Putting the “Power” in Powerlifting

To excel in the world of competitive powerlifting, you have to be both mentally and physically strong—and that describes recent Canterbury graduate Donald “Edward” Medaris IV ’24 to a tee. 

Unfazed by competing against lifters with far more experience than him, Edward headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this April for the USAPL High School National Championships. As excited as he was to be going up against the best from around the country, Edward had no idea what to expect. “Everybody was telling me how strong kids were down South,” he said. “Media people were saying the top five was locked down, but they ‘didn’t know about this Ed Medaris kid; maybe he could sneak in.’ So people started calling me ‘Dark Horse’ at the meet.”

Edward lived up to the nickname—he earned a medal by finishing fourth in his weight class! By all accounts, it was a tremendous accomplishment competing against the nation’s top talent. However, his reaction in the aftermath was not what one would expect. “I was mad. Fourth place was not good enough,” he shared. “I know I can do better; I can train longer. I just want to fast-forward to the next competition and get it done!” 

That is the competitive spirit that continually drives Edward, and it is something his lifting coach, Tim Donoghue from Gleason Performance Training in Derby, Connecticut, believes will make him truly great. “It would have been nice to place first, but you have a long future ahead of you in powerlifting,” he told Edward. “It is good that you are mad about this. It will push you to get where you want to be.”

Edward started lifting during his freshman year of high school and realized he was very good at it. So he continued perfecting his craft even while he was a member of the Varsity Football and Wrestling teams during his Sixth Form year at Canterbury.

While he is committed to playing football at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, Edward will continue pursuing his powerlifting dreams in the fall. “I always try to improve and work to be the strongest person in the world,” he explained. “It is not to intimidate people; it is to have that achievement under my belt. That is the competitive athlete in me. My goal is to get to the world championships. That would be amazing.”

Ultimately, Edward is motivated by something even bigger than winning. “I always think about the future and doing something impressive for my family name,” he said. “Someday, when I have kids, I want to give them something to look up to, so they say, ‘I will work just as hard as Dad and be better than him.’ I want them to be better than me.”

And he has a message for his future powerlifting competition as well: “Watch out now. I am on my way, and it is going to be beautiful!”