KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - With five individual champions in Traditional and six in Olympics scoring, the Keystone Heights boys weightlifting team dominated their region 4-1A championship tournament Friday.

"We are doing what we do, the standard here is the standard," said Keystone Heights head weightlifting coach Leavy Alvarez, noting the historic five state titles won by former head coach Lantz Lowery, now at Palatka High. "We want to go nine for nine for every lift. That's what we are supposed to do."

For Alvarez, with champions Dylan Curington at 119, Elijah Mize at 129, Colton Hollingsworth at 139, Kyle Perkins at 183, Ben Scott at 199 and Logan Madden-Moore at 238, the team's scores finished with Keystone Heights ahead of district runner-up Father Lopez, 84-66, with Crescent City third at 22 in Olympics scoring.

In Traditional, Curington, Mize, Hollingsworth, Perkins and Madden-Moore all won their second title of the day with Keystone Heights winning over Father Lopez, 68-45, with Crescent City also tied at 45, but with Lopez awarded second on body weight totals.

"It's great to have my teammate, Pete Bostic, who is also a childhood friend, to be by my side in my weight class," said Perkins, noting Bostic lost weight from 238 to compete at 183. "He made the commitment."

Statewide region tournaments continue over the weekend with champions automatically advancing to the state championships in Lakeland May 6-8. The rest of the lineup for state is based on weight totals throughout the regions.
In region 2-2A, with Middleburg landing two region champions; Sam Craven at 183 and Harris Jammes at 129; and Ridgeview earning one individual title, Wyatt Moore at 119, it was the Broncos chasing down the perennial champion Suwannee High Bulldogs with a third-place finish in Traditional and a sixth place in Olympics to lead area lifters.

Columbia caught the defending 2A champion Bulldogs in Traditional scoring 60-48, with Middleburg third at 25, Clay fifth at 16, Fleming Island seventh at 14 and Ridgeview 10th at five.

In the Traditional scoring, Craven, the double district champions two weeks prior, took control of his Traditional region crown with Fleming Island's double district champion, Brady Digman, on his shoulder. Craven took control of the weight class, Digman second, with a 295 clean and jerk that gave him a 20-pound cushion to the bench press. In his bench press, Craven was overwhelming with a 345 third lift to have the best lift of the weight class by 60 pounds.

"We push each other, there is a lot of respect there," said Digman, who finished fourth in Olympics with Craven third. "It's a good thing about the Clay County teams all being here in this region because we pull for each other."

Craven was third in Olympics with a 485 total behind a 510 by winner Jayce Barton of Baker County and a tie with Lorenzo Lee of Suwannee with Lee declared second by body weight.

"I got a little more in the tank," Craven said. "We are all close enough to take a shot at state, maybe get a break and get the state title. Everything changes when the state title is on the line. Regions are just about getting to state."

Two more champions in region 2-2A were Jammes and Moore with Jammes benefiting from the body weight tiebreaker with a 380 total with Yulee's Adam Ballantine.

"I had three personal bests today; Snatch, Clean and Jerk and Bench so it was a good day," Jammes said. "Our goal today was to hit the opening lifts then see how we feel."

Jammes hit the trifecta for personal bests for a second week with three bests in his lifts last week.

"I got a lot left in the tank," Jammes said. "I think I have a chance at state if I stay on point. This a lot more competition here from districts and it ramps up even more at state."

In the Traditional scoring, Jammes outlifted Ballantine 415-400 with Clay High's Wyatt Hickox third at 375.

For Moore, who was joined by handful of Panther teammates, the 119 title at Olympics came with a 275-260 total over Suwannee's Isaiah Goodwin with Baker County's Lucas North taking the Traditional title 305-300.

Moore only cleared one lift in the Snatch at 120 with a 155 clean and jerk (miss at 160) and a 145-bench press (three clean lifts) which gives a shot a title possible with three clean lifts.

In the upper weights, Clay High's duo of Skyler Phoenix-Dean at 199 and Touni Saoud at Unlimited were pushed by Clay County rivals James Waters of Orange Park in 199 and Clay High's AJ Bivins at Unlimited.

"It's great to have guys we compete against here and on the football field battling with us," Saoud said. "We got each other's backs."

Phoenix-Dean finished second by body weight tiebreaker with Suwannee High's Jayden Francis, both totaling 515.

"We are the top two here and we'll see each other at state," said Phoenix-Dean, noting Leesburg's Ryan Thompson has the leading total at 615 pounds. "He will probably be the state champion, but there are a lot of guys battling for the top six spots behind him."

At the Class 2A championships last year, Craven finished sixth in Traditional at 183, Danny Raines finished seventh at 169 and Trent Pavlus was sixth at UNLIMITED for the Broncos. Pavlus was injured after his district meet last week.
Shevchook, in region 1-3A and with a double district title followed by two regions titles, both overwhelmingly executed 570-515 in Olympics and an astounding 685-595 in Traditional. A second Top Lifter selection was also earned.

Shevchook missed just two lifts: his opener at clean and jerk at 295 before finishing with a 315 and a 385 attempt in bench press on his third lift.
At his district meet, Shevchook hit the 315 in Clean and Jerk and hit 380 on bench press to total 695 giving him a little wiggle room at the state meet.

"The key is to hit all three lifts," Shevchook said. "It builds a little momentum and also confidence. We just work on technique the next week, then go for a second state title."

In the 2-3A region, Oakleaf finished third in Olympics with a 23 score behind leader Spruce Creek's 76 and runner-up Flagler Palm Coast's 57. In Traditional, Oakleaf was fourth with Spruce Creek against on top with 73, Flagler second at 39 and Creekside third at 30.

