Moorhead’s D’Agostino takes first at state weightlifting meet
March 29, 2019
When Moorhead High’s Chrisanto D’Agostino was getting ready to perform his final lift in the Clean & Jerk portion of the Minnesota State Weightlifting Tournament, he prepared for the lift like he would for any other lift. D’Agostino was going to try for a personal best of 145 kg (320 lbs).
“I knew it would be a personal record attempt and my last attempt so I had to give it my all,” he said. “In the back of my mind I knew that by going for such a heavy lift, I could possibly re-aggravate a back injury that put me out for the first six weeks of the season, but it was the last lift of the season so I had to go for it with an ‘all-in’ mentality.”
Unfortunately, D’Agostino did aggravate his back injury and was unable to lift the bar higher than his belt. However, his earlier lift of 140 kg (309 lbs) was enough to win him the state title for the 96 kg (212 lbs) class.
Weightlifting is an individual sport with each lifter doing their best to lift the bar and weights to progress to the next lift and then the next lift. Each lifter has three lifts at the weight they decide to try. Three judges score the lift and decide if it conforms to the standards and rules.
“I honestly forget the judges are there,” D’Agostino said. “I’m up there to lift the weight so that’s what I do. The whole crowd is watching you so that’s pretty nerve wracking, but I keep in mind that they want me to succeed and that helps me get through it and gives me the adrenaline to complete the large lifts. Then I realize there are judges to give me the down call, and whether they think it’s a good lift or not is beyond my power.”
D’Agostino said weightlifting has taught him many things.
“From training and going through the grind, to doing the little things right and doing the extra things to put you above the others, and to pressure situations and performing in front of large crowds on the national stage,” he said. “It’s also made me a better overall athlete. I joined weightlifting to get better at baseball, and it’s given me the fast-twitch and power to be able to hit the ball further and to take it to the next level.”
D’Agostino has improved since last year.
“My total has gone up 30 kg (66 lbs) in the past year, but I was hoping to progress a lot better throughout the season,” he said. “My clean and jerk has gone up plenty, but my snatch didn’t go up as I would have hoped.”
This year D’Agostino had the opportunity to perform on the national stage with two other teammates. He took fifth individually in the 96 kg class at Junior Nationals, which he said was an amazing experience.
“Then, of course, the state meet which is the last one for us all, and I got to be one of the last lifters with the most weight on the bar behind Logan Hofstedt,” D’Agostino said. Hofstedt is a Cannon Falls lifter who competed in the 109 kg (240 lbs) class and won his division by 19 kg (42 lbs) over Farmington’s Jared Flannery.
There will be one more year of lifting as a Spud for D’Agostino.
“Next year I hope to put another 50 kg (110 lbs) on my total and maybe drop a weight class,” D’Agostino said. “The goal is to repeat an individual state championship and help the team take a third team state championship. At Junior Nationals the goal is to end with a podium finish.”
– Renée Grover
Photo: Moorhead High’s Chrisanto D’Agostino lifts 140 kg during the Clean & Jerk portion of the Minnesota State Weightlifting Tournament held March 9 in Cannon Falls. Photo credit: Renée Grover
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