Bishop Power-lifter Travis Charles Bishop Power-lifter Travis Charles was asleep on Wednesday morning when his mother Gracie Barreto woke him up with the news that he had just been recruited as a new member of the U.S.A. World Power- Lifting Team.

“My mom got the call this morning; I didn’t even know I was going to be on the team until they called her,” Charles said.

“I was really happy when my mom woke me up with the news.”

Charles will be a one of 11 USAWPL teammates who will compete in the 2010 Sub-Junior World Team USA Championships to be held in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia from Aug. 27 to Sept. 5.

USAWPL recruiters have had their eye on Charles ever since he won the national title in the 123 pound division of the USAAPL Men’s National meet held in Palm Springs, Calif., in June.

“They said they had seen me during the national competition,” Charles said.

In competitions, power-lifters are given three chances to elevate as much weight as possible in the squat, bench press and dead-lift maneuvers. The highest totals in all three maneuvers are then calculated and competitors are ranked accordingly.

Charles, coached by Noe Barrera, won his national title by dead-lifting 410 pounds, squatting 390 and bench pressing 205 for a total of 1,005 pounds.

Entering his junior year at Bishop High School this fall, where George Luna is the coach, Charles has already made his presence felt at the state level in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.

As a sophomore this past spring, Charles finished third individually in the 123 pound. division, while the team placed 13th overall out of 93 schools at the Texas High School Power-lifting Association State 2A meet held in Abilene in March.

At that meet, Charles squatted 395, dead-lifted 380 and benched 175 for a final tally of 950 pounds.

While a freshman in 2008, Charles was a member of the Badger power-lifting team that won the state 2A title. By himself that year, Charles finished sixth overall, behind five seniors, in the 114 pound division by hoisting 350 in the dead-lift, 325 in the squat and 155 in the bench press for a total of 830 pounds.

“I have progressed a lot and my totals have consistently increased since that first state meet,” Charles said. “This (Czechoslovakia event) is going to be like any other meet, but it is also going to be different in that I am going to be competing in another part of the world. I have been pumping it up and I am going to train 10 times as hard now.”