By: J. Daniel Pearson
You know you must be an elite athlete when you blow away the competition, win two state championships but still walk away a little disappointed. Such is the life of St. Cloud senior Mike Ziss.
The weightlifter won both the Traditional (Clean-and-jerk plus Bench) and the Olympic (Clean-and-Jerk plus Snatch) titles at the FHSAA Class 3A State Championships in Lakeland on Saturday afternoon, but was disappointed that he did set state records in the process.
He easily eclipsed those several state records several times during the regular and post-season leading up to Saturday, but official records are only recognized if they occur at the state championship. “I know Mikey is a little disappointed but I told him records are broken all the time and nothing will diminish what he accomplished today, this year or in his career,” St. Cloud coach Cory Aun said. “Despite a couple of misses today, he still dominated his weight class.”
Competing in the 119-lb. weight class, Ziss posted combined totals of 450 in the Olympic and 490 Traditional to win his weight classes by 20 and 65 pounds respectively over his closest competitor. His Olympic total earned him the Lifter of the Meet award in the Olympic across all weight classes; while his Traditional total placed him second.
More importantly, his two state championships gave him six for his career tying Osceola High’s Brett Williams for the most in Osceola County history. Williams, a football and track standout at Osceola, won a total of three discus and three shot put state titles in the late 1990s. He would go on to play football at FSU and also the NFL.
Based on his combined performance, Ziss will be favored to win his second straight Florida Dairy Farmer’s Mr. Weightlifter of the Year –an award given in each sport to signify Florida’s best Athlete.
Ziss was not the only Osceola lifter to reach the podium on Saturday.
In the 129 pound weight class, both Santos Torres and Dominic Trombetta reached the podium for St. Cloud. With a 440 total, Trombetta placed fifth in the traditional and with a 395 total, Torres as sixth in the Olympic. In the 183-lb. weight class Poinciana’a Angelo Rodriguzez took third place with a 575-lb. total, just 10 pounds off the top performance of Jupiter’s Kaden Quick (585). Overall, a total of 14 Osceola County athletes qualified for the state championships.
The performances of Ziss, Torres and Trombetta resulted in a pair of top 10 team finishes for the Bulldogs. With nine total team points they finished in a tie for fifth in the traditional and with eight points they finished 10th in the traditional. Located in the Florida panhandle, Pace (37 traditional, 30 Olympic) won both team titles.
“We left some points on the platform today,” Aun said. “We had a couple of injuries and had some things go against us. But we have a lot of young lifters in the program and will be back next year”
