Frank Boniello is the 2025 World’s Strongest Firefighter (WSF). Boniello was the best of 18 finalists who advanced to the championship round of the contest on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at the Arnold Sports Festival (ASF) in Columbus, OH.
The competition featured strongmen and strongwomen who work as active, full-time firefighters. Their scores were determined based on weight class and performance via a Wilks-like calculation, which measures athletes across different body weights and genders.
2024 champion Marcus Waugh placed second, and Mike McGowan took bronze. Kelly Lamb finished highest among the women in sixth place overall.
Frank Boniello Wins 2025 World’s Strongest Firefighter Results
- Frank Boniello — 43.5 points
- Marcus Waugh — 37.5 points
- Mike McGowan — 36.5 points
- Justin Zuniga — 36 points
- Jay Mullens — 33.5 points
- Kelly Lamb — 30.5 points
- Joseph Voiles — 29 points
- Casey Shoe — 25.5 points
- Josh Alonzo — 24.5 points
- Harry Walker — 22 points
The 18 finalists participated in three events during the championship round, which Strongman Corporation streamed live.
Ambulance Tire Axle Press
Competitors had to clean an axle bar with ambulance tires and additional weight and press for max reps. After getting the bar up, they did not have to clean it again; it only had to clear the chin. Points were combined and split evenly among competitors who tied in scoring.
- Frank Boniello — Nine reps
- Justin Zuniga — Eight reps (T-second)
- Joseph Voiles — Eight reps (T-second)
- Mike McGowan — Seven reps (T-fourth)
- Michael George Ebanks Jr. — Seven reps(T-fourth)
- Kelly Lamb — Six reps (T-sixth)
- Jay Mullens — Six reps (T-sixth)
- Alexander Arenas — Five reps (T-eighth)
- Marcus Waugh — Five reps (T-eighth)
- Josh Alonzo — Four reps
Silver Dollar Deadlift — Ascending Weight
Competitors started with a foundation weight, adding more plates to each rep. Once the max weight was lifted, the winner was determined by the number of reps performed with that weight.
- Marcus Waugh — Nine reps
- Kelly Lamb — Eight reps
- Josh Alonzo — Six reps (T-third)
- Justin Zuniga — Six reps (T-third)
- Frank Boniello — Five reps (T-fifth)
- Alexander Arenas — Five reps (T-fifth)
- Harry Walker — Four reps (T-seventh)
- Jay Mullens — Four reps (T-seventh)
- Mike McGowan — Four reps (T-seventh)
Fire Hydrant Load
A firefighter version of the Atlas Stones, competitors had to lift five weighted hydrants onto a podium, standing vertically. The fastest time determined the winner.
- Frank Boniello — 26.35 seconds
- Mike McGowan — 26.58 seconds
- Jay Mullens — 27.25 seconds
- Marcus Waugh — 30.3 seconds
- Joseph Voiles — 32.81 seconds
- Michael George Ebanks Jr. — 37.73 seconds
- Casey Shoe — 39.11 seconds
- Liam Shiels — 42.37 seconds
- Justin Zuniga — 42.72 seconds
- Harry Walker — 44.03 seconds
Other Notes
Promoter Arnold Schwarzenegger presented each firefighter with a coin for their efforts and awarded Boniello the WSF Axe in recognition of his accomplishment.
This competition served as a fundraiser to support firefighters in California and Ohio. Organizer John Byrne told BarBend that the event raised over $30,000 from donations, merchandise sales, and pay-per-view livestream orders for the event.
“After the devastating fire we just experienced, having firefighters worldwide compete while raising funds for charity was amazing,” Byrne said in a statement. “The dedication, work ethic, and showmanship on the stage was felt and seen across the world this year with the live stream. Working with Arnold to improve firefighter fitness while raising money for firefighter foundations has been a dream come true.”
In the same venue, 2023 WSF Andrew Burton won the 2025 Arnold Strongman Pro/Am. That victory qualified him to compete in the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic.
Support
Those interested in donating or supporting the event can do so through donations or acquiring a shirt, which is still available at the time of this article’s publication:
More Strongman Content
- 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Pro/Am Results
- 2025 Arnold Strongman Pro/Am Results
- Mitchell Hooper Three-Peats; Wins 2025 Arnold Strongman Classic
Featured Image: Courtesy of Zero Dark Thirty Media
