On its first step toward the state powerlifitng meet, Warren Central has to go up against a bunch of heavyweights.

Natchez, Vicksburg, Clinton and Greenville will descend on the Viking fieldhouse Saturday morning for the Region 3-5A meet. Natchez, VHS and WC all finished in the top five at last year’s Class 5A state meet, making this one of the most competitive region competitions in the state.

The meet begins at 9 a.m. Admission is $4.

&#8220It’s going to be really tough. This is probably as tough a district as I’ve seen,” WC coach Chad McMullin said. &#8220There’s at least five or six lifters in every class that can go to the state meet.”

That includes a trio of Vikings. Larry Walker is the defending state champion in the 275-pound class, while John Stauts (308 pounds) and Shane Redditt (220) are also expected to advance out of the region.

Vicksburg, meanwhile, had six first-place finishers at its first meet in January and has a huge advantage in the team competition thanks to Chad Cooper, one of the few 114-pounders areound.

Natchez, meanwhile, is the two-time defending South State champion and finished third at last year’s state meet.

The top three lifters in each weight class advance to the North State meet in March. Despite the heavy competition, McMullin said he wasn’t worried about losing a lot of lifters to attrition before then.

&#8220If we do what we’re capable of doing, we’ll get at least seven or eight through,” McMullin said. &#8220I’m not worried about that one bit.”