Davenport junior weightlifter Ethan Janssen didn’t want to screw up his third clean-and-jerk Saturday at the FHSAA 2024 Boys 2A State Championship at the RP Funding Center.
The junior missed his first two clean-and-jerks before eventually making the third one. There was a lot of tension built up on the third lift, but Janssen knew he was the strongest out of some of the stiffest competition in the state, and all he needed to do was hit his numbers.
To Janssen, it would have been a huge disappointment to not make the lift, as he just had too many lifting experiences not to be the best. On the third try, he hit his weight and immediately hugged his coaches, principal, all the while tears were meandering down his face.
A burden had just been lifted off of Janssen’s shoulders. He’s the first student-athlete in Davenport history to rack up a state weightlifting title.
“It feels amazing,” Janssen said. “Like I said, i was very relieved. And joyful. Its honestly very rare for me to be proud of myself. Most of my achievements to me just don’t make me feel accomplished, despite other people thinking highly of them. (I) always have a feeling of me not doing good enough or applying myself hard enough. So, seeing this weightlifting goal come into fruition, and being the first person at my school to become a state champ. It’s an insane feeling and I’m hoping to repeat that next year.”
Janssen’s insane feeling was because he was able to hit a personal best on snatch, 260 pounds to be specific, which put him at the lead by 30 pounds. Since he didn’t perform as well on the clean-and-jerk, Janssen’s huge snatch total erased potential comebacks from the competition.
“(It) … honestly feels like I overcame myself,” Janssen said. “…The overlying theme this competition felt like it had was just to not screw up. I feel like in my first two years since i was younger, there was some sort of excuse since there were kids that were three or four years older than me and by default, they would end up being stronger than me. So, this year. I felt like there was no excuses. It was just me vs. myself. All I needed to do was to keep calm, and hit my lifts, which is exactly what I did.”
Lake Wales Josh Canet secures 2nd
Lake Wales junior weightlifter Josh Canet was mesmerized right after he knew he secured second in the Class 2A state weightlifting championship.
He was surrounded by his coaches — including head weightlifting coach Tashawn Williams — mother and sisters, as everyone was gleeful on the joyous occasion.
After all, this was the first time Canet placed at state.
“it feels amazing just to even be called runner-up to such an amazing category with such amazing people,” Canet said.
Canet was able to match his personal best at snatch at 250 pounds, which says a lot about Canet.
He had to overcome injury after injury, from almost tearing his ACL at the start of the season, to pulling his back three weeks prior to the state championships.
Canet and Williams were even in a car accident two weeks ago. But there were no injuries.
“All the odds were stacked against me going into this meet,” Canet said. “I proved a lot of people wrong and showed out to the best of my ability. All of this was dedicated to my friend that passed away, Ariana Pizarro. Without her helping hands I might’ve not been able to compete the way I did today. It felt like she was lifting through me. All of this just feels so surreal, from bombing out 250 (pounds) on clean-and-jerk at state last year, to snatching it this year, I just haven’t been able to grasp it yet. This is such a blessing and sweet feeling. Now onto next season. There’s much work to do.”
Other Polk County weightlifters dazzle
In Class 2A action, the following weightlifters placed in Olympic: Mulberry’s Collis Rhodes (119 pounds, 5th place, 310 total), Lake Wales Zacchaeus Hart (129, 9th, 345), Davenport’s Ciprian Luna (183, 9th, 440), and Lake Wales Issac Ramos (238, 8th, 495).
For Traditional, it was Rhodes (119, 6th, 350), Hart (129, 9th, 410), Lake Wales Christian Ramirez (169, 3rd, 575), Canet (169, 7th, 555) and Ramos (238, 10th, 595).
And for Class 1A action in Olympic, the following placed: Ridgeview’s Gerson Guzman (154, 8th, 410).
For Traditional, it was Guzman (154, 2nd, 570) and Frostproof’s Noah Wise (unlimited, 3rd, 670).
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