BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School placed third in the Olympic and traditional events, with Elijah Mize winning the traditional championship in the 119-pound class at the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 1A Boys Weightlifting Finals on April 12 in Lakeland.
The Indians had three individuals in all earn medals for top-six finishes in traditional, including Colton Hollingsworth, who was the runner-up in the 129-pound class.
Hollingsworth and Mize received medals in Olympic as well and were two of four KHHS lifters to do so.
Traditional
Keystone got 13 points from its three medal winners, which left it trailing champion Fort White (27) and Baker (20).
Mize lifted 175 pounds on his second clean-and-jerk attempt, but missed 190 on his third. That left him trailing Imagine’s Angel Vazquez by 20 pounds going into the bench press. Mize benched 210 on his first attempt, while Vazquez benched 195. Vazquez bettered his bench by 10 pounds on his second attempt, but Mize made a 15-pound jump, which left the lifters in a tie in overall total. Vazquez missed his third attempt at 210, which meant Mize, despite missing his third attempt, had the championship wrapped up due to the weigh-in tiebreaker.
“He did a good job coming back from being down 20 pounds from the clean,” Keystone Head Coach Jakob Alvarez said. “His bench press definitely helped him.”
The 225 bench total by Mize was the best in his class by 10 pounds.
As for Mize’s third bench attempt, Alvarez said, “He tried a new (personal record) at 245,” Alvarez said, “but his butt came up (off the bench).”
With their 400-pound overall totals, Mize and Vazquez finished 35 pounds ahead of the next best lifter (Andrew Ulsch of Fort White).
Like Mize, Hollingsworth came out on top in a weigh-in tiebreaker, earning the second-place finish in his class over Glades Central’s Javier Flores. Hollingsworth’s best clean and jerk of 205 left him trailing Flores by 10 pounds going into the bench press.
Both lifters benched 205 on their first attempts, but Hollingsworth benched 220 to Flores’ 210 on their second attempts. Each lifter missed his third attempt, leaving them tied with a 425-pound overall total.
Glades Central’s Alijah Collins won the 129 class championship with a 450 total, while Walton’s Orion Evans placed behind Hollingsworth and Flores with a 415 total.
Keystone’s Zane Leger had a sixth-place total of 565 (275 clean and jerk, 290 bench) in the 199 class, earning the last medal ahead of Florida High’s Jason Harville, who had a 555 total.
Brayden Wester finished one spot shy of getting a fourth medal for Keystone. He had a seventh-place total of 585 (285, 300) in the 238 class. Wester unsuccessfully went for 310 on his third bench attempt, which would’ve given him a medal. He finished 5 pounds ahead of Baker’s Makani Abdon and Sneads’ Bryce Everett, who both had 590 totals. If Wester had finished in a three-way tie with those lifters, he still would’ve been in seventh place.
Earning eighth-place finishes were Dylan Currington, with a 345 total (180, 165) in the 119 class, Jagger Lancaster, with a 460 total (200, 260) in the 154 class, and Kyle Perkins, with a 545 total (265, 280) in the 199 class.
Two other lifters placed in the top 10. Trase Wooden had a ninth-place total of 530 (265, 265) in the 219 class, while Damien Dunlap had a 10th-place total of 460 (215, 245) in the 154 class.
The Indians also had the following results: Aiden Nobles, with a 325 total (165, 160) in the 129 class, Layton Wright, with a 485 total (250, 235) in the 169 class, Pete Bostic, with a 525 total (250, 275) in the 238 class, and Jackson Herman, with a 595 total (300, 295) in the unlimited class.
Olympic
Keystone finished with 13 team points in Olympic, which left the Indians trailing champion Fort White (24) and runner-up Williston (16).
Hollingsworth and Herman each placed third in his class, with Hollingsworth finishing with a 355 total (150 snatch, 205 clean and jerk) and Herman finishing with a 525 total (225, 300). Hollingsworth had the best snatch total in his class, while Herman was down to a do-or-die lift on his third clean-and-jerk attempt. Judges deemed his first two attempts at 285 unsuccessful. Herman did 300 on his final attempt, getting the successful green light from all three judges.
Mize earned a fourth-place finish with a 310 total (135, 175), while Wright also received a medal with a fifth-place total of 425 (175, 250).
Two lifters fell one spot shy of earning medals: Currington, with a seventh-place total of 290 (110, 180), and Clark Byrnes, with a seventh-place total of 400 (180, 220) in the 154 class. Each was 5 pounds away from placing sixth, with Currington actually having the same total as Holmes County’s Jessie Slay, who held the advantage in the weigh-in tiebreaker.
The Indians had two eighth-place finishers in Perkins, who had a 480 total (215, 265), and Logan Madden-Moore, who had a 450 total (195, 255) in the 219 class.
Wester had a ninth-place total of 465 (180, 285), while the following each placed 10th: Nobles, with a 300 total (135, 165), and Bostic, with a 440 total (190, 250).
Bostic had a perfect day, with three successful lifts each in the snatch, clean and jerk and bench.
Also competing were Leger, with a 460 total (185, 275), and Wooden, with a 445 total (180, 265).
