- March 27, 2026
FPC's Matt McFall gets set to snatch 265 pounds. McFall had a career day with a school record in the clean and jerk and another PR in the bench press. He won the unlimited weight class in Olympic and tied for the top total in traditional but placed second based on the body-weight tiebreaker. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Matt McFall lifts 265 pounds in the snatch. McFall set a school-record in the clean and jerk with a 355-pound lift. He also bench pressed a personal-record 355 pounds for a 710-pound total in the traditional competition. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Cody Strawser (center) stands atop the podium after placing first in the 129-pound weight class in the Olympic competition. Seabreeze's Vincent Pedersen (right) placed third. DeLand's Jaxon Van Horn (left) was second. Strawser also won the traditional competition. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Jackson Fedun placed first in Olympic competition and second in traditional in the 169-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Ray Tatro cleans 195 pounds. Tatro placed third in the traditional competition and fourth in Olympic in the 129-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Guarionex Rivera Seise placed fourth in both competitions in the 119-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Mason Durrance placed third in the 219-pound weight class in the traditional competition. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Dylan Bonanno lifts 170 pounds in the clean and jerk. Bonanno placed sixth in Olympic competition in the 139-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Logan Arzuza attempts 145 pounds in the clean and jerk. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Logan Seid lifts 115 pounds in the clean and jerk. Seid placed fourth in traditional at 119 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Ray Tatro cleans 195 pounds. Tatro placed third in traditional competition and fourth in Olympic in the 129-pound weight class. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast’s Matt McFall set a school record and Cody Strawser won two titles as the Bulldogs placed second in both competitions at the Five Star Conference boys weightlifting championships on Wednesday, March 25, at FPC.
Spruce Creek won both titles. The Hawks defeated FPC by one point, 53-52, in the Olympic competition. Creek won by a more comfortable margin the traditional competition, 61-42.
“I'd rather get beat by 100 points than get beat by one point,” FPC coach Duane Hagstrom said. “One made lift here, one made lift there and it’s a different (outcome).”
New Smyrna Beach finished third in both competitions. Seabreeze was fourth in Olympic with 23 points and fifth in traditional, also with 23 points, one point behind DeLand. Mainland finished seventh in traditional and ninth in Olympic.
McFall won the Olympic title in the unlimited class by 90 pounds over Spruce Creek’s Jeremiah Hall with a 620-pound total. McFall set a school record in the clean and jerk with a 355-pound lift. He also hoisted a personal-record 355 pounds in the bench press for a 710-pound traditional total, tying Hall for first place. But Hall won the tie-breaker with a lower body weight.
Strawser won both titles in the 129-pound class going 9-for-9 on his lifts. He totaled 450 pounds in the Olympic lifts (snatch and clean and jerk) and 475 in traditional (clean and jerk and bench). Jackson Fedun won the 169-pound Olympic title with a 505-pound total and placed second in traditional with a 525-pound total.
“Cody won two titles. Matt had a great day. Jackson Fedun had a great day,” Hagstrom said. “He made a crazy jump on his third clean and jerk (attempting 300 pounds after lifting 280) just because he had already won after his opener (of 270). We were just playing around with some things moving forward. We're just trying to progress as we get towards state.”
Also placing among the top three for the Bulldogs were Anthony Giacobbe (second in Olympic, third in traditional, 119 pounds), Landon Gates (second in Olympic, third in traditional, 183 pounds), Marlon Alvarado (second in Olympic, 199 pounds), Mathias Parker (third in Olympic, second in traditional, 199 pounds), Joseph Casanova (second in Olympic, third in traditional, 238 pounds), and Wendell Weaver (third in Olympic, unlimited).
For Seabreeze, Ezra Williams placed second in traditional at 183 pounds with a 525-pound total, Vincent Pedersen was third in Olympic at 129 pounds, Dean Hayes was third in Olympic at 139 pounds and Jace Perez placed third in traditional at 154 pounds.
Mainland’s Ray Tatro (119 pounds) and Mason Durrance (219 pounds) both placed third in traditional.
The Bulldogs host Creekside in their final regular-season meet on April 1. They will face Spruce Creek and Mainland again, along with Matanzas, in the District 4-3A tournament on April 8 at FPC. Seabreeze will compete in the District 8-2A meet at New Smyrna Beach.
“In 2022 when we won state, we didn't win conference, we didn’t win districts and we didn't win regionals,” Hagstrom said. “As you move farther down the road, the field thins out. So, anything's possible.”
