Merson tough as a Bulldog

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2000

ZEPHYRHILLS -- The Bulldogs' storied weightlifting program gets another shot at a state title in Saturday's Class A championship at Bell. Of Zephyrhills' four contenders, the best shot at a title may belong to heavyweight contender Craig Merson.

If he can stay healthy until after Saturday, that is.

Sound unlikely? Probably. But that's not a possibility Merson can take lightly. He has battled a host of injuries suffered in various athletic contests throughout his prep career.

Of course, even if Merson were to somehow, inexplicably, injure himself -- as he has in the past -- he would undoubtedly try to compete no matter the injury in the last meet of his career.

Bulldog coach Chris Bounnell, who has coached Merson in football and weightlifting, has learned to expect that kind of resiliency and toughness from the senior.

"Craig's turned into a fine young man. I've been working with him since he was a freshman," Bounnell said. "He has reached the top of his sport. He was fourth in the state last year, and we're hoping for a top-three finish this year. He's worked hard enough for it, and he's worked through an amazing list of injuries."

The 18-year-old Merson said that's just the way he was raised.

"I guess I was taught if you're going to do something, don't quit," he said. "Just follow it through. When you're doing something you love, as far a playing football or weightlifting, it doesn't make any sense to not try, not to come back (from injury).

"Not for me it doesn't."

Ask Merson about his various injuries and ailments and he nonchalantly rattles off the list:

Sophomore season: Tore a tendon in his right hip during wrestling season.

Junior season: Tore cartilage in his left knee playing football in the second game of the season. "It just kept getting worse and worse over the season," said Merson, who never considered quitting.

Senior season: He broke his left ankle and tore four ligaments the summer before fall drills while loading hay at the feed store where he works. He rejoined the team in mid-season, then tore two ligaments in his right ankle in the next-to-last game of the year. He continued to play.

Keep in mind that those are the only injuries he considers to be, well, injuries.

"Those are the only injuries I've had, besides broken fingers here and there and a couple of broken noses," Merson said. "But that hasn't really stopped me from anything."

Merson is a two-time Sunshine Athletic Conference champion making his second trip to state. "My goal going into the beginning of this season, I wanted to be in the top two in the state," Merson said. "In our weight room, all our state champions, all our runner-ups, have their names on the wall. Last year I was 10 pounds from getting my name on the wall."

Merson had tied another weightlifter by lifting a combined weight of 615 pounds, but the other weightlifter weighed 5 pounds less and earned third while Merson took fourth. His combined weight also was just 5 pounds shy of second place.

Thusly motivated, Merson has boosted his bench press to 385 and his clean-and-jerk to 280.

Merson faces a difficult situation this year because two classifications have been folded into one, virtually doubling the competition. "If I get 385 and 280 at states, I'll be happy," Merson said. "Then I'll have done the best I can, and if somebody beats me, he's the better man."

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