Back when he was a member of the Waterford Wildcats' offensive line Taylor Sams was a stalwart favorite of the Wildcat backs.

After all, his strength, size and agility created a lot of open holes for Derek Hoge and company.

Sams was a workaholic when it came to the weight room and it benefited him on the gridiron.

Two years later Sams' work in the weight room is still paying dividends as the 19-year-old Waterford graduate and current student at Ashland University earned a trip to the 2010 USA Powerlifting Collegiate Nationals in Orlando, Fla. in April.

Sams qualified for the national meet during a competition near Cleveland Nov. 14.

"I went (to Nationals) last year, I didn't qualify but I went and got the atmosphere. I'm really excited for it," Sams said. "I'm hoping to go post a good total, maybe podium."

Posting a good total is well withing Sams reach.

Competition in USA powerlifting consists of the bench press, squat and dead lift with three attempts at each of the three weight lifting styles.

The highest total at each style is added for a composite score.

During his qualifying match in Cleveland Sams posted a squat of 500 pounds, bench press of 435 and dead lift of 470.

Sams' bench press actually surpassed the state record for his age bracket and weight class by more than 50 pounds.

"That was a state record. The old record was 378. I broke it with all three attempts," Sams said.

Sams began his weight lifting career while he was with the Wildcats as a way to improve his play on the offensive line.

Spending all that time in the weight room gave him the strength to become a second-team All-Ohio lineman and helped him find his passion for the weights.

"I've been lifting since forever it seems," Sams said.

With his qualification Nov. 14 Sams became the third member of Ashland's club powerlifting team to qualify for nationals.

The 10 member team is hopeful of getting a few more to the national competition and perhaps bringing back some hardware as a team.

"Hopefully we can get as many of those guys in there and maybe enter as a team, maybe get a shot at a championship as a team for the school," Sams said.

At the nationals Sams will be competing in the 242-pound weight class as it is divided up by weight for the college students participating versus age.

In the Cleveland competition it was age and weight that decided where competitors took part.

"I'm just happy to be part of the team and have a chance to go to nationals and hopefully do something down there," Sams said.