BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School won four weight classes in capturing the team championship in Olympic at the Region 2-1A boys weightlifting meet on April 4 at KHHS.
The Indians had 56 points to finish ahead of runner-up Williston, which had 48 points.
Keystone was second as a team in the traditional event, with 42 points to West Nassau’s 44.
Individual champions automatically qualified for the state finals, which will be held Saturday, April 12, at R.P. Funding Center in Lakeland. Keystone’s Jackson Herman, Colton Hollingsworth, Elijah Mize and Kyle Perkins won their classes in Olympic, which Hollingsworth and Mize also took first in traditional.
Additional state qualifiers, based on comparing totals of all four of the region-level meets in Class 1A, will be announced later once all region-level competition has been completed.
Olympic
Mize won the 119-pound class with a 320-pound total (135 snatch, 185 clean and jerk). He finished 15 pounds ahead of runner-up Andrew Ulsch of Fort White and bettered his District 8 championship total by 5 pounds.
Hollingsworth improved upon his District 8 championship total by 20 pounds in winning the 129 class. He had a 370 total (155, 215), which put him 65 pounds ahead of runner-up Elijah Galtieri of West Nassau. Hollingsworth’s snatch total was the best in his class by 20 pounds, while his clean-and-jerk total was the best by 40 pounds.
Herman and Perkins, like Hollingsworth and Mize, were coming off championships at the District 8 meet. Perkins took the Region 2 title in the 199 class with a 495 total (210, 285), while Herman won the unlimited class with a 530 total (225, 305).
Herman tied with Hawthorne’s Tyler Duncan, who used to attend KHHS. Herman, who was the fourth-lightest lifter in the class, missed 305 on his second bench attempt, but successfully got it on his third attempt, which allowed him to tie Duncan and earn the championship with the weigh-in tiebreaker.
Zane Leger and Layton Wright were runners-up in their respective classes. Wright had a 420 total (175, 245) in the 169 class, while Leger placed behind Perkins in the 199 class with a 470 total (185, 285). Wright improved upon his district total by 5 pounds, while Leger bested his district total by 40 pounds.
Dylan Currington and Aiden Nobles each placed third, with Currington posting a 295 total (120, 175) in the 119 class and Nobles posting a 300 total (125, 175) in the 129 class. Currington bettered his district total by 5 pounds, while Nobles’ total was 10 pounds better than his district total.
Keystone had three fourth-place finishers: Clark Byrnes, with a 410 total (175, 235) in the 154 class, Trase Wooden, with a 480 total (200, 280) in the 219 class, and Brayden Wester, with a 450 total (175, 275) in the 238 class. Byrnes and Wooden improved upon their district totals by 10 and 15 pounds, respectively.
Pete Bostic also contributed to Keystone’s team score with a sixth-place total of 420 (175, 245) in the 238 class.
The Indians also had the following results: Brayden McCall, with an eighth-place total of 370 (150, 220) in the 154 class, Logan Madden-Moore, with an eighth-place total of 420 (175, 245) in the 219 class, Talon Lybarger, with a ninth-place total of 370 (165, 205) in the 183 class, Connor Mooneyham, with an 11th-place total of 275 (115, 160) in the 139 class, Andrew Snider, with an 11th-place total of 400 (165, 235) in the unlimited class, Caleb Alvers, with a 14th-place total of 260 (105, 155) in the 139 class, Brodyn Adams, with a 14th-place total of 340 (145, 195) in the 169 class, and Hunter Crumpton, with a 14th-place total of 305 (130, 175) in the 183 class.
Traditional
In traditional, Hollingsworth and Mize won their classes by 50 and 60 pounds, respectively, with Mize finishing as the event’s second-best pound-for-pound lifter. Mize, who had the best bench press in his class by 35 pounds, had a 425 total (185 clean and jerk, 240 bench press), while Hollingsworth had a 440 total (215, 225).
Hollingsworth improved upon his district total by 20 pounds, while Mize improved upon his by 10 pounds.
Leger and Perkins took second and third, respectively. Leger’s 575 total (285, 290) was 5 pounds shy of winning the 199 championship and was 25 pounds better than what he did at the district meet. Perkins finished with a 565 total (285, 280).
Herman and Wester each placed third, with Herman posting a 600 total (305, 295) and Wester posting a 570 total (275, 295). Each lifter improved upon his district total by 10 pounds.
Wester actually had the second-best total in his class, with the champion and runner-up lifters finishing with the same total.
Wright and Damien Dunlap (154 class) each earned a fourth-place finish. Dunlap had a 470 total (225, 245), while Wright improved upon his district total by 15 pounds with a 490 total (245, 245).
Currington had a fifth-place total of 340 (175, 165), while two lifters finished sixth: Jagger Lancaster, with a 460 total (205, 255) in the 154 class, and Bostic, with a 510 total (245, 265). Lancaster’s total was 15 pounds better than what he did at the district meet.
Keystone also had the following results: Wooden, with a seventh-place total of 520 (280, 240), Nobles, with an eighth-place total of 335 (175, 160), Madden-Moore, with an 11th-place total of 480 (245, 235), Lybarger, with a 12th-place total of 430 (205, 225), Adams, with a 15th-place total of 405 (195, 210), and Crumpton, with an 18th-place total of 375 (175, 200).
Madden-Moore improved upon his district total by 5 pounds, while Wooden improved upon his by 20 pounds.
