Oxford Boys Powerlifting Wins State Title, Patrick Sets 800-Pound Squat Record

Tykevious Patrick's 800-pound squat, a new state record, gave Oxford High's boys powerlifting team the signature lift of its state championship run. Patrick and teammate Malcom Barnette each claimed first-place finishes, carrying the Chargers to a team state title while the Lady Chargers secured a third-place finish on the girls' side.

Patrick's squat clears a bar most high school lifters never approach. It also continues a pattern at Oxford where the biggest individual lifts have arrived at the state meet in Jackson, the stage the program has used to define itself for more than a decade. Oxford boys' powerlifting won the MHSAA state championship every year from 2013 to 2017, a run that included a 2016 title under coach Jason Russell that came down to the final lift of the competition. Russell's seven-man squad swept the podium that year, with every lifter finishing in the top three of his weight class and four capturing individual titles. "It took an almost flawless performance by our lifters to clinch the victory," Russell said at the time.

The program's current head coach, Issac Boose, has run Oxford's powerlifting operation for eight years while also serving as an assistant football coach. He is joined on the coaching staff by Chris Moore, Zay Herod, and Lamarcus Faulkner. After a stretch where the boys' team sent as few as four lifters to state in a given year, a full championship performance marks a significant step for a program Boose has described as built around a family culture.

The Lady Chargers' third-place finish adds to an Oxford girls' record list that already includes Madisyn Herron's 565-pound squat and 225-pound bench press records, both set at the Jackson state meet in 2019. Keiona Harris established a bench press record of 190 pounds at the same meet.

The local powerlifting footprint stretches beyond Oxford High. Lafayette High School's Commodores have produced their own state-level record holders, including Johnathan Elmore, who closed out his second consecutive state title in 2019 by completing a 395-pound deadlift to win the 123-pound weight class, a year after capturing the 114-pound title.

Patrick's 800-pound mark, pending MHSAA certification, would stand as a reference point for Mississippi high school powerlifting at any weight class for years to come.