easy question at the very end, hopefully:

i’m 19 years old, 5’10, currently 153 lbs, training for 2-3 years.

the heaviest i ever was was ~180 lbs, lean enough to see all my abs, but covid and school made me lose all that weight.

recently got advice from a power lifter at my school that i should try to get back to the 180s if i want to compete. my strength is just a little bit under what it was before (squat took the hardest hit probably).

anyways, generally speaking, is it a must to go up weight classes (which will obviously make me stronger, but put me in a more level playing field) or stay around this weight and try to get stronger?

in short is it “mandatory” to get heavier to get stronger? especially since i want to compete in the future