Boys weightlifting | Lakewood Ranch's Gabe Overmyer medals at Class 2A state meet
KISSIMMEE -- Gabe Overmyer brought home Manatee County's only medal from the Class 2A championship Saturday with his sixth-place finish at the state championship meet at the Kissimmee Civic Center.
Lakewood Ranch's heavyweight totaled 715 pounds -- tied for fifth most -- but settled for sixth place because he weighed more than the fifth-place finisher.
Flagler Palm Coast's Michael Astrologo won the state title in the heavyweight class with 805 pounds.
"My goal was to place in the top six. I knew going in that I had to make gains because I was five pounds behind," Overmyer said. "I've been working hard every day to pick up the extra weight."
Overmyer entered the meet as the seventh seed, one spot out of medal position and five pounds behind Navarre's Brent Short.
The senior set personal bests in both the bench press and clean and jerk on Saturday. He increased his bench by five pounds to reach 405, and his clean and jerk by 10 to reach 310.
Short jumped three spots, but Overmyer passed Lake City Columbia's Robbie Moon to crack the top six.
"This was my second time at state, but this is my last high school sports event," Overmyer said, "so to be able to place is just an unbelievable feeling."
Overymyer was joined at the state meet by five Manatee lifters and one from Braden River, although none of those six finished higher than ninth.
Seth Walter, the Hurricanes' 238-pounder, lifted 615 pounds to finish ninth in his class, 125 pounds behind Fort Walton Beach Choctawatchee's Graylon Johnson.
Walter's older brother, Jack Walter, finished 10th in the 219-pound weight class. The senior Cane lifted 640 pounds and finished 100 pounds behind Wellington's Alex Brosseau. Manatee's Nick Marquette finished 13th at 129 with 395 pounds, also 100 behind the winner from Flagler, Kendrick Thomas.
Jernard Porter, the Hurricanes' 154-pounder, and Stanley Albritton, the Canes' 183-pounder, each finished 14th. Porter lifted 520 pounds and finished 70 behind Orlando Colonial's Michael Branuelas.
Albritton totaled 580 and finished 95 pounds behind Port Orange Spruce Creek's Dante' Collier.
The Pirates' lone competitor, 169-pound senior Anzonni Hause Reyes, finished 13th at 540 pounds, 145 behind Spruce Creek's Slade Villalobos.
The Mustangs were the only area program to score as a team in Kissimmee, earning one point for Overmyer's sixth-place finish. Ranch finished in a tie for 31st. Spruce and Choctawatchee shared the state championship with 19 points each.
David Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be contacted at 941-745-7057 or on Twitter@DBWilson2.
This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Boys weightlifting | Lakewood Ranch's Gabe Overmyer medals at Class 2A state meet ."