BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School had already settled for the runner-up trophy in the Olympic competition and was in second place behind Suwannee in the traditional competition, trailing by a score of 53-49. Its hopes for the championship trophy rested on the shoulders of Tyler Anthony-Rozier.
Everyone else was done competing before Anthony-Rozier had even attempted his first bench press in the 238-pound class. He successfully benched 330 pounds, which moved the Indians past Suwannee, making the score 56-53 and giving them the first-place trophy at the Region 2-1A finals, which were held April 7 at Suwannee.
Sounds like a lot of pressure was on Anthony-Rozier, who went on to bench 355 and 370 on his second and third attempts, but he wasn’t aware of it. He didn’t know what the team scores were before he lifted. That’s the coaches’ job. Not his.
“(Head) Coach (Lantz) Lowery tells me I’m not allowed to think,” Anthony-Rozier said. “I’m just allowed to do what I’m allowed to do. That’s lifting weights.”
Anthony-Rozier was one of three Keystone lifters to place first in the traditional competition and one of two to do so in the second session of the bench press, when lifters in classes 183-unlimited competed. Trey Jeffries, who lifts in the 219 class, was one of the last competitors as well. Like Anthony-Rozier, all he had to do was be successful on his first attempt to win his class. He was, bench pressing 330 and following that up with 350 on his second attempt to help Keystone pull it out in the end.
When it comes down to it, all Keystone needed was Jeffries and Anthony-Rozier to lift the weight they’re capable of lifting. As Lowery said, he doesn’t go into meets expecting pleasant surprises. He gives each lifter a sheet of paper with the weight he expects them to get — weight they’ve successfully lifted in the past.
The surprises at the Region 2 meet were several lifters not getting those totals and putting them into quite a battle with host Suwannee, which won the Olympic team championship with a score of 74 to Keystone’s 54.
“They’re very good,” Lowery said. “We helped them out a little bit. Next week’s going to be a tougher week, but it’s supposed to be.”
Lowery was referring to the state finals, which will be held Saturday, April 15, at the R.P. Funding Center in Lakeland. The individual champions at the Region 2 meet automatically qualified. For Keystone, that meant Anthony-Rozier, Jeffries and Bo Overton in the traditional competition and Anthony-Rozier and Overton in the Olympic competition.
The Indians had 13 earn at-large berths in the Olympic event: Jeffries, Davin Adams, Reid Begue, Tyler Duncan, Jayden Goodman, Jackson Herman, Colton Hollingsworth, Landon Hovsepian, Bryar Schenck, Jed Tisdale, Sam Ulsch, Wyatt Van Zant and Bryson Wester.
Keystone will have 15 in all compete in the traditional event at state, with the following earning at-large berths: Begue, Goodman, Hollingsworth, Hovsepian, Schenck, Tisdale, Ulsch, Van Zant, Wester, Dakota Roper, Declan Shine and Brayden Wester.
Adams, Anthony-Rozier, Begue, Goodman, Herman, Hovsepian, Jeffries, Schenck, Shine, Ulsch, Van Zant and Bryson Wester were state qualifiers last year as well.
Anthony-Rozier, a senior, admitted it was an emotional moment for him when he earned his first championship of the day in the Olympic competition and punched his return ticket to state.
“I started crying a little bit after I snatched and did my clean and jerk,” he said. “I was like, ‘I made it to state three times now.’ It’s crazy, how far I’ve come from seventh grade all the way up to now.”
So many lifters qualifying puts the Indians in good position to challenge for its third straight state championship.
“My expectation every year is to be in the state championship with a chance to win it. I don’t expect anything less,” Lowery said, adding, “Somebody’s got to win it. Why not Keystone?”
Anthony-Rozier said the key is for him and his teammates is to not miss any lifts.
“I totally think we have a chance,” he said.
The first session of the state finals, which will include the 119-169 classes, will begin at 8 a.m., while the second session (183-unlimited classes) will begin at 1 p.m.
Tickets are $9 if purchased in advance via rpfundingcenter.com and $12 the day of the event.
