-
Final
LOU
HAR7
6 -
Final
LOU
HAR7
6 -
Final
SH
LOU11
5 -
Final
LOU
SFT12
8 -
Final
LOU
BAL18
1 -
Final
OTT
LOU3
4 -
Final
OTT
LOU5
10 -
Final
LOU
SH9
2 -
Final
LOU
WELL14
1 -
Final
LOU
WELL18
2 -
Final
BONSP
LOU6
8 -
Final
BONSP
LOU0
6 -
Final
TONG
LOU15
4 -
Final
LOU
GE0
3 -
Final
LAN
LOU1
4 -
Final
SFT
LOU0
3 -
Final
AC
LOU5
4 -
Final
CHA
LOU3
11 -
Final
LOU
EUD9
0 -
Final
LOU
EUD4
5 -
Final
PAO
LOU14
3 -
Final
PAO
LOU4
9
-
Final
LOU
FRON0
15 -
Final
LOU
FRON0
16 -
Final
LOU
OTT2
12 -
Final
LOU
FS0
16 -
Final
OTT
LOU7
6 -
Final
OTT
LOU12
2 -
Final
LOU
BAL11
12 -
Final
LOU
SH0
12 -
Final
LOU
SH1
23 -
Final
LOU
WELL9
7 -
Final
LOU
WELL0
11 -
Final
BONSP
LOU6
3 -
Final
BONSP
LOU5
8 -
Final
TONG
LOU10
5 -
Final
LOU
MV1
5 -
Final
LOU
FS2
9 -
Final
LOU
FS2
8 -
Final
AC
LOU7
10 -
Final
AC
LOU9
5 -
Final
CHA
LOU6
2 -
Final
LOU
EUD0
11 -
Final
LAN
LOU12
3 -
Final
LAN
LOU23
10 -
May 13, 430 p
PAO
LOU
-
May 13, 6 pm
PAO
LOU
-
May 15, 6 pm
BAL
LOU
-
Final
TONG
LOU50
77 -
Final
LOU
OTT34
71 -
Final
WAM
LOU32
40 -
Final
BAL
LOU55
36 -
Final
LOU
BONSP51
65 -
Final
LOU
HAR38
60 -
Final
SH
LOU70
37 -
Final
LOU
BAL39
59 -
Final
LOU
OZA32
63 -
Final
LOU
SMW29
56 -
Final
LOU
WYA63
38 -
Final
LOU
EUD46
65 -
Final
BONSP
LOU71
41 -
Final OT
LOU
PAO56
58 -
Final
OTT
LOU66
34 -
Final
LOU
TONG48
55 -
Final
LOU
SH41
57 -
Final
EUD
LOU47
46 -
Final
LOU
BVSW47
55 -
Final
PAO
LOU53
47
-
Final
TONG
LOU44
42 -
Final
LOU
OTT45
53 -
Final
WAM
LOU61
37 -
Final
BAL
LOU52
41 -
Final
LOU
BONSP37
49 -
Final
LOU
HAR48
38 -
Final
SH
LOU64
33 -
Final
LOU
BAL31
37 -
Final
LOU
SUN CH53
72 -
Final
LOU
EIS42
61 -
Final
LOU
WW50
18 -
Final
LOU
EUD34
61 -
Final
BONSP
LOU28
36 -
Final
LOU
PAO65
42 -
Final
OTT
LOU40
46 -
Final
LOU
TONG39
42 -
Final
LOU
SH60
72 -
Final
EUD
LOU42
10 -
Final
LOU
BVSW33
72 -
Final
PAO
LOU52
49
-
Final
LOU
BAL3
1 -
Final
OW
LOU2
0 -
Final
DES
LOU2
1 -
Final
LOU
WI TRIN0
2 -
Final
LOU
PIP0
2 -
Final
OTT
LOU0
3 -
Final
LOU
FRON INV1st
PL -
Final
BONSP
LOU0
3 -
Final
EUD
LOU3
0 -
Final
LOU
FS2
0 -
Final
LOU
GIR2
1 -
Final
LOU
LOU INV2nd
PL -
Final
LOU
PAO3
0 -
Final
SH
LOU3
0 -
Final
LOU
OTT INV0
5 -
Final
LOU
TONG0
3 -
Final
LOU
ATCH INV2nd
PL -
Final
LOU
OTT2
0 -
Final
LOU
WAM2
1
Harding breaks, matches Wildcat weightlifting records
- Updated: June 4, 2018

Louisburg’s Dalton Harding recently tied the all-time bench press record at Louisburg High School with a press of 365 pounds, and also broke the one for his 185-pound weight class that was 25 years old.
