Jacob Moses wins state weightlifting title for Lafayette
Lafayette’s Karson Ledford, Gordon Lee’s Jared Lowe both finish second
Lafayette’s Jacob Moses was crowned a state champion at the GACA State Weightlifting Championships at Jefferson County High School on March 13.
Moses won the Class AAA title in the 191-200-pound division with a bench press of 335 pounds and a power clean of 275 for a total weight of 610. He defeated Rockmart’s Grant Lisk by five pounds.
“It feels good,” Moses said. “I’ve been working a long time and I felt going into it that I could win it. I just had to go out and prove it to everybody else. I really expected to win.”
Karson Ledford ( 151- 160) was runner-up for the Ramblers with a bench of 260 and a power clean of 260. Josh Perea (140-under) benched 220 and power cleaned 190 to place third in his weight class, while Jacob Zwiger (171-180) was also third after a bench of 230 and a power clean of 250.
“I was hoping for first, but second place is better than nothing,” Ledford explained. “I’ve been to the state tournament before and I scratched out and probably could have won it, so it was a lot better to place this time than instead of not place at all. It feels pretty good.”
“It was a great time and a great experience for these kids,” said Lafayette football and weight training coach Matt Yarbrough. “The boys really worked hard. Jacob’s a big bencher and really, really strong and Karson had a great showing.”
Haidon Pickard (141-150) was fourth for Lafayette with a 185 bench and a 195 power clean, as was Jamario Clements (181-190), who had a 275 bench and a 265 power clean. Finishing fifth for Lafayette was Levi Ledford (140-under; 200, 180), Hunter Deal (161-170; 205, 245), Karson Keplinger (226-245; 315, 225) and Coy Pendergrass (246-above; 290, 265).
Classifications featured Classes 1A-7A and each athlete got three lifts on each exercise with their highest legal lift on each exercise being added together to determine their total.
Yarbrough said weightlifting has really taken off at Lafayette since they began to compete four years ago.
“It’s changed our whole atmosphere with what we do in the weight room,” he added. “Everybody really wants to go
triple. Mcafee threw the first 1.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits and a walk. He finished with one strikeout, while Simpson, Carroll, Walker and Malachi Powell also pitched for the Warriors.
LFO 2, Rockmart 0
Mcafee collected three hits and Carroll twirled a six-hit shutout as the Warriors picked up their first Region 6-AAA victory of the season Friday night at Rockmart.
LFO’S first run came in the top of the fourth inning on a double steal. Devan Hinton swiped second base seconds before Gabe Helton came racing home with the first run of the game. The second run was plated in more conventional fashion with three singles, including one by Walker, who drove in Tres Brown.
Carroll scattered six hits over seven innings. He did not issue any walks and struck out five in the complete-game victory.
LFO 8, North Murray 5
The Red-and-white returned to Huston Black Field on Saturday and moved to 2- 0 in region play. LFO (3-12 overall) led 5-1 after
four innings, only to see the Mountaineers score three times in the top of the fifth before adding a run in the top of the sixth to tie the ball game.
However, it wouldn’t stay tied for very long as LFO came through with a pair of singles and took advantage of four walks by North Murray pitching in the bottom of the sixth to answer with three big runs. Powell drew a free pass with the bases loaded and Hinton followed up with a twoout, two-run single.
North Murray would bring the tying run to the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh, but relief pitcher Tanner Mantooth would get one final strikeout to seal the victory.
Mantooth, who was credited with the win, pitched 2.2 innings. He walked two batters without allowing a hit. The run he allowed was unearned and he finished with four strikeouts. Matthew Shields fanned five hitters and walked two in 4.1 innings as the starter. He gave up one earned run on three hits.
Carroll remained one of the hottest hitters in all of North Georgia with a double and a solo homer in his three at-bats. It was the Junior’s third homerun of the week.
Hinton finished 2 for 4 and Walker was 2 for 2 with an RBI and two runs scored. In addition to Powell’s RBI, Mcafee, Simpson and Gage Kelley also had one RBI apiece.