Keys weightlifters descended upon Doctors Charter School on March 26 for the FHSAA 1A District 16 Championships, and what a showing Monroe County lifters had. When the chalk dust cleared, both Keys teams had secured a district championship and five local athletes brought home a total of eight individual titles.
Marathon won a team first-place trophy in both the traditional and Olympic events. The Fins will share the title of Olympic champs with Coral Shores, who tied with Marathon for first place. The teams will now travel with their qualifying individual athletes to Frostproof High School on April 3 for the Class 1A Region 4 event.
To qualify for the next round, only the four district champions in each region are guaranteed a spot at regionals. The other 16 spots are at-large, meaning the top weight totals are calculated from all the other lifters in the region and the top 16 make the cut. When a strong region such as FHSAA’s Region 4, which encompasses South Florida, relies on at-large bids, the second- through fourth-place lifters in each district still have excellent odds. It is not unheard of for athletes as far down the district list as sixth and seventh to make the cut.
Marathon had three athletes winning double district titles. Damian Stasiewicz won both the Olympic and traditional events in the 169–pound class. Stasiewicz’s best lifts in the three events of snatch, clean and jerk and bench press were 165, 225 and 250 pounds, respectively. His closest competitor was district runner-up Aaron Lykins of Coral Shores. Both athletes, as well as Coral Shores’ Tristan Court, qualified for regionals in the traditional event, with Stasiewicz ranked No. 1 in the region. In the Olympic competition, Vitalii Konyk of Marathon will join the trio at regionals, where Stasiewicz is also ranked number one.
In the 183-pound competition, Marathon’s Max Childress brought home double gold. Childress is ranked No. 2 in the region in both events after his best lifts of 175, 255 and 240 pounds in the snatch, clean and jerk and bench. Joining Childress in his weight class at regionals will be Xavier Johnson of Coral Shores and Roland Gonzalez of Marathon in both events plus Coral Shores’ Jackson Garcia in Olympic and Jake Campanioni in traditional.
The Keys’ final double district champ was Tanner Ross, at 199 pounds. Ross’ best lifts were 205 (snatch), 255 (clean & jerk) and 265 (bench). He outlifted his closest competitor by 100 or more pounds in each event. Ross was the top lifter in all weight classes in the Olympic event in which he is tied for first in the regional rankings. He is ranked second in traditional. Joining Ross at the 199-pound category at regionals will be teammate Isaak Vallejo, who was the runner-up in traditional, plus Coral Shores’ Troy Register and Sebastian Diaz. All four 199-pound athletes will compete in both events.
Matthias Martinez-Velez of the Fins earned a district championship in the traditional event in the 139-pound class and a runner-up medal in Olympic lifts. HIs top lifts in snatch, clean and jerk and bench were 125, 180 and 215 pounds, respectively. In traditional, he is ranked second, with Coral Shores’ Tyler Bettner right behind him. Bettner was the runner up in traditional lifts and will represent the ’Canes in both events at regionals. Kristers Vutans of Coral Shores and Connor Malone of Marathon will join them at regionals.
The final district champion this year was Eduardo Garcia at 238 pounds. Garcia secured a first in traditional and second in Olympic with a 140-pound snatch, 185-pound clean and 275-pound bench. Mason Aussubel of Coral Shores also made the cut for regionals in both events.
Marathon’s Braulio Garcia (219 pounds) and Coral Shores’ Andrew Grgek (Unlimited) were district runner-ups in their weight classes. Grgek was second in both events while Garcia was second in traditional lifts. Zane Rindom (219) was third in both events and will join Garcia and Chris Paul of Marathon as well as AJ Delgado of Coral Shores in the regional competition. Joining Grgek in the unlimited class will be Evan Johnston and Trevor Wofsey, both of Marathon.
The rest of the Keys competitors who qualified for the next round of competition were Nick Brown (119), Roger Sandino (129), Kyle Derobertis (129), Kevin Gonzalez (154) and William Roberts (154) of Coral Shores and Erik Wilson (154) of Marathon. In fact, every single Keys athlete who made weight for his district event qualified for regionals in at least one event. At Frostproof, there will be 15 Fins and 17 ’Canes competing for a chance to have their ticket punched to the next round. States will take place on April 12 at Polk County’s RP Funding Center.
JACKSON GARCIA/Contributed
