By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Dominic DeMunno, of Harmony, repeated as a medalist at the Class 2A state weightlifting meet Friday at the Kissimmee Civic Center, but that was the extent of the success for seven lifters from Osceola County who qualified.

DeMunno, fifth at the 129-pound weight class in 2010, moved up to 139 this year and placed sixth with lifts of 260 pounds in the bench press and clean and jerk for a total of 520. His finish put the Longhorns in a tie for 30th place in the team standings.

The senior could have finished second but, in front of a rather packed KCC audience, he missed on his final clean attempt of 275 pounds.

“It was my last shot of my career, so you have to go big,” DeMunno said.

“I had a nice clean but when I went to throw it up for the jerk I just didn’t get set. But, it was worth the risk and I don’t regret going for it. It was an all-right meet.”

It was an indication of the way the day went, said HHS Coach John Wallauer Jr.

“It was a bunch of what-ifs for us today,” he said.

“Austin Tapp had a school-record bench but he hurt his wrist in practice and we were just hoping he could clean anything. Hans Schroeder dropped the bar on his last bench press and that messed him up the rest of the day.”

Austin Ocasio (eighth at 219 pounds, 350-275—625) and C.J. Clayton (10th at 169, 290-260—550) also finished in the top 10.

“We thought we could get multiple kids to medal. That was the goal and it would have been nice,” Wallauer said. “But, what the kids did was not for a lack of effort. We had a lot of young kids here who will get one or two more cracks at this.”

Tapp (12th at 154, 285-225—510), Trey Bartlett (13th at 183, 280-285—565) and Schroeder (15th at 183, 305-255—560) also competed for Harmony.

St. Cloud senior Brian Spain, after benching 230 pounds, failed to complete a clean-and-jerk attempt and finished 17th at 129 pounds.

Seminole Ridge, with 13 lifters qualified, scored 28 points to easily win the 2A state title over Bartow (17), who beat Harmony for the District 8 title.

Baker County (44) won the Class A meet on Saturday at the Civic Center.

Wallauer said the event will  return to Kissimmee next year, with the possibility of extending the contract into a third year.