By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

“It’s easy to win the first [championship] because you never know when it is coming, (but) it’s harder to defend because the standard is to win.” Thorsby High School weightlifting Coach Keith Williams said after his team won the class 2A State Championship for the second year-in-a-row Saturday.

The team departed from THS at 4:20 in the morning en route for Troy University after four months of training, including two days of two-a-days during Spring Break. THS brought 40 male student-athletes and, for the first time in school history, 11 female student-athletes to the competition.

The boys and girls competed in separate competitions.

Along with the team championship, THS had four male athletes win individual state championships. Kalup Nunn, a senior, won the state championship in the 175 weight class. Jonathan Spivey and Kip Cleckley, juniors, along with freshman Colton Castleberry won the state championship in their respective weight classes.

Coach Keith Williams said that he expected to win the championship.

The girl’s team was also impressive in their competition, as they won the 1A-2A State Championship. Out of the 11 girls brought to the competition, 10 of them finished 3rd or better in their respective weight classes.

As the boys and girls competed, they earned points that would go toward an overall team score. The team combined to finish 2nd in the overall class 1A-6A competition, the only team ahead of them was a class 5A school. The team defeated the likes of Prattville High School, Elmore County High School, Northview High School, and the defending class 1A champions Arrington High School in the competition.

The two state championship trophies, along with the 2nd place overall trophy, are proudly displayed in Coach Williams classroom along with trophies from past weightlifting competitions.