Boys weightlifting | Manatee follows up county title with district championship, five individual wins
LAKEWOOD RANCH -- There was only one serious question for Manatee ahead of the Class 2A-District 13 championship at Lakewood Ranch High School. The Hurricanes won the Manatee County championship by nearly 40 points at the start of the month, and Sebring is the only addition at the district meet.
Although the competition was closer Friday, the Canes followed the path they set at the county meet to win the district title.
"I didn't know what Sebring had because we hadn't seen them," Hurricanes head coach Rich Lansky said.
He need not have worried.
The Canes finished with 59 points and five individual winners. Runner-up Palmetto finished with 47 points and one individual champion. Lakewood Ranch finished third with 41 points and one individual champion. Braden River rounded out the local schools with 19 points, a fifth-place finish and a pair of individual winners.
All but one of Manatee's
county champions followed their county titles with district titles, and one new lifter added a victory. Nick Marquette defended his county title at 129 pounds, Jernard Porter defended at 154 and Jack Walter won again at 219. Stanley Albritton, who won a county championship at 199 pounds, moved down a weight class and won a district title at 183, letting Kevin Townsend move into position to win at 199.
"Everything's going good," Lansky said. "Our guys keep trying to improve, getting better, putting up big lifts in front of judges when it counts and digging deep to make big lifts."
PHS lost one of its two county winners when Albritton moved down a weight class, but Ricardo Ochoa still gave Palmetto a champion at 129 pounds less than three weeks after winning a county championship.
Instead, the Tigers leaned on their depth to finish as the runner-up and come within 12 points of the Hurricanes. Nahum Guerrero and Corey Brady, who both scratched at county, logged top-three finishes at district.
"We're making strides," head coach Dave Marino said before noting his team only loses three seniors after this season. "We're closing the gap. I couldn't be more proud of them because that's what we're striving for. The future's bright. The kids are excited. They see the opportunity there."
The Pirates were the only other team with multiple individual champions. Both Matt Zimmerman and Anzonni Hause-Reyes defended county titles at 119 and 169, respectively. The Mustangs won the heavyweight class, where Gabe Overmeyer defended his county title. The Blue Streaks, who finished fifth with 40 points, picked up its only individual win at 288 pounds.
The top six lifters in each weight class advance to the Class 2A-Region 7 meet March 30 in Punta Gorda. Twelve each from the Canes and PHS qualified for the trip down to Charlotte High School, 11 from Ranch and four from BRHS.
The winner in each weight class at the region meet is guaranteed a spot at the Class 2A state meet. The rest of the lifters will be thrown into a wild-card pool. The top 12 in each weight class will be taken from the pool and qualify for a trip to Kissimmee in April.
This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Boys weightlifting | Manatee follows up county title with district championship, five individual wins ."