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Respect is reward for hitting weights

Ridgewood's Ben Perry comes back from serious back injury.

By MIKE CAMUNAS
Published March 21, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - Ridgewood's weightlifting and football coach, Chris Taylor, wasn't surprised to see a leader emerge in his weight room, despite what he calls "one of the youngest teams we've ever had."

Sophomore Ben Perry, a 199-pound class lifter and standout linebacker for the Rams, returns to the team with just three seniors after a chipped vertebra injury cut short his run to states.

"I had an inconsistent spotter," Perry said. "He wasn't spotting me right. It aggravated me quite a bit, because then I missed conferences because it put me out for a while. Something like five or six weeks."

Now, a year later, with new spotters and a different lifting technique designed to prevent injury, his coach sees how such a young lifter beckons respect from his teammates, especially because Perry is undefeated.

"They kept saying it was a really hard injury to come back from," Taylor said. "But he's that hard-nosed kid, hits the weight room every day, and (I'm) glad to have him back.

"Ben is more of the leader in the weight room, and he's only a sophomore, which has never been surprising to me. Ben is the type of kid, the type of lifter the (other) kids are going to watch. "

Even older teammates see it.

"I've known it in Ben ever since the first week he came (to the weight room)," said senior Travis Bronder, the only Rams lifter to return from states in 2005. "By his senior year he'll be an all-American, a state champion and breaking all the records."

One reason why Taylor has never been surprised by Perry is because he knows the source of his leadership.

"It stems from the football field," Taylor said. "Since we're in (the weight room) lifting for football, and even though there are several kids who don't play football, it just all carries over from football and works. I think that everyone understands Ben is really the heart of (the team)."

Perry is ready for his second shot, even if he feels there's still plenty of work ahead of him.

"I have high hopes to make states," Perry said. "Coach says I have a good chance, and I believe him. I still have a couple of more weeks to work (on getting better lifts) 'til sectionals. My (clean and) jerk (lift) is pretty clean, but my bench is not where it should be. I have close to a 600 total (lift). That's pretty good, I guess. It'll get better before states."

No surprise there, either.

[Last modified March 21, 2006, 02:30:40]