- April 26, 2024
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Dom Bennett, center, won the traditional competition at 139 pounds, his second title of the night. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Bulldogs take a team picture with the snatch competition trophy. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Rigens Andre was one of three FPC lifters to win snatch and traditional titles. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Isaiah Rivers, center, tied the school bench press record on his way to the 154-pound title. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kobe Murphy, center, won the snatch title in the unlimited weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Elijah Aylesworth placed fourth in both competitions in the 169-pound class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Nick Groth completes the clean and jerk. The sophomore won in snatch and finished third in the traditional competition at 169 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Ron Proctor, center, won the snatch title at 183 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Tommy Desantoli finished fifth in the traditional competition and fourth in snatch at 238 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Chris Doremy placed third in both competitions at 199 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Wood Registe, attempts a clean and jerk lift. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Nick Lilavois, right, won the snatch title as well as the traditional title at 119 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Charley Perry placed sixth in snatch in the 238-pound class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dom Bennett does his clean on the way to his 250-pound clean and jerk. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dom Bennett celebrates his snatch title. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Isaiah Rivers completes his clean and jerk. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kobe Murphy finished third in the traditional competition in the unlimited class and won the snatch title. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Nick Groth completes a clean and jerk lift. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Rigens Andre finishes the clean. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Rigens Andre completes the clean and jerk. Andre won both titles in the 219-pound class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The snatch was one of Duane Hagstrom’s favorite lifts when he was a competitor.
It’s not surprising that his Flagler Palm Coast weightlifting teams have taken to the lift as well.
FPC won the snatch title at the Five Star Conference boys weightlifting championships March 23. It was the Bulldogs' first conference title in school history. The Bulldogs also finished second to Spruce Creek in the traditional competition, in a close race that came down to one lift.
“We’ve been second before, but I don’t think we’ve ever been that close,” said Hagstrom, who has coached the Bulldogs for 20 years.
This is the first year the FHSAA has adopted the snatch lift, and the FPC boys, like the FPC girls, have gotten a head start on their competitors.
“It’s a very technical lift,” Hagstrom said. “A lot of these coaches, I don’t think they’re comfortable with it yet. You can make up for a lack of strength with technique in certain areas of the lift.”
The Bulldogs defeated second-place University 51-40 in the snatch competition with FPC lifters winning six of the 10 weight classes.
The Hawks won the traditional bench press/clean and jerk competition, 52-50 over the host Bulldogs. The title came down to the second-place competition between Creek’s Kevin Minckler and FPC’s Nick Groth at 169 pounds. Minckler jumped 10 pounds to 285 on his final clean and jerk lift and edged Groth in total, 520 to 515, which was a difference of two points in the standings.
The Bulldogs, however, were happy with the results as they closed in on the postseason.
“My goal is just to get better, and they’ve been getting a lot better,” Hagstrom said. “The kids work really hard. It’s a great group of kids.”
Three FPC lifters won both snatch and traditional titles — Nick Lilavois at 119 pounds, Dom Bennett at 139 and Rigens Andre at 219.
Isaiah Rivers won the traditional competition at 154 pounds with a 540 total, tying the school bench press record along the way with a 305-pound lift — against the advice of his coach.
“I guess he told me to do 300,” said a sheepish Rivers.
The senior, who has had the record in his sights for a while, just hit 300 two weeks ago, Hagstrom said.
Rivers medaled at state last year with a fifth-place finish and is looking to move up.
“My goal is just to get better, and they’ve been getting a lot better. The kids work really hard. It’s a great group of kids.”
DUANE HAGSTROM, FPC weightlifting coach
He joined Bennett as a school-record holder. Bennett set school records in the clean and jerk (260) and total (515) earlier this season. Bennett finished second at state in the 129-pound class last year, moving up to 139 this year.
“Our boys' records are pretty ridiculous,” Hagstrom said. “So it's not easy.”
Bennett lifted 500 at conference to win his weight class by 90 pounds. He won the snatch title with a 180-pound lift.
Groth (169), Ron Proctor (183 pounds) and Kobe Murphy (unlimited) also won first-place medals in snatch.
Andre lifted a 650 total to win the traditional competition and 165 to win snatch. Hagstrom said Andre learned the snatch lift just two days before conference.
Lilavois won snatch with a 145 and the traditional bench/clean and jerk with a 385 total.
Wood Registe (183) placed second, while Chris Doremy (199), Murphy and Groth placed third in the traditional competition.
“Coach is the reason why we’ve gotten as far as we have, but there’s always room for improvement,” Lilavois said. “Our goal this year is to get as many people to state as possible.”
