It was a redemption tour for St. Cloud High School’s Josh Piasecki over the weekend at the FHSAA State Weightlifting Championships.

The senior lifter finished as a state runner-up after failing to clean and jerk 355lbs. This year Piasecki triumphantly made the lift to win it all and this time around etch his name into the record books at that same weight.

“That was an emotional lift for that reason,” Piasecki explained. “Not only breaking the state record but doing the weight I failed to do last year to win.”

Piasecki entered as the favorite in the 183-lb weight class and started the day recording a personal best bench press lifting 355 pounds.

“All these high school kids would be shocked how hard it is to actually do what he does,” Bulldogs Head Coach Cory Aun explained. “They have no idea what work is until they actually see what we do and what he does specifically and it showed out there on the platform today.”

Once business was taken care of the bench Piasecki took to the floor.

“When I got the first lift it almost didn’t register in my head that I just had won—I just wanted to lift more,” Piasecki  said.

And so he tried to life even more after setting a new state record at the clean and jerk Piasecki went for 375—and though unsuccessful—his day one that will stick with him for a very long time.

“It’s insane how important this meet has become to me and now that it’s over and I did well and I won by a lot and it just feels amazing,” Piasecki added.

And he’s not done with the sport as he’ll compete in Ecudar in the junior Pan-America Championships and then will be in Tokyo in June for the junior World Weightlifting Championships.