Last Sunday, nearly 100 football players along with their family members, friends, and coaches packed the Palmerton High School gymnasium for the 7th annual Blue Bomber Football Invitational Weightlifting Competition.

For the first time in the seven years of the competition, Tamaqua captured the team championship on the strength of five gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. The 33 team points earned by the Blue Raiders were enough to comfortably better Salisbury's total of 25 and Lehighton's 24 for the team title.Four meet records were broken and one tied in the event and three of them were accomplished by TIMES NEWS area athletes. In the 14/15 age bracket, Palmerton's Josh Evans tied the 120 lb. class best ever and Salisbury's Dom Rossetti set a new standard in the 210 lb. class. In the 16-18 group, North Schuylkill's Jonathon Long set a new mark in the 150 lb. class on the strength of an outstanding bench press. Locally, Pete Conforti of Tamaqua squatted 450 and benched 275 to rewrite the record in the 210 lb. class, while Marian Catholic's Anthony Damiano smashed the previous record in the 225 lb. class by 25 pounds with lifts of 460 in the squat and 310 in the bench.In addition to establishing a new record, North Schuylkill's Long was names the meets Most Outstanding Lifter in the 16-18 year old category for his lifts of 330 in the squat and 260 in the bench while weighing in at 150 lbs. In the 14-15 age group, top honors went to Mike Abraham of Salisbury with a 325 lb. squat and 250 lb. bench, while weighing just under 158 lbs.TEAM STANDINGS1. Tamaqua 33 points; 2. Salisbury 25; 3. Lehighton 24; 4. Palmerton 24; 5. Mahanoy Area 19;Listed below are the medal winners with their overall total and squat and bench lifts in parenthesis. The lifts were performed 'raw' meaning no knee wraps, bench shirts, or wrist wraps.14-15 year-old division120-pound weight classGOLD: Josh Evans, Palmerton 375 (195/180) *Tied Meet RecordSILVER: Nick Sander, PalmertonBRONZE: Isaac George Palmerton135 poundsGOLD: Kris Knappenberger, Lehighton 370 (225/145)SILVER: Josh Suveg, Panther ValleyBRONZE: Matt Althouse, Palmerton150 poundsGOLD: Austin Watson, Salisbury 475 (275/200)SILVER: Alan Ramirez, LehightonBRONZE: Thomas Ruzicka, Lehighton165 poundsGOLD: Mike Abraham, Salisbury 575 (325/250)SILVER: Darien Correa, SalisburyBRONZE: Jacob Staines, Panther Valley180 poundsGOLD: Josh Kachmar, Mahanoy Area 560 (305/255)SILVER: Tyler Skripko, TamaquaBRONZE: Eugene Kuchan, Panther Valley195 poundsGOLD: Trevor Skripko, Tamaqua 565 (350/215)SILVER: Kyle Troch, LehightonBRONZE: Alex Ververeli, Salisbury210 poundsGOLD: Dom Rossetti, Salisbury 665 (385/280) * New Meet RecordSILVER: Jake Ditzler, Blue MountianBRONZE: Trent Clay, Salisbury225 poundsGOLD: Alex Zmyewski, Palmerton 555 (350/205)SILVER: Rian Shubeck, Panther ValleyHWTGOLD: Stephen Bolousky, Mahanoy Area 540 (315/225)SILVER: Joe Damiano, Marian CatholicBRONZE: Devin Murphy, Tamaqua16-18 year-old division150 poundsGOLD: Jonathon Long, North Schuylkill 590 (330/260)SILVER: Nick McArdle, Panther ValleyBRONZE: Steven Shanton, Lehighton165 poundsGOLD: Nick Hollenbach, Tamaqua 585 (330/255)SILVER: Mitch Moyer, LehightonBRONZE: Jacob Peck, Palmerton180 poundsGOLD: Austin Forte, Mahanoy Area 650 (400/250)SILVER: Josh Agosto, LehightonBRONZE: Mike Balliet, Lehighton195 poundsGOLD: Anthony Iacoviello, Tamaqua 690 (420/270)SILVER: Aaron Cook, PalmertonBRONZE: Zach Tidmore, Blue Mountain210 poundsGOLD: Pete Conforti, Tamaqua 725 (450/275) * New Meet RecordSILVER: Tyler Groner, TamaquaBRONZE: Joe Oriel, Lehighton225 poundsGOLD: Anthony Damiano, Marian Catholic 770 (460/310) * New Meet RecordSILVER: John Snyder, PalmertonBRONZE: Gage Cara, Mahanoy Area240 poundsGOLD: Zach Breiner, Lehighton 690 (450/240)SILVER: Steven Semmel, Palmerton255 poundsGOLD: Salvatore Merenda, Tamaqua 700 (375/325)SILVER: J.T. Krincek, Pen ArgylBRONZE: Colton Davidson, LehightonHWGOLD: Gavin Sonntag, Salisbury 710 (450/260)SILVER: Aaron Broomell, Mahanoy AreaBRONZE: Tyler Wolfe, Tamaqua