MIDDLEBURG —Suwannee High has been a destination for state level weightlifting for the past four seasons with back-to-back-to-back state titles (Class 1A 2022-2024) in both Olympic and Traditional scoring before moving to Class 2A last year.

Lifters from Middleburg, Clay, Orange Park, Fleming Island and Ridgeview will be traveling to Live Oak to take on the Bulldog "beasts" in the region 1-2A championships on Saturday, April 25.

"I have to try and stay focused on what I can do and what I want to accomplish and not worry about who is there and who is not there," said Clay 199 district champion Skyler Phoenix-Dean, the Olympics and Traditional scoring champion in district 4-2A which will be combined with district 3-2A foes Middleburg and Ridgeview to venture to Suwannee High and take on the much bigger region 1-2A opponents that will feature the likes of Choctowhatchee, Baker County and, yes, Suwannee High. "If I think about them before the meet, it gets me off my game."

In 2025, Choctowhatchee beat Suwannee, 45-38, for the Traditional title with Middleburg ninth with seven points and Clay 10th also with seven points.
Top area finishers in Traditional at regions 2025 included CHS Wyatt Hickox, sixth at 119 at 305 (370 at districts), MHS Harris Jammes, 10th at 129 at 390 (400 at districts), FIHS Austin Davis, sixth at 154 at 470 (455 at districts), MHS Caiden Thigpen, seventh at 154 at 465 (535 at districts), MHS Sam Craven, first at 183 at 580 (630 at districts), MHS Trent Pavlus, ninth at UNL at 600 (580 at districts) and CHS Touni Saoud, 10th at UNL at 590 (635 at districts).
In Olympics, Choctowhatchee won 62-52 over Suwannee with Fleming Island sixth with 12 points and Middleburg seventh with 11.

Top area finishers in Olympics regions 2025 were MHS Harris Jammes, fifth in 129 at 340 (355 at districts), MHS Ashton Harp, eighth at 139 at 360 (405 at districts), FIHS Ron Nguyen, 10th at 169 at 400 (430 at districts 183), FIHS Brady Digman, fifth at 183 at 440 (455 at districts), MHS Sam Craven, sixth at 183 at 430 (475 at districts), CHS Skyler Phoenix-Dean 10th at 199 at 450 (520 at districts) and MHS Trent Pavlus, sixth at UNL at 515 (475 at districts).
For Middleburg 183 defending region champion, Sam Craven, who won the Traditional region title last year, that title has become his motivation for a return as his state placing was not what he wanted.

"I had the region title, but got sixth at state," said Craven, who spent his winter in the Middleburg High wrestling room for a first time. "The wrestling is tough and the conditioning, I think, got me better prepared for weightlifting. I've been thinking about this season for a year after my state finish."

Craven totaled 580 in his state Traditional last year and won his district title last week with a 630 total that was 100 pounds over second place. For Clay coach Craig Nosse, the tremendous improvement of weightlifting in Clay County over the past decade is apparent because the Clay County Championship meet has become as competitive as any meet on the schedules of area teams.

"There are a lot of state champions in that gym wherever it is," Nosse said. "This area has become one of the strongest weightlifting areas in all of Florida and the region meet is the next step to the state meet."

Clay County's most prolific year was 2021, when Fleming Island won the Class 3A team title, Ridgeview was second in Class 2A, and Keystone Heights won the Class 1A title. With legendary coach Lantz Lowery at Keystone Heights, now at Palatka, Keystone Heights won titles from 2021 through 2023 with Suwannee winning over Keystone Heights in 2024. Suwannee went to Class 2A in 2025 where Choctowhatchee won in Traditional last year over Fort Walton Beach and Leesburg won Olympics over Choctowhatchee, 22-20, with Suwannee seventh with 11 points.

In 2025, Keystone Heights was the region 2-1A Olympics champion over Williston, 56-45, with individual titles to Elijah Mize, Colton Hollingsworth, Kyle Perkins and graduated Jackson Herman.

In Traditional, Keystone Heights finished second 44-42 to West Nassau with titles to Mize and Hollingsworth. In region 1-3A in 2025, Oakleaf was fourth in Traditional with titles to Ray Williams, Noah Shevchook and Cristian Rodriguez.

In Olympics, Oakleaf was fifth with a title to just Ray Williams at 119.

Regional Boys Weightlifting Schedule/Venues

Region 1-4A: Oakleaf at Flagler Palm Coast, Saturday, April 25, at 9:30 a.m. (Oakleaf fourth in Traditional, sixth in Olympics, Noah Shevchook state champion)
Region 2-2A: FIHS, CHS, MHS, RHS, OPHS at Suwannee, Saturday, April 25, at 10 a.m. (Olympics-MHS 18th, FIHS 28th; Traditional-CHS 22nd, MHS 31st, RHS 36th, OPHS 36th)
Region 4-1A: KHHS at Keystone Heights, Friday, April 24, 4 p.m. (Keystone Heights, third in Class 1A in Olympics and Traditional, Elijah Mize state champion)