In nine years, Warren Central has had district champions, North and South State champions and state champions in powerlifting. One thing it has never done, though, is finish first in a meet as a team.

It’s a streak they’re hoping to end soon.

The Vikings head into Saturday’s Region 3-5A meet at Clinton’s Sumner Hill Junior High as one of three teams favored to bring home a trophy. A strong class of lifters in the upper weight classes has WC on equal footing with Natchez and Vicksburg, and has coach Chad McMullin hopeful that this will be the weekend the long drought comes to an end.

&#8220This is the first time in four years we’ve had shot to get back into it,” McMullin said. &#8220Five years ago we left a guy at home because he missed the bus. We lost by two points. It’s been in the back of my mind for five years, because I didn’t wait another five minutes.”

Warren Central’s strength is its bigger lifters. Junior R.W. Comans (242 pounds), senior Mark Wooten (308 pounds) and superheavyweights Chris Gibson and Everett DeFrance anchor the team and will provide most of the points.

WC has a couple of aces in the hole, though, in the lowest weight class.

Sam Edwards and Bobby Perry, a pair of 114-pounders, will likely compete against each other. No other teams in Saturday’s meet have any lifters that light, so the duo will stake the Vikings to a big lead just by showing up.

&#8220From what everybody is telling me, nobody else has any. We’re going to be up 24-0 before anybody else scores a point,” McMullin said.

After Edwards and Perry take their turn, the Vikings will have to withstand Vicksburg’s onslaught. The defending Class 5A champions return five lifters in the middle weight classes – including defending individual state champions Eric Perkins and Brandon Wilson.

Chad Cooper (123), Hugh Norfort (132 pounds) and Horace Allen (198) also advanced to the Class 5A state meet last year, and will give the Gators plenty of depth as they start their quest for a second consecutive state championship.

Vicksburg coach Brad Bailey said, however, the Gators’ success as a team hinges on the rest of the roster doing its part.

&#8220Those guys are going to be a good core for us. But whether we win any titles is going to depend on the less experienced guys contributing,” Bailey said.