Bulldogs junior won 183-pound OBC title, seeks school records

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Hans Schroeder sometimes had mixed emotions during his junior year at St. Cloud High.

As a transfer from Harmony, the Bulldogs’ rival, he often competed against his former teammates in football and weightlifting.

One of those conflicts came into play at the Class 2A state weightlifting tournament at the Kissimmee Civic Center in April, when Schroeder, competing at 183 pounds, was locked in a close battle with former Harmony teammate Phil Laird for third place.

Schroeder missed his final clean and jerk attempt but still had a season-high lift of 340 pounds in the bench press and 285 in the clean a jerk for a 625 total.

Laird had one more clean and jerk attempt. If he hit it, he would displace Schroeder in third place.

“What was going through my mind was that if he hit it, it would be his best of the year, so part of me wanted him to get it,” Schroeder recalled. “But, another part of me wanted me to get (third place), so I was hoping he’d miss.”

Laird failed in his final attempt, leaving Schroeder in third place in Class 2A. Combined with Schroeder’s Orange Belt Conference championship at 183 pounds, with a meet-best 620-pound total lift, Schroeder is the Osceola News-Gazette Male Weightlifter of the Year.

Schroeder’s teammate at St. Cloud, Austin Ocasio, also placed third at the Class 2A state meet, at 219 pounds. Like Schroeder, Ocasio transferred to St. Cloud after beginning his high school career at Harmony.

Schroeder said he easily assimilated to the St. Cloud campus, where his older sister, Lauren, competed for the Lady Bulldogs weightlifting team and made three trips to the state meet. She was the Female Weightlifter of the Year in 2008.

“I was supposed to go to St. Cloud all along, but my dad (Karl Schroeder) coached football at Harmony and he took me over there, so I was OK with that,” Schroeder said.

The Bulldogs lifter said his dad, the former Gateway High head football coach, got him interested in weightlifting in middle school.

“It was something I did so I could be around my dad more often. I always thought of it as something to help me get ready for football until I got to high school, where I found out that it was a sport in itself,” Hans said. “Coach (Cory) Aun does a tremendous job with the team here. It’s amazing what he can do, the kind of energy he has. He’ll walk in and say, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to clean and jerk 275 today,’ and he does it. We all look at each other and wish we could do that.”

The 275-pound clean and jerk is a formidable lift for Aun, who is an AAU champion who has represented the U.S. at international meets, because he is in his mid-30s and weighs about 150 pounds.

Aun said Schroeder’s work ethic sets him apart.

“He’s a tremendous competitor who does things right,” Aun said. “He’s definitely the weightlifter of the year.”

Schroeder has big goals for his senior year.

“I’d like to break the school record in the bench press, 415 pounds,” he said. “I’d like to get my clean and jerk up to about 330 pounds. I’ll try to stay in the same weight class, but if I can’t make weight I’ll be at 199.”

Schroeder said having Ocasio on the same team would help both lifters improve.

“When he got to Harmony I was benching more than he was because he had never benched before, but it didn’t take long for his body to adjust,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder will play football for the Bulldogs as an offensive and defensive lineman under new Coach Brad Lennox. Last season he played primarily on the offensive line under former Coach Mike Short.

“Coach Lennox tells everyone that we’ve got to out-work everyone because we’re going to be on the field a lot,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder said he might compete at AAU meets over the summer to prepare for the next high school season.

“I’d like to. If I can reach my goals, I have a chance to do pretty well at state. I could be right there for a championship,” he said.