Randy Lefko
Sports Editor
LAKELAND – Keystone Heights High’s 119 weightlifter Elijah Mize was not a returning district or region or state weightlifter, but the sinewy powerhouse took to his weight group with a vengeance and came away with a Traditional state title at the Class 1A weightlifting championships in Lakeland on Saturday.
“I wasn’t a big part of the team last year, but something clicked in the past year and here I am,” said Mize, who waged a battle to tie with Imagine School’s Angel Vazquez to finish with a 400 pound total after two hours of battle to have his journey come down to a wait and see final lift by Vazquez.
“We just kept lifting, not saying much, but watching closely,” said Mize. “I’ve never been in a tight battle like this and tried to just stay in my own game.”
After clean and jerks of 155 and 175, Mize missed at 190 after Vazques rolled into a plus 20 pound lead with lifts of 185, 190 and 195.
“He wasn’t missing,” said Mize. “I had to make up pounds somewhere and took a shot at my second bench press.”
In the bench, which with the Clean and Jerk and Bench Press added to together for the Traditional score, Mize put up a 210 first lift to Vazquez’ 195.
“I wanted to see what his reaction would be knowing I had better bench press lifts still in me,” said Mize, who won his region title with a 240 final bench press.
Knowing he only made up 15 of the 20 pounds of his gap from the Clean and Jerk, Mize went big and jumped to 225 for his second lift and got his green lights for good. Vazquez hit at 205 to leave the duo tied at at 400 total.
Both lifters missed in their final lifts; 245 for Mize, 210 for Vazquez with Mize, weighing in at 115.90 pounds earning the gold with Vazquez at 117.10.
“We knew it would be close and we also knew he was lighter,” said Keystone Heights coach Steve Reynolds, who finished with two third place finishes for the Indians, who were chasing a return to the state title podium from a few years ago. “We needed everyone to hit all three lifts in their weight classes and we came up short.”
In the team scores, Fort White won in Olympics with 24 points with Williston second at 16 and Keystone Heights third at 13.
In Traditional, Fort White won again with 27 points with Baker High seocnd at 20 and Keystone Heights third again with 13.
“I have said before that the smaller schools in this area and in south Florida have a little bit of an advantage of getting better as coaches are getting better and smarter at perfecting the techniques of their lifters each year,” said Reynolds. “At regions, Fort White was third with us second and West Nassau first in Traditional. In Olympics, we won with Williston second and Fort White third. It is just a matter of being on on the day at state.”
In Olympics, Mize finished fourth with Vazquez winning the outright title with a 345 total. Mize totaled 310.
For the Indians, in Olympics, Colton Hollingsworth was third in Olympics with Aiden Nobles 10th, both at 129; Clark Byrnes was seventh at 154; Layton Wright was fifth at 169; Kyle Perkins was eighth at 199; Logan Madden-Moore was eighth at 219; Brayden Wester and Pete Bostic were ninth and 10th at 238 and Jackson Herman was third at Unlimited.
In Traditional, Keystone Heights had Dylan Currington, eighth at 119; Hollingsworth second at 129; Jagger Lancaster eighth at 154; Damien Dunlap 10th at 154; Zane Leger sixth at 199; Perkins eighth at 199; Trase Wooden ninth at 219; and Wester seventh at 238.
119: Elijah Mize KHHS (310 total Olympics, 400 total Traditional), Dylan Currington KHHS (290 total Olympics, 345 total Traditional)
129: Colton Hollingsworth KHHS (355 total Olympics, 425 total Traditional), Aiden Nobles KHHS (300 total Olympics, 325 total Traditional)
154: Damien Dunlap KHHS (460 total Traditional), Jagger Lancaster KHHS (460 total Traditional)
169: Layton Wright KHHS (425 total Olympics, 485 total Traditional)
199: Kyle Perkins KHHS (480 total Olympics, 565 total Traditional), Zane Leger KHHS (460 total Olympics, 565 total Traditional)
219: Trase Wooden KHHS (445 total Olympics, 530 total Traditional), Logan Madden-Moore KHHS (450 total Olympics)
238: Brayden Wester KHHS (465 total Olympics, 585 total Traditional), Pete Bostic KHHS (440 total Olympics, 525 total Traditional)
UNL: Jackson Herman KHHS (525 total Olympics, 595 total Traditional)
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