Goliad linemen put to the test
Tigers finish 4th in 3A division designed to show players' abilities
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Texas Lineman Challenge
State meet results
July 8, Duncanville
Overall Individual winner
Quentin Tucker, Huntsville, 387 points
Overall team winner
Arlington, 288
3A standings
Sanger, 69
Gatesville, 56
Robinson, 49
Goliad, 48
Goliad line coach Dale Mullenix said the Texas Lineman Challenge is the lineman's version of the state 7-on-7 tournament. And he feels it's an equally important teamwork-building competition.
Goliad finished fourth as a team in Class 3A at the Texas Lineman Challenge state meet on Wednesday in Duncanville. The eight-event competition for offensive and defensive linemen is designed to test the speed, strength and overall ability of the players, as well as to give them an opportunity to stay competitive during the summer months.
The challenge runs from the spring in late April to the final state meet in July, and the meets are regional and held across the state. Goliad hosted a qualifying meet on May 30 and qualified to travel to the state meet along with Beeville and Skidmore-Tynan.
"It's just like 7-on-7. You've got to go to a qualifier meet to qualify. We had 12 schools from the area compete at Goliad and qualify for state," Mullenix said. "The best way to compare the events is to the world's strongman competition. But we just have equipment that most coaches can get their hands on. You know, we don't have trains we can pull."
There are eight events: bench press for repetitions, the medicine ball throw, the hand-over-hand sled pull, the sled drag, the farmer's walk, the sand bag load, the team truck push, and the team tire flip. They are meant to be a comprehensive test of the overall skill of the lineman and on the line as a team.
Mullenix said the events aren't all about sheer strength, a common misconception about linemen, and that some events required strategy and technicality.
"I think they definitely learned about strategy. Some of these events aren't just about picking up the weight and going as fast as you can," he said. "You have to think it out and have some strategy. We improved our time in the truck pull from the Goliad meet just by changing up our approach a little."
Each team is allowed to bring eight linemen, and all eight can participate in the individual events, but only five will be counted, and the teams work together in the two team events. Mullenix brought Goliad players Tyler Janota, Matt Cloessner, Aaron Kuecker, Sergio Venecia, John Wirt, Clark Pustka, Nathan Gruetzmacker and Garrett Friedricks.
Mullenix said they all performed well, with Cloessner finishing fifth overall in the sled pull with a time of 7.84, Kuecker finishing not far behind with a time of 9.16, and Janota finishing 33rd in the farmer's walk with a time of 6.85. But Mullenix said he especially appreciated the team events and how they brought his unit together.
"I really like the unity aspect of it," he said. "It's espcially important for the offensive line. They're out there doing that together. To me as a coach, that's a big deal."
Mullenix said the challenge also helped to built leadership among his upperclassmen, and encouraged the younger participants to step up."It made a couple of my kids step up and really be leaders in practice," he said. "They really ran their own practices. We were supervising but we weren't running the show. They show up and practice two days a week and get ready for this state event. I feel that they stepped up and came together and became leaders. And the younger kids stepped up and contributed."
