City High Little Hawk ‘a real talent’ in competitive weightlifting

IOWA CITY - Amid the hustle and bustle of college football declarations during this national signing month, one local student has also signed on the dotted line in a different sport - weightlifting.

Iowa City High senior Theo Shriver, 17, declared Feb. 4 he was accepting a scholarship from Lindenwood University to join the school's club weightlifting team.

Although his sport may not generally make the headlines, it is just as valuable, he said.

'It's like any other sport, where it takes so much dedication and time,” he said. 'Part of the fun part about, though, is that you have to be at least somewhat coordinated, but anyone can build strength and technique and have success.”

Standing at 5-foot-10 and 145 pounds, Shriver lacks the massive frame of the proverbial weightlifter, but, ironically, this is of little importance.

'I know most people imagine a college weightlifter to be some huge figure, but there are weight classes in the sport,” he said. 'So much of the sport has to do with speed and technique, it's not just brute strength.”

His journey to Lindenwood - the team won the coed division National University Championships title in 2014 and is located in Saint Charles, Mo - began when its coach, Jianping Ma, noticed Shriver during competitions in Waterloo, where Ma was the former coordinator of the tournament.

'I had remained in contact with him for a while,” Ma said. 'He did really well in tournaments I saw when I used to work in Iowa for six years. He's a real talent and I'm really excited to get him here so people can see his performance going into the future.”

Shriver picked up his first barbell when he was 12 years old, and began participating in weightlifting competitively two years later. He has won a state weightlifting tournament twice and placed 14th at the 2014 Youth Nationals in Florida for his weight class.

Guzzling protein shakes and continuing his work in the gym are Shriver's main focuses as he prepares for his transition to college next fall, hoping to add on some pounds.

'The first year I want to work on my strength and adding some weight,” he said. 'I know that I have good technique and speed, so once I get my strength up we'll see where I can go from there. But, I'm excited to witness all of the new weightlifters, making new friends and learning more about the sport and improving myself.”