 a.m.

Brianna Marquez;  64kg A;  Saturday, Oct. 9, 6 a.m.

Haley Trinh;  64kg A;  Saturday, Oct. 9, 6 a.m.

Keontay Price;  89kg A;  Saturday, Oct. 9, 9 a.m.

Amber Fazio;  71kg A;  Saturday, Oct. 9, 12 p.m.

Mia Rhodes;  71kg A;  Saturday, Oct. 9, 12 p.m.

Alyssa Ballard;  76kg A;  Sunday, Oct. 10, 7 a.m.

Isabella Rivera;  76kg A;  Sunday, Oct. 10, 7 a.m.

Timothy Davis;  96kg A;  Sunday, Oct. 10, 10 a.m.

Haley Reeves;  81kg A;  Monday, Oct. 11, 7 a.m.

Amanda Robles;  +81kg A;  Tuesday, Oct. 12, 4 a.m.

Raymond Downes;  +102kg A;  Tuesday, Oct. 12, 7 a.m.

Colin Reis;  +102kg A;  Tuesday, Oct. 12, 7 a.m.