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Mike Ziss, just a sophomore, won two state championships in April en route to being named Osceola County’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year. PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MALDONADO, ST. CLOUD HIGH
St. Cloud sophomore weightlifter Mike Ziss dominated not only the county, district and regionals, but also was the best in Florida as he won Class 3A state championships in the Traditional (bench press and clean and jerk) and Olympic (clean and jerk/ snatch) competitions.
He is this year’s Osceola News-Gazette Boys Weightlifter of the Year.
At April’s state meet in Lakeland, Ziss took double gold medals in the 119-pound weight class when he lifted 165-215— 380 to win the Olympic discipline by 25 pounds. He then completed the double by taking the traditional win with a 215-190—405 effort to edge Niceville’s Aiden-Ray Simpson by just five pounds.
More impressively, Ziss weighed in for the state event at just 112 pounds, lighter than all but one of the 24 state qualifiers at 119. Per USA Weightlifting, who serves as the official scorer at the state championships, Ziss ranked third overall among all Class 3A lifters in the Olympic and ninth overall in the traditional.
“Mikey was outstanding at the state meet and he’s only a sophomore,” Coach Cory Aun said. “He will have a chance to go down as one of the best in state history. He could finish with six state titles which would be a school record.”
Diver Brandon Hulko currently holds the Bulldog school record with three state titles.
Among others on the ONG All-County team:
129-pound class: Santos Torres, Harmony: Qualified for the state tournament, and he won the Orange Belt Conference championship in the Olympic before advancing through district and regional competitions.
139: Brayden Shelton, Harmony: Captured OBC titles in the Olympic and Traditional competitions. He took a second (traditional) and fourth place (Olympic) in regionals.
154: Samir Murray, Tohpekaliga: A deep weight class where four different lifters from the Osceola County qualified for the state championships. Murray popped a 240325—565 effort in the Traditional discipline to the win a 3A state silver medal.
169: Noah Otero, Poinciana: Otero advanced out of both districts and regionals to reach the state meet in Olympic event. His 200-260—460 total was good for eighth place in the weight class – the highest county finisher in his weight class for either event.
183: Brayden Adams, Harmony: Adams had the highest overall finish in the weight class with a fourth place finish in the traditional and ninth in Olympic at states. Both Adams and St. Cloud’s Kaleb Perez was gold and bronze medals in regional competition and each won an OBC title with Adams taking the traditional and Perez winning the Olympic.
199: Dylan Hayes, St. Cloud: At the state meet, Hayes took second place in the Olympic event with a 260-315-575 total, just five pounds short of a gold medal. Hayes won OBC, district and regional titles in the Olympic discipline.
219: Noah Carr, St. Cloud: One of the top athletes in school history, Carr swept the OBC competitions and went on to win district and regional titles in both events to qualify for states and notch a pair of top-four finishes in states in Olympic (535, third) and Traditional (645, fourth).
238: Joshua Moss, Harmony: Moss qualified for the state championship in both Olympic and traditional and finished in the top 10.
Unlimited: Brandon Rosa, Osceola: Rosa qualified for the state championship in both the Olympic and traditional classes.
Coach of the Year: Cory Aun, St. Cloud: After sweeping the Olympic and traditional at the Orange Belt Conference Tournament, Aun led the Bulldogs to a first (Olympic) and second (traditional) at regionals, before guiding the Bulldogs to a pair of top 10 finishes at state. St. Cloud was an impressive third in the Olympic with 18 points.
