Julian Sykes, who won a pair of state championships for St. Cloud High School, recently represented Team Florida at the USA National Weightlifting Championships in Las Vegas -- winning a pair of medals in his weight class.
The NIKE USA National Weightlifting Championships concluded Friday with Sykes on the podium with an overall bronze medal, just missing a spot on the USA National Team.
Competing in the 73-kilogram (160 pounds) category, Sykes successfully hoisted 105 kilograms (231.5 pounds) in the Snatch competition and 140 kilos (308.7 pounds) in the clean-and-jerk for a total of 245 kilos to take third place overall behind Caden Cahoy (295) and EJ Hein (260). Medals were awarded in each discipline and combined, so Sykes finished with a silver medal in the clean and jerk for the second-best effort in his weight class.
“Really a great effort by Julian,” Cory Aun, Sykes’ coach at St. Cloud, said. “We knew going in that Caden was the odds on favorite to win, as he is one of the top lifters in the country; but we were hopeful that Julian could finish second. EJ Hein just sort of came out of nowhere and had a terrific meet.”
Sykes may still have a chance to represent the USA in the future. “They invite the top two in each weight class to become members of the National Team,” Aun said. “But for various reasons, sometimes because of injuries or other reasons, lifters will turn down the invitation. If that were to happen, Julian could be next in line.”
Sykes won a pair of state titles last spring, capturing both the traditional (bench plus clean and jerk) and the newly created snatch competitions at the FHSAA State Championships. Sykes essentially won the title on his first attempt in each discipline with successful lifts of 295-275 for a 570-lb. total, before extending the lead on second and third attempts with a 315-pound bench press and a 300-pound clean and jerk. His 615-lb. total was 70 pounds more than second place finisher. In the Snatch competition, Sykes was the only competitor in his weight class to successfully lift 200 pounds -- accomplishing that on his first attempt. He would later hit 225 on his second attempt to win the competition by 30 pounds.
That effort led to multiple awards for Sykes, including OBC and News-Gazette Weightlifter of the Year and the FHSAA Florida Dairy Farmers Athlete of the Year from that sport.
Sykes plans to continue competing, as he will participate in the American Open Finals in Atlanta in December.
The recently graduated Sykes was not the Osceola County athlete to compete in the nationals, as former St. Cloud standout Nick Pippin, rising Bulldog senior Noah Carr and Harmony standout Adriana Ross also competed for Team Florida at Nationals.
Pippin competed in the same weight class as Sykes, finishing an impressive fifth with combined totals of 107-128-235 (518.1 pounds). Aun noted that Pippin, who graduated from St. Cloud in 2021, barely missed in his second and third clean and jerk attempts and could have “easily joined Julian on the medal platform.”
Carr, who recently completed his junior year at St. Cloud, also earned all-state honors in weight lifting for the Bulldogs this past season. He qualified for nationals in the age 16-17, 96-Kilogram (212-pound) weight Class. He his 94-kilogram snatch and 124-kilogram clean-and-jerk was good for fifth place overall in his division. He missed the medal stand by a few kilos.
“Noah is super focused on training for his senior year and football and was not in his top form in Las Vegas. If he had duplicated his lifts from states, he would have finished on the podium,” Aun said. “Still for not being in top form, it was a great finish for him.”
Rosa, who won OBC Lifter of the Year honors and was also a double gold medalist at states, competed in the Juniors 140-pound weight class where she finished in 11th place nationally with a 67-85-152 (335 pounds). Her total was just six pounds short of fourth place.
“You don’t just show up and compete at Nationals, you have to earn your way there,” Aun said. “All four of these competitors should be congratulated, because just reaching this level is a tremendous accomplishment.”