Oakleaf had strong top five finishes with Daniel Israel, third at 129; Garvens Bonhomme, second at 139; Walker Weathers, second to Shevchook at 169; Lucius Manley fifth at 199 and Ethan Simons second at 238; all in Traditional.

Top five finishers in Olympics for Oakleaf were Bonhomme, Manley, second at 199, Michael Jimenez, fourth at 219; and Simons, second at 238. Simons bettered by 10 pounds his 670 total in Traditional and 625 total in Olympics from his district title to keep his path to his best lifts to come at state.

Manley, Simons and Shevchook are Oakleaf's two returning state meet qualifiers. Shevchook Traditional state champion at 154, third in Olympics; Simons eighth in Traditional 238, fourth in Olympics and Manley eighth in Olympics 199.

Region Olympics champions totals, unofficial qualifiers (April 26)
Class 2A
119 RHS Region 2 Champion Wyatt Hickox 275 (340 leader, three above 300)
129 MHS Region 2 Champion Harris Jammes 380 (450 leader, three above 400)
139 MHS Ashton Harp 395 (450 leader, 15 above 400)
139 FIHS Austin Davis 425 (450 leader, 15 above 400)
169 MHS Danny Raines 410 (500 leader, two above 500)
183 FIHS Brady Digman 480 (565 leader, four above 500)
183 MHS Sam Craven 485 (565 leader, four above 500)
199 CHS Skyler Phoenix-Dean 515 (615 leader, eight above 500)
219 MHS Darius Swilley 510 (600 leader, 11 above 500)
UNL CHS Touni Saoud 510 (nine above 500)
UNL CHS AJ Bivins 465 ((nine above 500)

Region Traditional champions totals, unofficial qualifiers (April 26)
Class 2A
129: MHS Region 2 Champion Harris Jammes 415 (470 leader, nine above 415)
129: CHS Wyatt Hickox 375 (470 leader, nine above 415)
139: FIHS Austin Davis 490 (535 leader, three above 500)
139: MHS Ashton Harp 450 (535 leader, three above 500)
154: CHS Ajax Sgro 510 (595 leader, 16 above 500)
169: MHS Caiden Thigpen 525 (585 leader, 19 above 500)
183: MHS Region 2 Champion Sam Craven 640 (655 leader eight above 600)
183: FIHS Brady Digman 545 (655 leader eight above 600)
199: OPHS James Waters 570 (640 leader, seven above 600)
199: CHS Skyler Phoenix-Dean 565 (640 leader, seven above 600)
UNL: CHS Touni Saoud 635 (685, 18 above 600)

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Region Olympics champions totals, unofficial qualifiers (April 26)
Class 3A
129: OHS Daniel Israel 355 (420 leader, four above 400)
169: OHS Region 2 champion Noah Shevchook 570 (570 leader, eight above 500)
199: OHS Lucius Manley 495 (600 leader, seven above 500)
238: OHS Ethan Simons 635 (655 leader, two above 600)

Region Traditional champions totals, unofficial qualifiers (April 26)
Class 3A
129: OHS Daniel Israel 440 (485 leader, 18 above 400)
139: OHS Garvens Bonhomme 460 (530 leader, six above 500)
169: OHS Region 2 champion Noah Shevchook 685 (685 leader, three above 600)
169: OHS Walker Weathers 595 (685 leader, three above 600)
238: OHS Ethan Simons 680 (720 leader, one above 700)

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Region Olympics champions totals, unofficial qualifiers (April 26)
Class 1A
119: KHHS Region 4 champion Dylan Curington 325 (340 leader, five above 300)
119: KHHS Otto Sweat 300 (340 leader, five above 300)
129: KHHS Region 4 champion Elijah Mize 385 (400 leader, one above 400)
129: KHHS Ryland Rozier 365 (400 leader, one above 400)
139: KHHS Region 4 champion Colton Hollingsworth 420 (420 leader, three above 400)
139: KHHS Ayden Nobles 380 (420 leader, three above 400)
154: KHHS Brayden McCall 440 (475 leader, nine above 400)
183: KHHS Region 4 champion Kyle Perkins 510 (510 leader, one above 500)
183: KHHS Pete Bostic 435 10 (510 leader, one above 500)
199: KHHS Region 4 champion Ben Scott 385 (505 leader, 18 above 400)
219: KHHS Talon Lybarger 455 (530 leader, eight above 500)
238: KHHS Region 4 champion Logan Madden-Moore 475 (585 leader, eight above 500)

Region Traditional champions totals, unofficial qualifiers (April 26)
Class 1A
119: KHHS Region 4 champion Dylan Curington 365 (405 leader, three above 400)
119: KHHS Otto Sweat 300 (405 leader, three above 400)
129: KHHS Region 4 champion Elijah Mize 470 (470 leader, eight above 400)
129: KHHS Ryland Rozier 380 (470 leader, eight above 400)
139: KHHS Region 4 champion Colton Hollingsworth 490 (490 leader, 16 above 400)
139: KHHS Ayden Nobles 400 (490 leader, 16 above 400)
154: KHHS Brayden McCall 475 (530 leader, three above 500)
183: KHHS Region 4 champion Kyle Perkins 580 (580 leader, 18 above 500)
183: KHHS Pete Bostic 520 (580 leader, 18 above 500)
219: KHHS Talon Lybarger 540 (630 leader, seven above 600)
238: KHHS Region 4 champion Logan Madden-Moore 570 (660 leader, seven above 600)