For three years, Garret Shipley had a singular goal of winning a state title.
By the time his senior season ended, he achieved that and plenty more.
Shipley capped a historic career at Columbia by winning the Class 2A state title in traditional in the 219 class while helping the Tigers claim their first team state title in 27 years. He rewrote the CHS record book along the way, setting new marks in every single event not only in his weight class but overall too.
For his accomplishments, Shipley is the LCR’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year.
“It definitely felt good,” Shipley said of winning the state title. “It was a lot of prep and a culmination of my three years. It finally felt like it paid off.”
The championship was the payoff for a season that saw Shipley establish himself as the most dominant lifter in Columbia history. Shipley swept District 3 and Region 2 championships in both traditional and Olympic before winning the state title in traditional with a 725-pound total. Along the way, he set every school record, finishing his career with a 450-pound bench press, a 365-pound clean and jerk, a 290-pound snatch, an 800-pound traditional total and a 650-pound Olympic total.
Columbia coach Brian Allen saw his potential from the first day he walked into the weight room. He also noticed Shipley’s ambition, which included his desire to break Allen’s 219 bench press record.
“He made it known that his goal was to break my record,” Allen said. “So I never put it past him because he did some impressive things in practice and then began to do them at the meets. This was a kid that if it could be done, he was the one that was going to do it.”
That mindset was sharpened by disappointment. Just a year ago, Shipley was the top seed entering the state meet but had to settle for a runner-up finish after missing his second and third attempts on both the bench press and clean and jerk.
But instead of that defeat discouraging him, it became fuel for his senior year.
“I just really didn’t want it to happen again,” Shipley said. “Last year I kind of came into the season thinking I had it in the bag and I thought that I was going to have a guaranteed win as the number one seed, so getting second I feel like for me was a needed humbling moment.”
When Shipley returned to the weight room, the results were extraordinary.
Early in the season, Shipley broke Allen’s long-standing bench press record in the 219 class. Then he kept going.
Shipley followed that up by breaking the school snatch record with a 290 lift while also setting a new clean and jerk mark at 365 pounds, breaking Zedrick Woods’ previous best of 355. At regionals, he benched 450 pounds to break Malachi Jean’s 435 record, giving him an 800 traditional total for another school mark.
It was a number that Shipley thought was a pipe dream to reach just two years prior.
“I remember my sophomore year I was talking to my friends in weightlifting about an 800-pound total and how we all thought it was impossible,” Shipley said. “And then to do that senior year and set the school record with it and all the other ones, I definitely didn’t think I was going to do it.”
Shipley’s bench press was the most eye popping for Allen considering Jean was in the heavyweight class when he set the school record. It didn’t seem as absurd for Jean to achieve such a lofty mark, but for Shipley to do so in only the 219 class made it all the more remarkable.
“You always want the kids that you’ve coached to be able to break the records that have been there,” Allen said. “And then here’s Garret that’s a freak of nature that breaks all of them.”
Even with all the records, Shipley entered the state meet chasing one more prize: the state total record of 820 pounds. Instead, he endured one of his toughest meets of the year.
Shipley began by scratching out on the snatch, eliminating him from the Olympic event before he even attempted the clean and jerk. That was tough to stomach for Shipley, who just began competing in Olympic in February.
“That was definitely a bummer,” Shipley said. “I think at state the nerves kind of got to me.”
Shipley responded by nailing a 345 lift on his clean and jerk but then missed a try of 370 while dealing with a sore shoulder, putting his lofty goal of an 825 total out of reach before he could bench. Then during the bench press, he battled through cramps for a successful rep of 380 on his first attempt.
That locked up his state title with a 725 total despite having an off day.
“Being able to pull through and still easily win was really a big thing for me,” Shipley said. “It showed how far I’ve come.”
As satisfying as the individual championship was, Shipley says the moment he’ll remember most came afterward. His victory, combined with another state title by Henry Camiel and a runner-up finish from teammate Cameron Stephenson, delivered Columbia’s first traditional team state championship since 1999.
The Tigers needed every single one of those lifts too as they edged Mosley by just a single point.
“That was probably the most special part for me,” Shipley said. “We had always talked about winning as a team. We always thought it was possible and to do so was honestly a better feeling than winning the individual because that’s something we hadn’t done in 27 years.”
With his high school career now behind him, Shipley hopes his career serves as motivation for future Tigers. He proved that hard work does indeed pay off, regardless of your size.
He wants that to be his legacy.
“I always told (assistant) coach (John) Woodley that I wanted to make history,” Shipley said. “I wanted to try and leave a legacy because when I do something and put my time into it, I want to do the best that I can. So for me, holding all the school records kind of makes all the work I did worth it.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
119: Matthew Koontz
Fort White, senior
Placed fourth in traditional at the Class 1A state meet with a 390 total and
finished seventh in Olympic with a 280 total. Prior to that, he swept District 6 titles (285 total in Olympic) before winning a Region 3 title in Olympic and finishing second in traditional.
129: Andrew Ulsch
Fort White, sophomore
Class 1A state runner-up in Olympic with a 385 total while placing fifth in traditional with a 420 total. Prior to that, he swept District 6 titles (435 and 400) before winning a Region 3 title in Olympic and finishing second in traditional.
154: Jonathan Ulsch
Fort White, junior
Class 1A state champion in traditional with a 555 total and was runner-up in Olympic with a 470 total. Prior to that, he swept District 6 titles (with postseason-best totals of 560 and 475) and Region 3 titles.
154: Cyler Akins
Suwannee, junior
Class 2A state runner-up in both traditional and Olympic with totals of 570 and 515, respectively. Prior to that, he swept District 3 titles (with postseason-best totals of 575 and 540) and Region 2 titles.
169: Cameron Stephenson
Columbia, senior
Class 2A state champion in Olympic with a 530 total and was runner-up in traditional with a 610 total. Prior to that, he was a District 3 champion in Olympic and district runner-up in traditional before sweeping Region 2 titles.
199: Jayden Francis
Suwannee, senior
Placed fifth at the Class 2A state meet in both traditional and Olympic with totals of 625 and 510, respectively. Prior to that, he swept District 3 titles and Region 2 titles, with a postseason-best total of 515 in Olympic coming at regionals.
219: Garret Shipley
Columbia, senior
The LCR’s Lifter of the Year capped off his career as the Class 2A state champion in traditional with a 725 total after setting every school record during in his final season (450 bench press, 365 clean and jerk, 290 snatch, 800 traditional total, and 650 Olympic total). He also swept District 3 and Region 2 titles in traditional and Olympic.
238: Colton Hagedorn
Suwannee, senior
Placed fourth in Olympic at the Class 2A state meet with a 555 total and finished ninth in traditional with a 615 total. Prior to that, he was District 3 champion in Olympic and district runner-up in traditional before winning the Region 2 title in Olympic and placing third in traditional.
238: Adam Ford
Fort White, senior
Placed fifth in Olympic at the Class 1A state meet with a 515 total. Prior to that, he swept District 6 titles in traditional and Olympic (with postseason-best totals of 585 and 530) before finishing runner-up in Olympic and fifth in traditional at the Region 3 meet.
UNL: Henry Camiel
Columbia, senior
Class 2A state champion in traditional with a 695 total after winning District 3 and Region 2 titles.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Brian Allen, Columbia
Allen’s Tigers won the Class 2A state title in traditional — the program’s first since 1999 — behind a pair of champions in Garret Shipley and Henry Camiel and a runner-up finish by Cameron Stephenson, edging Mosley by a point. Stephenson also won a state title in Olympic, capping a postseason where CHS also won the District 3 and Region 2 titles.