[ Amber Jones | Contributed ]
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Port St. Joe hosts district weightlifting tournament

Athletes from seven schools competed in the FHSAA 1A District 3 boys weightlifting tournament on Wednesday, March 29, held at the Port St. Joe Jr/Sr High School gym. 

Just as he had done for last year’s FHSAA girls and boys State Finals, Bobby Johns of Wewa served as district host, and will repeat that role at the regional meet, also to be held at Port St. Joe this Friday, April 7, beginning at 9:30 a.m Eastern time. 

When the final lifter finished, Wewa and Port St. Joe tied for first place in Traditional with 54 points each, while Wewa stood atop the podium in Olympic competition with 83 points. Port St. Joe claimed third place with 35 points. 

Traditional weightlifting combines the bench press and the clean and jerk, while Olympic includes the snatch and the clean and jerk. 

Bay, Bozeman, Franklin County, North Bay Haven, and Rutherford rounded out the District 3 participants. 

Here are the Wewa and Port St. Joe lifters who finished in sixth place or better in Traditional, by weight: 

119 

  • Cole Williams, Wewa, 1st with 350 lbs 
  • Landon Webb, Wewa, 2nd with 345 lbs 
  • Alexander Payne, PSJ, 5th with 200 lbs 
  • Lucas Rodgers, PSJ, 6th with 195 lbs 

129 

  • Aydan Davis, PSJ, 1st with 315 lbs 
  • Gabe Miller, Wewa, 2nd with 300 lbs 

139 

  • Jake Parker, Wewa, 2nd with 355 lbs 
  • Hunter Rigsby, PSJ, 3rd with 355 lbs 
  • John Conner, Wewa, 5th with 335 lbs 

154 

  • Devin Cuttino, PSJ, 1st with 480 lbs 
  • Bryson Greene, Wewa, 2nd with 470 lbs 
  • Corbin Hysmith, Wewa, 5th with 420 lbs 
  • Gavin Lee, PSJ, 6th with 410 lbs 

169 

  • Tad Russell, PSJ, 1st with 530 lbs 
  • PJ Garrison, Wewa, 3rd with 480 lbs
  • Tyran Williams, Wewa, 5th with 460 lbs Andrew Sheppard, PSJ, 6th with 450 lbs 

183 

  • PJ Jones, PSJ, 1st with 575 lbs 
  • Joey Salerno, Wewa, 3rd with 560 lbs Damian Hughes, Wewa, 5th with 480 lbs Jacob Marshall, PSJ, 6th with 420 lbs 

199 

  • Chase Lanford, PSJ, 3rd with 535 lbs Camden Focht, PSJ, 6th with 450 lbs 

219 

  • Damien Van Dyke, PSJ, 4th with 400 lbs 

238 

  • Preston Stacey, Wewa, 1st with 590 lbs Daniel Alaniz, PSJ, 4th with 405 lbs 

UNL 

  • Saylor Tull, PSJ, 2nd with 610 lbs Noah Taunton, Wewa, 3rd with 605 lbs 

In Olympic competition: 

119 

  • Cole Williams, Wewa, 1st with 305 lbs Landon Webb, Wewa, 2nd with 290 lbs 

129 

  • Aydan Davis, PSJ, 1st with 270 lbs Gabe Miller, Wewa, 2nd with 255 lbs 

139 

  • John Conner, Wewa, 2nd with 300 lbs Jake Parker, Wewa, 3rd with 285 lbs Cameron Brown, PSJ, 5th with 235 lbs 

154 

  • Bryson Greene, Wewa, 1st with 415 lbs Corbin Hysmith, Wewa, 2nd with 395 lbs Devin Cuttino, PSJ, 4th with 370 lbs
  • Costin Marshall, PSJ, 6th with 300 lbs 

169 

  • PJ Garrison, Wewa, 1st with 450 lbs 
  • Tyran Williams, Wewa, 3rd with 385 lbs 
  • Andrew Sheppard, PSJ, 5th with 370 lbs 

183 

  • Joey Salerno, Wewa, 1st with 465 lbs 
  • Damian Hughes, Wewa, 2nd with 380 lbs 
  • Jacob Marshall, PSJ, 3rd with 370 lbs 

199 

  • Chase Lanford, PSJ, 2nd with 405 lbs 
  • Myka Steele, Wewa, 4th with 370 lbs 
  • Anton McNealy, Wewa, 6th with 325 lbs 

219 

  • Damien Van Dyke, PSJ, 3rd with 340 lbs 
  • James Hardy, Wewa, 4th with 290 lbs 
  • Brody Speigel, Wewa, 5th with 285 lbs 

238 

  • Preston Stacey, Wewa, 1st with 460 lbs 

UNL 

  • Saylor Tull, PSJ, 1st with 480 lbs 
  • Noah Taunton, Wewa, 2nd with 475 lbs 
  • Ty Smith, Wewa, 6th with 310 lbs 

When the final scores were verified, both Johns and Jones had words of praise for their athletes. 

“I’m proud of our program,” said Johns, “and what these kids have done. We work at it, and the kids buy in.” 

“The boys program (at Wewa) wasn’t in existence six years ago when I got here,” he added. 

His counterpart at Port St. Joe, Tanner Jones, said that “Anytime you can compete with a great weightlifting program like Wewa, you have to be proud of your kids and coaches for the hard work they have put in.” 

“We didn’t even start practicing the snatch until (this past) Monday,” he said.

Assistant coach “Corey Silcox has had the greatest impact on these lifters’ form and confidence going to the platform,” Jones said. “Corey lifted for and coached with Bobby (Johns).” 

Of his athletes, Jones had plenty of positive words, “Saylor, PJ, Tad, and Devin are just naturally strong kids with a great competitive edge.” 

“Aydan Davis and Chase Lanford pulled great numbers today and had a huge impact,” he said. “Camden Focht, Gavin Lee, Hunter Rigsby, Andrew Sheppard, Daniel Alaniz, the Marshall twins, and Damien Van Dyke had PR’s today and secured points where we needed them.” 

The Star has learned that (unofficially) 16 Wewa athletes will advance in Olympic and 13 in Traditional. Port St. Joe should have 11 regional qualifiers in Olympic and 16 in Traditional. This will be confirmed when  official information is made available from the FHSAA.