Wt. Class, Name (School) S-CJ-Total Without question, Ziss was the star of the show. The record-setting senior’s 205-245-450-lb. total in the Olympic won his 129-lb. weight class by 100 pounds over second place finisher and teammate Jayden Green-Alemany; while his 245-235-460 totals in the traditional won his weight class by 110 pounds. His totals would […]
Wt. Class, Name (School) S-CJ-Total
Without question, Ziss was the star of the show. The record-setting senior’s 205-245-450-lb. total in the Olympic won his 129-lb. weight class by 100 pounds over second place finisher and teammate Jayden Green-Alemany; while his 245-235-460 totals in the traditional won his weight class by 110 pounds. His totals would have won six different weight classes in the Olympic and five different weight classes in the Traditional.
Gateway, who only had five lifters in the competition, posted two champions in Elvis Jiminez (169) and Julian Guzman (219). Harmony football star Mekhi Ealy (UNL) and Poinciana’s Angelo Rodriguez (183) were the other champions in the Olympic Division that included the Clean-and-Jerk and Snatch disciplines.
Traditional OBC Individual Champions
After Brandon Portillo (119), Ziss (129), Santos Torres (139) and Kevin Arriaga (154) all won their weight classes, St. Cloud also posted champions in Jack Murillo (199) and Landon Millman (238) in winning six of the 10 weight classes – tallying 97 team points to outdistance Harmony, who finished second 42 team points.
It was more of the same for the Bulldogs in the Traditional, which included the clean-and-jerk and bench press. Ayen Lopez (119), Ziss (129), Dominic Trombetta (139) and Jason Isaraphanich (154) gave the Bulldogs a clean sweep of the first four weight classes.
Traditional Scores (Clean and Jerk plus Bench): 1. St. Cloud 97; 2. Harmony 42; 3. Tohopekaliga 19; 4. Gateway (18); 5. Poinciana 16; 6. Liberty 15; 7. Celebration 13; 8. Osceola 0
Wt. Class, Name (School) C/J-Bench-Total
In addition to winning 10 of the 20 individual weight classes, the depth of the Bulldogs played a big part in the win. St. Cloud captured eight silvers and a bronze in the Olympic and seven silvers and two bronze in the traditional to finish the night 28 medals.
“A pretty good night on the floor and we’re happy to repeat as OBC Champions,” St. Cloud Coach Cory Aun said. “There’s a little disappointment in that we didn’t reach our potential in a couple of middle weight classes and that’s on me. But with this still being the regular season, it may not be a bad thing. It will give us something to strive for in the post-season.”
OBC Overall Team Scores: St. Cloud 191; Harmony 96; Poinciana 33; Gateway 32; Liberty 31; Tohopekaliga 24; Celebration 21; Osceola 5
Olympic OBC Individual Champions
By: J. Daniel Pearson
Orange Belt Conference
“It is hard to come up with any more superlatives to describe Mikey and his accomplishments. He won two state championships last year, four for his career and has already unofficially broken one of his state records by more than 20 pounds this season,” Aun said.
It was St. Cloud fourth straight OBC Championship in boys’ weightlifting and with the Lady Bulldogs winning the girls’ title earlier in the year, gave Aun’s team a sweep for the 2024-25 school year. It also kept the boys team undefeated this season.
The final six weight class champions were split between Gateway, Poinciana, Harmony and Tohopekaliga. Guzman won at 219 to give him two golds for Gateway; while Nickolas Cepeda (238) also won for the Panthers. Poinciana posted back-to-back champions with Rodriguez doubling at 183 and Michael Garcia taking the title at 199. Ealy won his second gold of the night in the traditional; while Tohopekaliga’s Enner Colomnares came up with a meet best 295-lb. bench press to total 200-295-495 to win the 169-lb. weight class.
With the win, the Bulldogs will next turn their attention to Class 3A, District 9 championships on Mar. 28 at Harmony. That meet will essentially be a repeat of OBCs, with the district consisting of six of the eight county schools. Gateway and Liberty will be at the 2A, D8 meet at East Ridge HS also on Mar. 28.
Boys Weightlifting Championships
(at St. Cloud HS)
- 119: Brandon Politano (St. Cloud) 145-170-315
- 129: Mikey Ziss (St. Cloud) 205-245-450
- 139: Santos Torres (St. Cloud) 185-240-425
- 154: Kevin Arriaga (St. Cloud) 185-245-430
- 169: Elvis Jiminez (Gateway) 210-230-440
- 183: Angelo Rodriguez (Poinciana) 245-310-555
- 199: Jack Murillo (St. Cloud) 195-250-445
- 219: Julian Guzman (Gateway) 235-295-530
- 238: Landon Millman (St. Cloud) 175-245-425
- UNL: Mekhi Ealy (Harmony) 225-280-505
Olympic Scores (Snatch plus Clean and Jerk): 1. St. Cloud 94; 2. Harmony 54; 3. Poinciana 17; 4. Liberty 16; 5. Gateway 14; 6. Celebration 8; 7. (tie) Osceola 5, Tohopekaliga 5
Behind the efforts of four-time state champion Mikey Ziss, St. Cloud won both the Olympic and Traditional team titles to amass 191 total points to easily clinch the overall OBC Team Championship. Harmony (96 total points) was a distant second; while Poinciana (33) edged Gateway (32) for third.
For a fourth straight year, the St. Cloud Bulldogs are the Orange Belt Conference champions in the sport of boys weightlifting – this time in dominating fashion.
- 119: Ayen Lopez (St. Cloud) 175-200-375
- 129: Mikey Ziss (St. Cloud) 245-235-480
- 139: Dominic Trombetta (St. Cloud) 225-235-460
- 154: Jason Isaraphanich (St. Cloud) 235-220-455
- 169: Enner Colmenares (Tohopekaliga) 200-295-495
- 183: Angelo Rodriguez (Poinciana) 310-260-570
- 199: Michael Garcia (Poinciana) 260-245-505
- 219: Juliana Guzman (Gateway) 295-240-535
- 238: Nickolas Cepeda (Gateway) 205-275-480
- UNL: Mekhi Ealy (Harmony) 280-275-555
On Friday, St. Cloud won the first four weight classes of the Olympic and never looked back.
