One year ago, Springstead’s Damyn Szatkowski left the RP Funding Center in Lakeland feeling the sting of disappointment. Yes, he had just collected his second boys weightlifting state medal in as many years, finishing in third in the traditional (bench press and clean-and-jerk) category at 138 pounds. It matched his third-place showing in 2023. But he lamented scratching twice in both the bench and clean on what he deemed to be bad calls by the officials. He vowed to work 10 times harder next season.
On Friday, Szatkowski was back in Lakeland for the Class 2A Boys Weightlifting State Championship meet. The senior wrapped up his final high school competition with a decidedly better feeling and a gold medal wrapped around his neck as the traditional state champion at 139.
“It’s so hard to think about because it’s something I’ve wanted since freshman year,” Szatkowski said. “I’ve been working at it four years now. I finally have that state champion title. Last year, I almost had it as well, but I ended up getting third, which really broke my heart. Bouncing back this year, it just made me so happy and proud.”
“… I think I did well, but I could have done better for sure. My clean-and-jerks were very rough in the beginning. I missed my first two. If I didn’t hit the last one, I would have been completely out and wouldn’t have had the chance to place and take the state title home. So I think I definitely could have done a lot better, but overall I’d say I did well.”
Szatkowski came in ranked second among all state qualifiers at 139 with a 510 total from regionals, behind only Tanner Ostrom from The Villages with a 520. But after failing on his first two clean attempts of 225 and 230, Szatkowski had to execute a second shot at 230 to keep him in the running.
“It felt like the entire world was staring at me,” Szatkowski said. “I had so much anxiety. I felt scared and nervous, but also excited because I knew I was going to hit it on the last attempt. It was just a cluster of emotions all at once.”
On the bench, he put up 295 and 310 before scratching on his final lift of 315. That gave him a 540 total, besting Nick Bloomston of Fort Myers, who posted a 535 and Ostrom in third at 520.
With that, Szatkowski became the third state champion in Springstead history, joining Josh Magrini (2007) and Brandon Holmes (2013).
“It’s been a while. It’s always good. A great effort by the young man,” Springstead head coach Justin Wentworth said. “He didn’t have the best showing at regions, but you want to punch your ticket to Lakeland and that’s the goal. When you get there, it’s just what you do with it.
“It all worked out. He hit the lifts that he needed to hit and then made a big display on the bench press, going 295 and then 310 to win it. It’s great for him to get that.”
It was also in stark contrast to last year’s ending that was unsatisfactory in Szatkowski’s mind. Redemption had indeed been achieved.
“I’m reminiscing in the fact that I lost those two years. I mean, I didn’t technically lose, but I lost,” Szatkowski said. “Thinking about it now, just having that first-place title under my name, it feels amazing. It makes it so much better.
“… It feels great. It feels amazing. Honestly, I feel like there’s no better way to end than signing out by senior year as the state champ.”
He was not the only Springstead senior in a celebratory mood. Mykel Theriault collected two state medals at 199, finishing third in both traditional and Olympic (snatch and clean-and-jerk).
“He came in and wasn’t even on the spectrum for Olympic lifting and ended up going home with third place, which was amazing,” Wentworth said. “For him to take home third in both of those was a great day for him. He PR’d across the board and he went 9 for 9, which is another great thing from him.”
A state qualifier last year, Theriault was in position to medal this time around, ranked fourth in traditional coming out of regionals. The top six in each weight class for each category earn medals.
But in Olympic he was ranked 12th. Still, he posted a 220 in the snatch and 310 in the clean for a 530 Olympic total. Then he threw up a 330 on the bench for 640 in traditional that tied for second with Columbia’s Garret Shipley, who won the tiebreaker by weighing less.
“It felt pretty nice because it was just a goal I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to walk in and do my best. I was ultimately just rewarded for it,” Theriault said. “I’m not even going to lie, my back just felt good today.”
Theriault revealed that last year at states he herniated and tore two discs, and they were bulging against his spinal cord. He tweaked the injury at districts and it impacted him at regionals, yet it improved significantly on Friday. “I was just focusing on what I ate. I took it easy the past 2-3 days in the gym so I could let my back heal up from regionals,” Theriault said. “And then ibuprofen is a lifesaver.”
With only those two lifters, Springstead ended up finishing fourth in the traditional team standings with 11 points. “We go to the gym together, we work out together, we try to lose weight together,” Theriault said of himself and Szatkowski. “For me to be able to see him and his accomplishments work out, I was getting really sappy.”
Nature Coast’s Justin Delery was the county’s other medalist, the junior taking third in traditional at 183. “It feels good. Last year I came just short, got seventh,” Delery said. “I don’t feel like I did my best. I could have probably performed better on snatch and clean-and-jerk. But I am definitely proud of myself, the people around me are proud of me, so it’s a win.
“… Not getting a medal last time hurt a lot. I came into this with a lot more passion, a lot more energy. Really focused and dialed in on what I had to do. Still didn’t get the results I wanted, but there’s always next year.”
Delery had a 265 in the clean and a 320 bench for a 585 total that tied for third but he lost the tiebreaker due to weighing in heavier. He also had a 205 snatch for a 475 Olympic total.
“We had a few calls not go our way, which was a little frustrating,” Nature Coast head coach Tania Kelly said. “But I always say that real strength comes from getting it when you’re down. He came through and got the lifts when it came down to it. But it just didn’t end how we wanted it to.
“… That kid has worked so hard in the offseason. You can see the growth. But he just wanted more.”
Also from Hernando County, at 129 Central’s Luke Redmile had a 135 snatch and 190 clean for a 325 Olympic total, and Nature Coast’s Brendan Hofmeister put up 165 in the clean but scratched out on bench.
At 154, Weeki Wachee’s Sean Campbell had a 280 bench and 225 clean for a 505 to place 10th in traditional, while Central’s Justin Saya had a 250 bench but scratched out on cleans. Gideon Weber of Central had a 180 snatch and 265 clean for 445 in Olympic at 238, and a 315 bench for 580 in traditional.
Central’s Dominyk Carter (169 traditional) and Weeki Wachee’s Leelan Wright (199 traditional) were also state qualifiers, though they did not record a lift.
