- April 27, 2026
FPC's Cody Strawser (center) stands on the top step of the podium after winning the 129-pound Olympic title. The Junior was the only FPC Bulldog to win both championships at the Region 2-3A meet. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Matt McFall (center) won the unlimited Olympic title with a 625-pound total in the snatch and clean and jerk lifts. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Landon Gates (center) won the 183-pound title in the Olympic competition. Spruce Creek's John Wheeler was second and FPC's Marlon Alvarado (right) was third. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC 199-pound lifter Mathias Parker bench presses 290 pounds on his second lift. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jackson Fedun (left) placed second in Olympic in the 169-pound weight class. Oakleaf's Noah Shevchook (center) won with a 570-pound total. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC 238-pounder Joe Casanova gets set to bench press 290 pounds on his second lift. He successfully benched 300 on his third lift. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Tyler Davidson (left) placed second in the Olympic competition at 219 pounds. Spruce Creek's Christian Jones (center) won both titles. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Cody Strawser stands atop the podium with both first-place medals in the 129-pound class draped around his neck. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Spruce Creek's Brian Begnoche, winner of the 199-pound weight class in both competitions, shakes FPC's Mathias Parker's hand on the podium. Parker placed third in both competitions. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Anthony Giacobbe (left) placed second in Olympic in the 119-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Matt McFall (left) placed second in unlimited traditional with a 715-pound total. Spruce Creek's Jeremiah Hall (center) won with a 725-pound total including a 410-pound bench press. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Landon Gates (left) and Marlon Alvarado (right) finished second and third, respectively, in traditional competition at 183 poounds. Spruce Creek's John Wheeler won the region title. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast weightlifter Cody Strawser has been perfect since the postseason began. He’s won both the Olympic and traditional competitions at the Five Star Conference, district and regional meets. He’s gone 9-for-9 on his lifts at all three meets.
And heading into the Class 3A state championship on May 7 in Lakeland, the junior is a prohibitive favorite to win both titles in the 129-pound weight class.
“This season’s gone a lot better than I expected,” said Strawser who won the Region 2-3A championships on April 25 at FPC with a 455-pound Olympic total and a 485-pound traditional total. He has the best state qualifying totals by 35 pounds in Olympic and 25 pounds in traditional. And he hasn’t pushed for personal records yet.
“Today was kind of like just work up to heaviness,” Strawser said after the regional.
His final snatch (195 pounds) and clean and jerk (260) were five pounds under his PR. His bench press (225) tied his PR.
“My snatches felt light. My clean and jerks felt light. My bench was a little wonky, but I think that’s just because I cut weight,” he said. “That just happens every time you cut weight.”
Strawser, who weighed in at 128.3 pounds, just under the 129-pound limit, is not only aiming for two state championships, he also has a couple of state records on his radar.
I would love to break state records, but the main focus is to win, and maybe break some records in the process.
— CODY STRAWSER
“I’m 10 [pounds] under to break the snatch record and I’m 15 under to break the clean-and-jerk record,” he said. “I would love to break state records, but the main focus is to win, and maybe break some records in the process.”
Strawser is one 10 FPC lifters to qualify for the state championships. Landon Gates (183 pounds) and Matt McFall (unlimited) each won the Olympic competition at regional. McFall has the highest Olympic state qualifying total in Class 3A at 625 pounds, 40 pounds more than the second highest. McFall and Gates were also regional runners-up in the traditional competition.
FPC’s Anthony Giacobbe (second, 119), Alex Huynh (second, 139), Jackson Fedun (second,169), Marlon Alvarado (third, 183), Matthias Parker (third, 199) and Tyler Davidson (second, 219) also reached the podium at regional in the Olympic competition. Giacobbe (third), Alvarado (third) and Parker (third) also reached the podium in traditional.
Giacobbe, Strawser, Huynh, Fedun, Parker, Joe Casanova (238) and McFall all qualified in both competitions. Gates, Alvarado and Wendell Weaver (unlimited) qualified for Olympic.
Mainland’s Ray Tatro qualified in the 129-pound class for the traditional competition.
FPC finished second in both competitions behind regional champ Spruce Creek — 76-57 in Olympic and 73-39 in traditional). The Bulldogs were also the runner-up behind Creek at Five Star and district in both competitions.
FPC coach Duane Hagstrom has had only one team title in mind.
“The goal [at regional] wasn’t to win as a team. It was just to get as many through as possible,” he said. “That's kind of the goal up until state. Two weeks from now, it matters. We're trying to win the thing as a team. Having individual winners is cool, too, but if we're going to go there, we want to win as a team too.”
Seabreeze qualified five lifters to the Class 2A state championship on May 6 in Lakeland. Guarinonex Rivera Seise won the 119-pound Olympic title at the Region 4-2A meet on April 25 in Leesburg. Dean Hayes won the traditional championship in the 139-pound class.
Hayes and Ezra Williams (183 pounds) qualified in both competitions. Rivera Seise, Vincent Pendersen (129) and Ronald Zimmet (169) qualified in Olympic.
