In the movie Anchorman, when Veronica Corningstone acts indifferently to Ron Burgundy, he egotistically proclaims “I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of big deal.”
While St. Cloud junior MIkey Ziss is way too quiet and modest to ever say anything like Burgundy, he is rapidly becoming a “big deal” in his sport of weightlifting at the state, national … and even world levels.
For a second consecutive year Ziss, who captured his third and fourth state championships in April, is the Osceola News Gazette’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year after polishing off an undefeated season where he won both the traditional (bench press plus clean and jerk) and Olympic (snatch plus clean and jerk) disciplines in the 119-pound weight class.
His state champion repeat was done in dominating fashion. In the Olympic competition, Ziss hit all six of his attempts, compiling a 205-pound snatch and 255 clean; the 460-pound total easily his weight class by 60 pounds. The domination continued in the traditional, as his 255 clean and 225 bench total of 480 was 40 pounds heavier than second place.
“You could tell the other competitors were in awe of him,” Osceola County Athletic Director Ryan Adams said. “Mikey’s starting lift (each competitor gets three attempts and chooses their own starting weight) was heavier than what most competitors attempted on their final lift. He basically won the state championship on his first attempt, broke the state record on his second lift and then broke his own record on the third lift.”
The accolades Ziss earned this year are just some of what the junior has piled up. Ziss was also named outstanding overall lifter at the state tournament, earned the “Florida Dairy Farmers’ Mr. Weightlifter,” given to the top overall athlete regardless of weight class or school classification and was the Orange Belt Conference overall Male Athlete of the Year covering all sports–the first time a weightlifter has earned that recognition.
His growing recognition is not limited to the local or state levels. He is the number one ranked junior lifter in the nation at 55 kilograms, and recently represented the United States at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships in Lima, Peru, where he finished eighth overall.
Cory Aun, his high school coach, believes that Ziss is just starting to scratch his potential.
“When I first laid eyes on him, he was a little kid running around and disrupting freshman orientation,” Aun said. “I thought I could channel that energy and recruited him to come out. He just kept getting better and better and working harder and harder and became a champion. He’s on the radar of the national governing body for USA Weightlifting.
"If he stays healthy and stays dedicated, I believe the sky could be the limit for him in the sport, and by that I mean the Olympic Games.”
Ziss, who has only been lifting for three years, says It is the level playing field and individuality of the sport that appeals to him.
“You’re competing against athletes your same size, so your success is solely determined by your technique, training and how hard you are willing to work,” Ziss said. “And although there is a team concept to the sport, you can’t rely on help from a anyone else when you are on the platform. You are either responsible for hitting or missing the lift.”
Based on what he has accomplished the past couple of seasons, it’s safe to say that Ziss is indeed sort of a “Big Deal.”
