13 county wrestlers earn at-large berths to Class 3A state meet
St. Cloud dominated the lighter classes of Saturday’s Region 3A-3 girls weightlifting meet, capturing three championships to rack up 42 teams points and win the team title.
The Bulldogs edged North Port (29) in the 25-team event. Last year North Port (50-43) slipped by the Bulldogs for the regional title.
The three St. Cloud regional champions — Ashley Aun at the 101-pound class (120 bench, 135 clean and jerk, 255 total), Abby Davis at 110 (150-155-305) and Javani Roberson at 129 (160-140-300) — automatically qualify for the Class 3A state championship me at Port St. Joe High School on Feb. 12.
Under FHSAA’s format, the next top 16 lifters across all regions earn at-large spots. Although the final field will not be announced until later this week when all regional results are tabulated, St. Cloud will likely advance eight total lifters with Kaitlyn Gallagher (110-pound runner-up), Nyla Roberson (129 runner-up), Aija Diaz (fourth at 101), Kiley Holland (third at 154) and Laylah Lara and Jaliz Cardona (fifth and sixth at 119) getting at-large nods.
“Going into to the traditional clean and jerk and bench competition, I had a target score in mind from my projections and we exceeded those expectations. Our lightweights from 101 through 129 were just awesome,” Coach Aun said of his team that won its first regional title in seven years.
Celebration, under coach Cliff Branch, had its highest regional team finish in school history, taking third with 26 points. The Storm had one automatic qualifier: Helena Huyke captured the 119-pound title with lifts of 140-170-310. Alejandra Diaz (second at 101, 105-115-120), Alyssa Arce (third at 110) and Indiana Ramos (runner-up at 199) earned a spot in the state finals.
Harmony’s Adrianna Rosa continues her domination of all lifters in the 139-pound class. A second-place finisher at last year’s state meet, Rosa won that weight class (155-205-360) by 65 pounds over her closest competitor; Rosa’s totals also would have won three of the next four heavier weight classes. Longhorn Avery Heap (145-140-285) also advanced at 139 with a fourth place finish.
Although it had no regional winners, Osceola qualified Katlin Walters (third at 169) and Aleysha DeJesus at 199. Tohopekaliga, who had its first state placer in school history last year, will send one lifter to the state finals as Chassity Llanos-Padilla took fourth place at 129.
As the state coaches look to transition away from the bench press and replace it with the snatch, a separate regional competition was held in that discipline. In that contest, Mitchell High pulled a minor upset to win the team title with 41 points. St. Cloud was second (33) and North Port (25) was third.
“We knew Mitchell was going to be our main competitors and frankly I think they performed better than even they thought they would,” Aun said. “But I feel pretty certain that we will be sending at least seven girls to states in the snatch and with a little luck it could be as many as nine.”
Going to states in the event as regional champs from St. Cloud are Aun (101) and Davis (110). Other regional champions from Osceola County gaining automatic entry include Harmony’s Rosa (139) and Celebration’s Fabianna Millian, the winner at 154.