Dalton Harding walked into the weight room on his final day at Louisburg High School and was going to give it one more try.
It was one more attempt at a record he had spent countless hours working toward. One more attempt at a shot of leaving his mark at the school.
Since he was a sophomore, Harding had wanted an opportunity to at least match the school’s bench press record. Just a week prior, he had come up five pounds short of the 365-pound goal.
“I was just so disappointed when I tried it the week before and it was getting in my head that maybe I won’t be able to get it,” Harding said. “I worked for almost three years to get that.”
So, he laid down on the bench, gathered himself and put his hands on the bar. Harding got one more chance at the record – a chance that was three years in the making.
With spotters on each side of him, and weightlifting coach Ty Pfannenstiel looking on, Harding lifted all 365 pounds up in the air and then back down again.
The record was his – well, sort of.
His 365-pound bench press tied the school record for all weight classes, which was set by Joe Nieman in 2004, but Nieman was in the 250-plus weight division – more than 65 pounds heavier than Harding.
A week earlier Harding broke Richie Wrigley’s old record of 350 pounds in the 185-pound weight class that was set back in 1993.
“I was so happy,” Harding said. “I got 360 the week before and I just couldn’t get the 365 and I came back and it was a lot easier that day. I’m not sure why…maybe I got more sleep or something. I’m just really glad to get my name up on that board.”
The last three years have been difficult for Harding ever since an injury basically sidelined him from playing sports from his sophomore year on.
During the junior varsity football season in October of 2015, Harding played on the offensive line and suffered a major knee injury. He tore his ACL, part of his MCL and tore his meniscus in half.
Then after completing his therapy from that surgery, he tore his meniscus again the following May.
“It was really bad because the second tear was about two months after I was done with therapy,” Harding said. “Then I had surgery and started the whole process all over again. It wasn’t a fun time. At least I could walk after the second surgery because after the first surgery I was in a wheelchair for 8-9 weeks. I couldn’t really do anything.
“It just got to the point where I couldn’t walk anymore,” Harding said of his second tear. “Part of the meniscus actually would break into pieces and flop backwards. My leg would lock up at an angle too and we would have to force it back into place. There is about 40 percent of my meniscus left, and if I ever tear it again, it is a full knee replacement.”
It was a scary thought for a high school teenager who just wanted to play sports.
The fear of another knee injury pushed him away from football and Harding had to make a difficult decision at a young age.
“It was tough because football is like a brotherhood,” Harding said. “It is just a big family and that was hard. I got through it though. My favorite sport was baseball and that didn’t really work out either. I kept thinking about playing football my senior year, but I just decided it was too big of a risk. I don’t even lift legs anymore. I can do it for a couple days, but then it just kills me.”
So, with sports out of the question, Harding hit the weights even harder. He would work out at school, but did a lot of stuff at home with his father Dennis and brother Garrett.
His knee injury prevents him from using his legs a lot to lift, which is why he stick with the bench press.
“I use the workout program that my dad used when he was in school,” Dalton said. “He still has the sheets printed out and laminated at home and me and my brother still go by that. I got the upper body part and my brother Garrett has tree trunk legs and he can leg press about 1,000 pounds. Weightlifting is just kind of in our blood.”
That 365-pound mark is also a special one as that is what his father Dennis bench pressed in college and he wanted to at least match his dad – if not break it in high school.
“I definitely want to beat him, for sure,” Dalton said. “My goal since I was young was to get over that, but to get 365 with everything I have gone through really means a lot to me. Then when I saw the records on the Louisburg boards, it gave me even more motivation to reach that. Hopefully my name will stay up there for quite a while.”
Although his days at Louisburg High School are now behind him, Harding isn’t planning on giving up weightlifting. Shortly, he will make his way to Beloit to become a diesel technician, but plans on increasing that bench press number as much as possible.
“There isn’t a whole lot to do in Beloit so I will have a lot of time to lift,” he said. “Hopefully in a year or so I can get up to 385.”