The 2026 Powerlifting United (PLU) National Championships will be held the weekend of May 16-17 at the Westin San Antonio North in San Antonio, Texas. 300 PLU athletes will grace the platforms of the Lone Star State as they strive for personal, state and even national records as well as a share of the $10,000 purse.
Athletes had to compete and post qualifying totals to qualify for nationals. Athletes must weigh in on Friday, May 15 to compete. The full list of competitors can be found here LiftingCast with their schedule time step on the platform.
How the United National Powerlifting Scoring Works
The best squat, bench press and deadlift for every athlete is collected in one. PLU then uses the DOTS coefficient scoring system to use the total number and weight of the lifters to calculate their final standings. Athletes with the highest DOTS in each category will win.
Awards are given to the top three finishers for each gender in each weight, age group, division and equipment category.
Youth (10-12), Youth (13-23), Open, Sub-Masters (35-39) and Masters (40+) categories are eligible for Best Lifter awards if they have 5 or more athletes registered in the same gender, division and equipment.
PLU President Ana Perez and her team put in countless hours to make this the best PLU event to date. Perez believes that thanks to the team, as well as sponsors like ANIMAL, the US Army and Repmax, lifters and spectators have reason to be excited.
Perez said, “We are looking forward to bringing the PLU nationals to San Antonio. This is our first sold out nationals and we are very grateful for all the support from our powerlifting community.”
Top men’s powerlifters to watch at the 2026 PLU Nationals
As with bodybuilding or any other strength sport, upsets are always possible, but there are also favorites and athletes that fans should look out for. Based on scores and previous meets, athletes to watch at this year’s nationals are listed below.
Zach Myers
Zach Meyers is the only player with more than 600 DOTS. He competed in both in the raw (no frilled suit or press shirt) with sleeves and wraps. He last competed at The Bar Showdown in March 2026, where he benched over 2,300 pounds at 285 pounds.
Christian Kearney
This will be Christian Kearney’s first fight in 2026 and he is expected to compete at 148 pounds. Kearney has been competing since 2015, and fans can expect him to punch ten times his bodyweight if he scores in all three lifts. He’s a solid overall lifter, but he’s best known for his 733-pound deadlift in 2024.
Aaron Madriaga
Aaron Madriaga was the second best overall finisher at the 2025 PLU Nationals. Masters and the then 41-year-old lifter finished 568 pounds, deadlifted 385 pounds and deadlifted 702 pounds for a total of 1,655 pounds. According to Open Powerlifting, this will be his first meet since last year’s Nationals.
Luke Fransen
It will also be Luke Frandsen’s first meeting after competing three times in 2025. His best finish since that year was at the HGC Derby City Classic in June, where he weighed 1,515.6 pounds. The big lift of the day was his 629.3 pound deadlift.
Trey Jones
Trey Jones had a career day last time he stepped on the podium at the 2025 PLU For Tomorrow event. The bench press of 804.7 pounds, bench press of 462.9 pounds, and deadlift of 815.7 pounds were all personal bests, resulting in a total of 2,083.3 pounds.
The best women’s powerlifters to watch at the 2026 PLU Nationals
Allison Wharton
On the women’s platform side, Allison Wharton DOTS has a best of 504.82, the best of all the women entering the meet. He posted that mark with a total of 1,102.3 pounds at a bodyweight of less than 155 pounds in March 2025 in Texas. This will be his first meeting in 2026.
Elizabeth Ribaudeau
Elizabeth Ribeaudeau enters with a career-best less than one point behind Wharton in the DOTS. He competed twice under the PLU banner in 2025, most recently at the Power Surge Pro/Am event where he weighed 147.2 pounds at 981 pounds.
Jennifer Trans
Jennifer Tran is in the same division as Ribaudo, the 35-39 Submasters, 148-pound category. He won the Submasters Championship in his weight class at the 2025 PLU Nationals in New Jersey. Both women compete on the first day of the tournament. Tran will be on Flight A and Ribaudo on the next flight.
Tammy Mims
Tammy Mims is a Masters 50+ athlete and she excels at over 400 pounds in both the deadlift and deadlift. He will likely compete in the 165-pound class for both the Open and Masters.
Amanda LeMarble
Amanda Lemarble was in the open 181 pound division at the 2025 PLU Nationals. Barring a win, he could look to break his personal best deadlift of 474 pounds in the event. He won this number at Raw Power Battle 2025 in Portage, Michigan.
How to watch the Powerlifting United (PLU) 2026 National Championships
Tickets to the PLU Nationals are sold out, but fans who can’t be in San Antonio can catch every lift by watching the game live. PLU’s YouTube channel. M&F will be there for additional coverage and comment on the big event once it’s over. Peres said that this is not a meeting, but an experience for all participants.
“We take great pride in the overall experience we provide at our events – everything from the production, the atmosphere and the levels of competition on our platform,” said Perez. “We’ve pulled out all the stops on this one. We’re so excited for everyone to see what we have in store!”
You can learn more about PLU by visiting powerliftingunited.com and following @powerlifting.united on Instagram.
