BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School took first in five weight classes in traditional and first in six classes in Olympic in winning the championship trophy in each at the March 26 District 8-1A meet at KHHS.
The Indians have won the championship trophy every year since the Florida High School Athletic Association began employing the district-region meet format in 2016.
Colton Hollingsworth, Elijah Mize, Kyle Perkins and Brayden Wester won their classes in both traditional and Olympic. Damien Dunlap was also a district champion in traditional, while Clark Byrnes, Jackson Herman and Trase Wooden were Olympic champs.
First-place individuals earned automatic berths in the Region 2 meet, which will be hosted by KHHS on Friday, April 4, at 4 p.m.
At-large qualifiers (based upon a comparison of totals from all the region’s four districts) will also be selected at a later date.
Traditional
Keystone earned 82 points as a team, finishing ahead of Crescent City, which had 41 points. Father Lopez was third with 34 points, followed by Pierson Taylor (30), Interlachen (17), Hawthorne (12) and Deltona Trinity Christian (1).
Mize, in winning the 119-pound class, was the top pound-for-pound traditional lifter (as determined by the Schwartz Formula). Weighing in a 117.6 pounds, Mize had a clean and jerk of 180 and a bench press of 235 for a 415 total. That put him 75 pounds ahead of teammate Dylan Currington, who was runner-up with a 340 total (180 clean and jerk, 160 bench).
Currington’s total had him 120 pounds ahead of third-place finisher Matthew Loranger of Interlachen.
Hollingsworth, who was the traditional district champ last year, won the 129 class this year by 45 pounds with a 420 total (205, 215), while Dunlap took first in the 154 class by 35 pounds with a 480 total (230, 250).
Perkins and teammate Zane Leger dominated the 199 class. Perkins had a winning total of 590 (290, 300), while Leger was second with a 550 total (255, 295). The next-best total was 390 by Pierson Taylor’s Jayce Inabenett.
Keystone’s two lifters in the 238 class also finished well ahead of the field. Wester won the class with a 560 total (275, 285), while teammate Pete Bostic was second with a 510 total (245, 265). Third-place finisher Trent Millic of Interlachen had a 470 total.
Joining Bostic, Currington and Leger as runners-up were Layton Wright, with a 475 total (240, 235) in the 169 class, Talon Lybarger, with a 455 total (215, 240) in the 183 class, Wooden, with a 500 total (250, 250) in the 219 class, and Herman, with a 590 total (305, 285) in the unlimited class.
Three lifters placed third: Aiden Nobles, with a 345 total (175, 170) in the 129 class, Jagger Lancaster, with a 445 total (200, 245) in the 154 class, and Logan Madden-Moore, with a 475 total (245, 230) in the 219 class.
Keystone also had the following totals: Caleb Alvers, 139 class, seventh place, 305 (155, 150); Connor Mooneyham, 139 class, eighth place, 295 (145, 150); Brodyn Adams, 169 class, seventh place, 405 (190, 215); Hunter Crumpton, 183 class, eighth place, 385 (195, 190); Andrew Snider, unlimited class, 10th place, 430 (215, 215).
Olympic
The Indians took a big win in Olympic, finishing with 104 points to runner-up Father Lopez’s 63. Pierson Taylor was third with 22 points, followed by Trinity Christian (9) and Hawthorne (5).
Mize and Currington were the only two competing in the 119 class, finishing first and second, respectively. Mize had a 315 total (135 snatch, 180 clean and jerk), while Currington had a 290 total (110, 180).
Besides Mize, Keystone lifters who placed first were Hollingsworth, with a 350 total (145, 205), Byrnes, with a 400 total (170, 230) in the 154 class, Perkins, with a 505 total (215, 290), Wooden, with a 465 total (215, 250), Wester, with a 460 total (185, 275), and Herman, with a 535 total (230, 305).
Perkins was the second-strongest pound-for-pound Olympic lifter.
Hollingsworth, Byrnes, Perkins, Wooden and Wester all had teammates placing second behind them: Nobles, with a 290 total (115, 175), Brayden McCall, with a 390 total (165, 225) in the 154 class, Leger, with a 430 total (175, 255), Madden-Moore, with a 400 total (155, 245), and Bostic, with a 425 total (180, 245).
Perkins and Leger were well ahead of the competitors in their class, with Leger’s total being 110 pounds better than third-place finisher Brandon Gilber of Father Lopez.
Likewise, Wester and Bostic had no trouble taking the top two spots in their class, with third-place finisher Max Walter of Father Lopez finishing 80 pounds behind Bostic.
Also finishing as runners-up in their classes were Wright, with a 415 total (175, 240), and Lybarger, with a 375 total (160, 215).
Two lifters had third-place finishes: Alvers, with a 260 total (105, 155), and Snider, with a 375 total (160, 215).
Placing fourth were Mooneyham, with a 250 total (105, 145), and Adams, with a 325 total (135, 190).
Crumpton added to the team’s score with a sixth-place finish. He had a 320 total (125, 195).
