April 21, 2023
South Sumter High School Boys Weightlifting Win Multiple Medals in State Championships
By Kyle Coppola
South Sumter High School Boys Weightlifting Win Multiple Medals in State Championships
South Sumter High School sent a great team to the State Championships in Lakeland Florida. The match was a tough one but many team members came away with some hardware. Weightlifting is becoming a bigger and bigger sport every year in Lake & Sumter County. In fact Leesburg was the first team to ever win a Team State Championship for Lake & Sumter County when they won the overall competition at this same tournament. South Sumter has a lot to be proud of. Let’s take a look at how their boys did!
219Lb Category
Jackson Sovercool – Sovercool was an impressive athlete all year long. He was the only Raider to take home a state championship medal. While all team members gave it their all, Sovercool was able to push a little further and wound up taking the 219lb Olympic State Championship Medal. He also nearly took home double state championships as he nearly won Traditional as well. Sovecool would ultimately settle for a 3rd place podium finish in the traditional category. A very respectable showing at the highest level in the state.
(Jackson Sovercool stands with his olympic state championship medal and his 3rd place traditional medal.)
154lb Category
Bobby Hill – Another contributor all year long for the Raiders was Bobby Hill. He had an impressive competition and nearly won state championships in both categories. Hill would take a runner up finish in Olympic and Traditional. The two second place medals were well earned. This is one of the toughest weight classes in the tournament so Hill should be very proud of his efforts. He was the 2nd best weightlifter in this class in the state of Florida which is a fantastic effort. Congratulations Bobby!
169lb Category
Jamare Dorsey – One of the great Football players to ever come through South Sumter is also a tremendous weightlifter. Dorsey is a natural athlete and has always been capable of impressive athletic prowess. Dorsey was able to finish in 2nd place in the Olympic category and 5th place in Traditional. The two finishes got some nice team points for South Sumter who would end up finishing 3rd overall as a team. Dorsey was a huge part of the team’s success this season.
(Dorsey was also a fantastic football player for South Sumter.)
Other South Sumter Athletes who medaled
129lb Category
Brody Smith – Took home a 4th place medal in the Olympic Weightlifting
139lb Category
Cody Zilcosky – Took home a 5th place medal in Olympic Weightlifting.
183lb Category
Landon Fudge – Took home a 4th place medal in Olympic Weightlifting
199lb Category
Ty Kadur – Took home a 3rd place podium finish in Olympic Weightlifting
Congratulations to all team members who took home medals at the 2023 Boys Weightlifting State Championships in Lakeland, Florida!
Photos Provided By:
South Sumter High School
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
