SUBMITTED PHOTO — Ashley Wilson of Ankeny deadlifts during the M-Town Showdown on Saturday. Wilson broke world records with her lifts at the Midnight Garden.

Huge weights were lifted and records were broken at the M-town Showdown II on Saturday.

Organizer Jake Reynolds said roughly 60 weight lifters competed in the event at Midnight Garden, and the room was packed with spectators. He estimated the audience size was bigger than last year’s, which drew 400 to 500 people.

“It seemed like the room was packed,” Reynolds said. “There were definitely 400 to 500 people there. It seemed like it was full more throughout the day.”

The competing men and women, some lifting for the first time, traveled from Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and multiple Iowa towns. Their ages ranged from 16 to 74, and a couple highlights stood out for Reynolds.

“I believe [Ashley Wilson] set four all-time world records,” he said. “She’s 165 pounds.”

Reynolds said she broke multiple state records during the Showdown. Wilson, 27, of Ankeny, squatted 202.5 kilograms, benched 100 kilograms and deadlifted 238 pounds, for a total of 540.5 kilograms.

“I know at least two deadlifts and her total final number was an all-time world record,” he said.

Results will be sent to Powerlifting United, the organization which sanctioned the Showdown. Reynolds said if the event had not been sanctioned, the weight lifting results would not count. The results will give competitors, such as Wilson, the option to advance to national or world meets.

Reynolds added Wilson was drug tested, and the results showed no substances were in her system.

“In our world, that is more impressive,” he said.

Wilson was not the only woman at the Showdown, as 19 others competed, an increase from last year’s 15.

“Women competing is definitely on the rise, which is great to see,” Reynolds said. “Anybody can do this.”

Another aspect of the Showdown which meant a lot to Reynolds was competing lifter and Marshalltown resident Larry Soderberg, 74, a “local powerlifting legend.”

“He’s competed for 15 years and has numerous state, national and world records,” he said. “He’s the one who pulled me into powerlifting when I first started. All these times he’s traveled to other places to compete in a powerlifting event, from local in Iowa to Alabama and Ireland, to have something for him to compete in his town, to see him competing in a meet I put on, in his hometown, was pretty cool. That was pretty important to me. It was a cool feeling.”

Reynolds believed Soderberg’s Saturday performance generated some state records, with a squat of 152.5 kilograms, a bench of 130 and a deadlift of 182.5.

There was also an attempt by Tyson Ridenour of Missouri to lift 1,000 pounds in a deadlift. Unfortunately, Reynolds said Ridenour pulled a muscle during the second attempt, but was still able to deadlift 850 pounds.

“In this sport, you’re kind of walking a tight rope and pushing your body to the max to lift as much weight as you can,” he said. “Sometimes that will happen in this sport. To still be able to deadlift 850 pounds is the heaviest deadlift of the day.”

He thanked Karl’s of Marshalltown for sponsoring the event and Midnight Garden for being the location. Attendees and competitors approached Reynolds and complimented on how smooth the Showdown went and the environment it was held in.

“Bringing this sport to Marshalltown and having people come to town is probably the biggest impact,” he said. “Overall, for Marshalltown having the lifters come from out of town, support other businesses in town, using hotels, restaurants – I like to see that for Marshalltown. I’m always promoting Marshalltown in some way.”

Reynolds hopes to bring the Showdown back next year. He would like to add other weight-lifting events, such as one only for women and a strong-man competition.

“We want to bring more things to draw attention to the sport,” Reynolds said. “It’s a good community of people who want to support each other and help each other out.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.