Dozens of football players were pumping iron in the Fox High School weight room on Wednesday. And Seth Beaird was the strongest of them all.
The senior will save the gridiron dreams for later. This week is all about the weights.
Beaird is eyeing his second consecutive state championship in powerlifting this Friday at McLoud High School. What started as something to do when he wasn’t blowing up running backs as a freshman nose tackle, powerlifting has become an unexpected specialty for the 6-foot, 242-pounder.
He may be going to Southwestern Oklahoma State to play football after graduation, but he has some unfinished business in the squat, bench press and dead lift.
“Football’s always been my main focus,” Beaird said. “But from my sophomore to my senior year, that’s when I really took it (powerlifting) seriously.”
Since “taking it seriously,” Beaird has won three regional titles. The four-time state qualifier has improved his place at the state tournament each season, going from fifth as a freshman, to third as a sophomore to last season’s state championship in the 275-pound division.
All that’s left is the back-to-back feat, which Fox powerlifting coach Dale Butler thinks is well within Beaird’s reach.
“It’s his to win,” said Butler, who’s coached powerlifting for 39 years. “If he does what he’s supposed to do, he’s got a better shot than anyone out there.”
Beaird enters the state meet as the top seed at 275, joining Sulphur’s Tanner Bates (168 pounds) and Healdton’s Garrett Powell (242) as locals who qualified as No. 1 seeds. In large schools (Classes 4A-6A), Dickson will send 10 state qualifiers to McLoud in search of a team title.
Beaird will go solo at the state meet, but he’s OK with that. Last year, he was part of Fox’s state championship team in Class B, but as a sophomore, Beaird was a junior national champion.
Records may fall at state as well. Beaird, who had the Most Outstanding Dead Lift (570 pounds) at regionals, has set a goal of breaking his personal best of 620 pounds in the event. He calls the dead lift his “most natural” lift, but he also looked pretty natural on the bench Wednesday, tossing up 300-plus pounds three times with relative ease.
He’s a mere 0.6 ounces heavy from qualifying for the 242-pound division. Lucky for the lighter guys — Beaird likes his chances.