Parking at the venue will be $10.
Traditional results
A total of 12 lifters earned points for top-six finishes in the traditional competition. Lowery admitted the Indians were a little better in the traditional event as opposed to the Olympic event, but added, “We still made a lot of mistakes that we can’t make moving forward.”
Mistakes aside, the team did come out on top in three weight classes, with Overton, who lifted in the first sessions of the clean and jerk and bench press, becoming the first traditional champion of the day. Overton won the 169 class with a 590 total (290 clean and jerk, 300 bench press). That put him 85 pounds ahead of Chiefland’s Paul Davis. Overton had the best clean-and-jerk total by 45 pounds, while his bench-press total was 35 pounds better than everyone else’s.
Jeffries’ 665 total (315, 350) put him 25 pounds ahead of Suwannee’s Brandon Robinson. His bench press was 25 pounds better than Robinson’s, while the two finished with the same clean-and-jerk total.
Anthony-Rozier finished 65 pounds ahead of Taylor County’s Madden Metcalf with a 655 total (285, 370). He had the best bench press by 55 pounds.
The traditional championships were the second of the day for Anthony-Rozier and Overton, who won their classes in the Olympic competition as well.
“They’re living proof that hard work over a lot of years pays off,” Lowery said. “Both of those kids have been with me since seventh or eighth grade. I bet you they haven’t missed a handful of workouts that whole time.”
Keystone had four finish as runners-up in their classes: Begue with a 485 total (225, 260) in the 139 class, Ulsch with a 520 total (235, 285) in the 154 class, Hovsepian with a 615 total (300, 315) in the 183 class and Roper with a 575 total (235, 340) in the 199 class.
The Indians earned third place in three of those classes, with Van Zant placing behind Begue with a 470 total (245, 225), Schenck placing behind Hovsepian with a 575 total (295, 280) and Bryson Wester placing behind Roper with a 560 total (250, 310).
Hollingsworth took fifth in the 119 class with a 325 total (150, 175), while Brayden Wester was sixth in the 238 class with a 545 total (265, 280).
Three lifters earned seventh-place finishes: Tisdale with a 305 total (155, 150) in the 119 class, Goodman with a 570 total (290, 280) in the 219 class and Duncan with a 565 total (265, 300) in the unlimited class.
Shine and Vernell Jackson placed ninth in the 129 and 169 classes, respectively. Shine had a 380 total (170, 210), while Jackson had a 450 total (200, 250).
Damien Dunlap was 10th in the 154 class with a 405 total (185, 220), while Brayden McCall was 16th in the 129 class with a 290 total (140, 150).
Olympic results
Keystone had 14 earn points in the Olympic competition, including champions Overton and Anthony-Rozier. Overton won with a 505 total (215 snatch, 290 clean and jerk), which put him 85 pounds ahead of Suwannee’s Isaiah Love, while Anthony-Rozier won with a 470 total (185, 285), which got him just past Suwannee’s Alex Mabey, who had a 465 total.
Three earned runner-up status: Van Zant with a 415 total (170, 245), Schenck with a 520 total (225, 295) and Jeffries with a 540 total (225, 315).
Third-place finishes were earned by Hovsepian with a 515 total (215, 300), Goodman with a 495 total (205, 290) and Herman with a 455 total (200, 255) in the 238 class.
Placing fourth were Begue with a 395 total (170, 225), Bryston Wester with a 415 total (165, 250) and Duncan with a 445 total (180, 265).
Tisdale and Ulsch both placed fifth. Tisdale had a 270 total (115, 155), while Ulsch had a 405 total (170, 235).
Adams placed sixth in the 154 class with a 360 total (145, 215), while Hollingsworth placed seventh in his class with a 250 total (100, 150).
Roper earned ninth place with a 370 total (135, 235), while Talan Messina was 10th in the 169 class with a 360 total (150, 210).
Shine was 11th with a 295 total (125, 170), while McCall was 16th with a 245 total (105, 140).
