Boys weightlifting | Four area lifters clinch spot in Class 2A state meet
PUNTA GORDA -- Manatee calls him "Crank," and for a moment his energy gave the arena a burst at the Class 2A-Region 7 boys weightlifting championship.
Stanley Albritton, the Hurricanes' 183-pound senior, finished his clean and jerk, clinched the region title at Charlotte High School and began the most raucous individual celebration of the afternoon. He hugged head coach Rich Lansky and then a handful of teammates situated behind the mat. He found some of his Palmetto friends and shared a brief celebration with them.
Anzonni Hause-Reyes, Braden River's 169-pound senior, was next to the bar and he watched Albritton's excitement. A lift later, Hause-Reyes was also a region champion.
"Seeing how excited you were," Hause-Reyes told Albritton after the meet, "I wanted to feel that, too."
The 169-pound division was a sweep for Manatee County -- lifters from Lakewood Ranch and Palmetto took the other two medals -- and Hause-Reyes and Albritton were two of the area's four individual champions Wednesday. The Canes led the way with a pair of state qualifiers and Lakewood Ranch accounted for the fourth.
Only the top finisher in each weight class is guaranteed a spot in the Class 2A meet April 15. The top 12 non-winners from around the state also advance to Kissimmee. For the county, those guarantees went to Albritton, Hause-Reyes, Hurricane 219-pounder Jack Walter and Mustang heavyweight Gabe Overmyer.
The Canes also finished second as a team at the meet with 31 points. Punta Gorda Charlotte, the host of the
event, won with 47 points and two individual champions. North Port won a pair of individual gold medals, and Port Charlotte and Sarasota Riverview rounded out the meet with one each.
"Charlotte's a tough team," Lansky said. "I thought it was pretty close. Some of their guys coming in third and fourth helped."
Lansky is hopeful Manatee can get two more into the state meet through the wild-card pool. Nick Marquette, who won a Class 2A-District 13 tournament earlier this month, finished second in the region at 129 pounds. Jernard Porter, another district champion, won a silver medal at 154 pounds, as well.
The meet mostly went the way the Hurricanes expected, but they weren't far from a total breakthrough performance in Punta Gorda.
"I was hoping my 154 would make that last lift and come through," Lansky said, "but overall we were one lift away from a couple firsts, so I was happy."
Ranch's Thomas Scott, who finished behind Hause-Reyes at 169 pounds, was the area's only other silver medalist. The Tigers' Nahum Guerrero, who finished third behind Hause-Reyes and Scott, was one of two bronze medalists for PHS along with 183-pounder Gavin Greeman. Matt Zimmerman, the Pirates' 119-pounder, was the area's final medalist with a third-place finish. Zimmerman was also a district champion for BRHS.
Overmyer, the lone champion for Lakewood Ranch, was emblematic of what coaches ultimately judge during their biggest meets of the year -- he put up a personal best. The heavyweight had been stuck at 380 pounds on his bench press for most of the season. Suddenly, Wednesday he got to 400 pounds. Before the clean and jerk even began, the senior had improved his position to seal a spot at state.
"I've been working all season to get over the plateau," Overmyer said. "Just now it finally paid off."
This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Boys weightlifting | Four area lifters clinch spot in Class 2A state meet ."