- February 5, 2026
Cody Strawser begins his first clean-and-jerk attempt. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Cody Strawser clean and jerks 230 pounds. His best clean and jerk at the meet was 250 pounds. The junior won both competitions in the 129-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matthew McFall clean and jerks 310 pounds. McFall, who had a best clean and jerk of 330 pounds, won both competitions in the unlimited weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Wendell Weaver clean and jerks 265 pounds. Weaver finished second in Olympic and third in traditional in the unlimited weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Wendell Weaver cleans 265 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jackson Fedun cleans 280 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jackson Fedun clean and jerks 280 pounds. Fedun won both competitions in the 169-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Memphis Hambly clean and jerks 155 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Landon Gates clean and jerks 265 pounds. Gates won both competitions in the 183-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Anthony Giacobbe cleans 170 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Anthony Giacobbe clean and jerks 170 pounds. Giacobbe won the 119-pound weight class in the Olympic competition with a 320-pound total and placed second in traditional with a 330-pound total. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Gavin Battaglia cleans 220 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Gavin Battaglia clean and jerks 220 pounds. Battaglia won the 219-pound Olympic competition. with a 410-pound total. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Chris Lightsey cleans 180 pounds. His best clean-and-jerk lift was 190 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Chris Lightsey clean and jerks 190 pounds. Lightsey placed third in the 154-pound Olympic competition with a 320 total. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Marlon Alvarado clean and jerks 255 pounds. Alvarado placed second in the 199-pound Olympic competition with a 435-pound total (snatch and clean and jerk). Photo by Brent Woronoff
Caleb Araujo cleans 155 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Caleb Araujo clean and jerks 145 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Joseph Casanova clean and jerks 290 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Khaidyn Steward clean and jerks 105 pounds. His best clean and jerk was 125. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Aidan Bull clean and jerks 180 pounds. His best clean-and-jerk lift was 190. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Brock Emanuel clean and jerks 120 pounds. His best clean-and-jerk lift was 140. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mathias Parker clean and jerks 230 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Hunter Womack clean and jerks 175 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Flagler Palm Coast boys weightlifting team had a strong showing in its first meet of the year, tying perennial state title contender Spruce Creek in the Olympic competition.
The teams tied at 45 points apiece in Olympic, while Creek won the traditional competition 61-29 at FPC on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
I don't think we'll see a better team than this the rest of the year. It's a good way to start — set the bar high, and then after that it’s easy sailing.
— DUANE HAGSTROM, FPC weightlifting coach
“I don't think we'll see a better team than this the rest of the year,” FPC coach Duane Hagstrom said. “They're obviously in our district. It's a good way to start — set the bar high, and then after that it’s easy sailing.”
Hagstrom said the Bulldogs were focusing on consistency with none of the lifters attempting max lifts. He said the team’s goal is to hit 85% of its lifts at each meet. In this meet, the Bulldogs hit about 90%.
“We did really well. We just have to keep building on that,” Hagstrom said. “Our goal is to get to the end of the season hoping we'll be in the hunt for a state title. I don't really care about the wins and losses so much in the regular season.”
Four FPC lifters won both competitions against the Hawks. Cody Strawser won at 129 pounds with a 440-pound Olympic total and a 470-pound traditional total. He lifted a 190-pound snatch, a 250-pound clean and jerk and a 220-pound bench press.
Jackson Fedun won at 169 pounds with a 505-pound Olympic total and a 520-pound traditional total. Landon Gates won at 183 pounds with a 485-pound Olympic total and a 505-pound traditional total.
Matthew McFall won at unlimited with a 605-pound Olympic total and a 660-pound traditional total. McFall had best lifts of 275 pounds in the snatch, 330 pounds in the clean and jerk and 330 pounds in the bench press.
Anthony Giacobbe won Olympic at 119 pounds with a 320-pound total. Gavin Battaglia won the 219-pound Olympic competition with 410-pound total.
Two of the FPC varsity starters didn’t lift for points because they weighed in heavy for their weight classes, Hagstrom said.
“I wouldn’t let them bump up a class. So we were without two of our point lifters. I let JV guys lift in their place, because the JV guys made weight,” Hagstrom said.
