Bancroft powerlifters bring home the hardware

March 10, 2026

By: Bill Kilpatrick, staff reporter

Powerlifters Joey Kilpatrick and his coach, Barry McEvoy continued their winning streaks and record breaking lifts at the World Powerlifting Congress’ Heavy Weights Gym “Barbell Carnage” powerlifting competition held on Feb. 21 in Brockville. The competition saw 18 participants from all ages, genders, and weight categories supporting and encouraging each other to move some serious weight. Kilpatrick was competing in the World Powerlifting Congress 19 to 23 age category in the 90 kilogram untested class, while McEvoy was competing in two classes, the Amateur World Powerlifting Congress tested 90 kilogram master 60 to 64 age category and the open 90 kilogram category.
Kilpatrick began his day by achieving two out of three squats at 215 kilograms for his max. During the bench press, he missed his first attempt due to a technical error, but made both his second and third attempt completing a 120 and a 125 kilogram lift. Kilpatrick then went on to achieve a personal best for his deadlift, completing a monstrous 275 kilogram or 606 lb lift. Kilpatrick’s total lift weight for the day was 615 kilograms or 1,353 lbs.
McEvoy unofficially broke two AWPC world records for the bench press and squat with a 142.5 kilogram bench press, beating the world record by 2.5 kilograms, and a 201 kilogram squat, beating the record by one kilogram. McEvoy explained that for those lifts to be official they have to be completed at a provincial or national competition with certified national judges. McEvoy went on to deadlift 207.5 kilograms, giving him a total weight of 550 kilograms or 1.210 lbs.
Both Kilpatrick and McEvoy won their respective age categories, with Kilpatrick winning his second in a row best lifter overall award with a total of 377.92 points. Kilpatrick also took home $250 with the prize. While Kilpatrick’s total weight lifted went down by 2.5 kilograms from his last meet he said that his personal best lift on the squat more than made up for the shortfall. “Overall, it was a pretty good day,” stated Kilpatrick.
McEvoy, who had been struggling with some injuries leading up to the competition, was more than happy with his performance, given that he was planning on only competing in the bench press one week before the meet. “I managed to pull it together,” McEvoy told The Bancroft Times, “It was a game time decision. I went to the gym on Thursday night, which I would never advise anyone to do. I loaded up the bar just to see how the squat would feel, and there was no pain there, so I decided that I was going to squat … the stars aligned and I felt pretty good.” McEvoy was hoping to break the world record total for his age and weight category, but fell short by 19 kilograms.
Both lifters are now preparing for the World Powerlifting Congress national competition on May 2 in Kingston, Ontario, at the Fort Strength Performance Centre. Kilpatrick is hoping to continue his winning streak as he takes on some of the best lifters in Ontario, and McEvoy is confident that he will officially break all three world records in his age and weight category, including the total lift record. “I’ll get it,” said McEvoy. “My goal there is to put that 19 plus kilograms on the bar and get the world record total.”