Lake County detective sets world record in power lifting

While Scott Sciaretta usually does detective work for the Lake County Sheriff's Office, in October, he traveled across the Atlantic and represented his country at the IPL World Championships in England.

And he did it well, earning first place in three different events.

"The three gold medals mean a lot considering all I have been through over the past year, and they soon will be displayed in a shadow box at my gym," Sciaretta said. "Grabbing the two world records is equally meaningful to me, but the highlight for me was getting recognized as the Best Masters Male lifter against some tremendously strong athletes."

Sciaretta has been with the Sheriff's Office since 2010, and in 2012, a heart attack caused him to re-evaluate his life and take up powerlifting seriously.

"At that point in time, it was 'okay, you need to clean up your life,'" Sciaretta told the Lake County Leader in an August article. “’You need to clean up your fitness and get off of the nighttime Town Pump food and start eating correctly and going to the gym more regularly.' So that's what I did."

Sciaretta qualified for Team USA through a powerlifting formula called the McCulloch.

"Simply put, it is a ratio between a lifter's age and the weight they're lifting," Sciaretta said. "The team is compiled by the Federation based on the highest McCulloch scores at the USPA Nationals."

To reach the championships, Sciaretta traveled from Kalispell to Minnesota, then to Amsterdam, and then finally to Binghamton in the United Kingdom.

"I've never traveled outside the U.S., so it was an experience being on a plane for such a long period of time," Sciaretta said.

The IPL World Championships had competitors from over 30 countries, including a few familiar faces and some athletes Sciaretta hadn't competed against. The competition lasted five days, with Sciaretta doing some extremely impressive work.

"Squat went very well," Sciaretta said. "I went three-for-three in this event. On my final attempt, I broke the previous World record of 440 pounds for my age (60-64) and weight category (220 pounds).

He finished with a 442-pound squat, and said he’s been “chasing this record for two years."

The bench press has been the most challenging event for Sciaretta due to a nagging shoulder impingement, but he went two-for-three, opening with a 286-pound lift and following up with a 297-pound lift. The next closest competitor was somewhere in the 260-pound range.

The deadlift event went better than he could have imagined. Previously, he had not lifted over 518 pounds in the gym or competition.

"I have a new coach in Kyle Young of Kabuki Strength, and he is also the Team USA coach," Sciaretta said. "I have been working with Kyle since nationals. We put together a plan that had the team as our priority first but left the door open for a possible World record attempt, depending on what my competition lifted."

Sciaretta opened at 485 pounds, then pulled 507 pounds, and his third lift at 524 pounds. After his competition missed their third attempt, Sciaretta had the chance for a fourth attempt to get the World record. Sciaretta lifted 534 pounds to go into the record books.

"I was the last lifter of the day, and with the encouragement of my wife, Tammy, my coach, teammates, and the crowd, we got it done," Sciaretta said.

Now that he is back in Lake County, Sciaretta said he will return to the gym and begin training for USPA Nationals in 2024.

"Representing Team USA is the highlight of my powerlifting career, and I'm not about to relinquish my place on the team in 2024," he added. "The support of my sheriff and co-workers is a huge driving force for me."

He noted that this opportunity and trip of a lifetime would have never taken place if not for the love and financial support of the Glacier Old Dawgs community and USPA Montana.

    Medals earned by Lake County detective Scott Sciaretta, who set a world record at the IPL World Championships by deadlifting 534 pounds.