Do You Even Lift, Bro?

Luis Diaz/Contributing Writer

The word “power” doesn’t begin to describe the level of dominance the FIU Power Lifting Team has in the world of collegiate power lifting. This squad is just two years old and has already been able to take their place on the throne as the State Champions, a throne held for seven years by a relatively big school up north by the name of Florida State University. However, if you ask me, the weights are tilted in FIU’s favor. When you’ve got a head coach that is a national champion power lifter like the Golden Panthers have in Coach Bill Hennessey and a three time world champion as your assistant coach in Damian Fronzaglia, there aren’t enough YouTube videos of Arnold Schwarzenegger curling in the gym to help anyone beat this team.

You could say this team is in their “Terrible Twos” being only a couple years old and ruining the day of anyone that competes against them. The FIU Power Lifters muscled their way to a State Championship last November and defended their trophy in another state competition this past March. However, after suffering a huge loss with the departure of American record holder in squat, deadlift, and bench press, JC Monduy, freshman Roman Fronzaglia, team captain and son of Assistant coach Fronzaglia, plans to maintain his untainted record through the next state competition in July.

However when asked what the secret is coach Hennessey expressed it wasn’t just his coaching, but also the talent level this school gets thanks to the legacy they’ve already made in the Power Lifting world.  Unable to give scholarships for power lifting, power lifters are drawn to FIU not just for Cuban food, but also for the chance to compete with one of the nations most up and coming power lifting programs. One of the newest recruits that plans to prove her power among the State’s strongest is a champion Olympic lifter named Natalia Cabonillas.

But even with the State Championships this team already has, the FIU Power Lifting Team has plans that are even bigger than their quads. Every active member of this team has qualified to compete in the Raw Power Lifting Nationals, a competition that will be held in Pennsylvania on October 15th. And in my opinion, the hardest part of walking out of that competition with a new trophy for their mantle, will be fitting these champion power lifters through the door.

“We plan to win the State Championship every year,” said coach Hennessey; and, with the leadership he and the strongest father-son duo I’ve ever seen bring to this team, that plan is more than attainable, it’s inevitable.