How 2 Livingston County athletes became state champion powerlifters
When Hartland junior Roman Ignagni began powerlifting in seventh grade, one reason was to help him on the football field.
Brighton senior Hayden Lorius started during his junior year because he was losing too many battles in the trenches as an offensive lineman.
They have both become state champion powerlifters, even though their relationships with football are now dramatically different.
Lorius hopes to continue playing in college, while Ignagni gave up football following his sophomore year.
Ignagni has thrown himself totally into powerlifting. His dedication showed at the Michigan High School Powerlifting Association’s state meet when he had the best total in any weight class.
He squatted 530 pounds, bench-pressed 375 and dead-lifted 620 for a total of 1,525. He won the 275-pound division by 55 pounds over J.J. Miller of Jackson Northwest.
Lorius won the super heavyweight class with a total of 1,475. He squatted 565, benched 310 and dead-lifted 600. He won by 25 pounds over Hunter Vennevy of Kingston after dead-lifting 35 more pounds.
Competitors get three lifts per discipline, adding more weight after each successful effort. Before the meet, each lifter chooses their beginning weight, with those choosing the heaviest weights going last.
“My plan going in was I wanted to be the heaviest opener,” said Ignagni, who finished second at 242 last year. “So, in our first round of lifting, I want to be the last guy at the end of the first round. That way I know what the guy behind me is doing. I always want to come out with something I knew I can get for sure that’s not going to be a debate, but heavy enough to possibly even qualify me for a top-10 position.”
Ignagni’s father, Dan, was a powerlifter and introduced his son to the sport four years ago.
“I grew up a little heavy,” Ignagni said. “I guess he was a little concerned. Of course, at the time, I played football. He knew it could help with football, too. After the first summer in seventh grade when I started lifting, I fell in love with it. A lot of the time, all I could really think about was that next lift, that next session.
“Some days, you don’t want to go in there and you’re moping around, but then you have to think about the amount of progress you’ve made over the last couple years.”
Ignagni played football for Hartland through 10th grade. A junior varsity player, he dressed for varsity games and occasionally got on the field as a five-quarter player in 2022.
“I was feeling a little burnt out,” he said. “I played for eight years. Powerlifting was something that was really taking a large portion of my life at the time; I wanted to focus on that. During football, I’m not getting all my eating in and there’s more conditioning than I’m really a fan of. The fluctuation of weight was really a thing, too, and my strength. In the offseason, I would always put on about 30 pounds. Once the season came, I never had a season where I didn’t lose 20, 25 pounds.
“I think I reached my peak when it came to football. I’m really happy with what I’ve done with it. I wish them all the best. I want to focus on something like powerlifting, which I believe I can have a much longer career with.”
Lorius, a first-team All-Livingston County offensive lineman and an all-region pick as a senior, is still looking for a place to play college football. He believes powerlifting has made him a better player after he struggled at times earlier in his three-year varsity career.
“Honestly, I just wanted to get stronger,” he said. “That was kind of a weak point my sophomore and the start of my junior year. I was not strong enough to hold back a couple of the guys. I feel like it 100% has helped.”
Lorius joined Brighton’s club powerlifting team as a junior and has won two state championships. He lifted 1,415 pounds last year.
“I’ve always loved picking up heavy stuff and putting it down,” Lorius said. “I had a few good friends do it and I thought I might as well give it a shot. Obviously, it worked out in my favor.”
Lorius made his first squat at 565 pounds, but missed two attempts at 575. He was down by 25 pounds going into the dead lift.
“I started out pretty down,” he said. “You don’t win everything. As the day progressed, everything went up and up. I started working as I know I should. At the end of the day, it was just me being stronger than the other guy.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton, Hartland athletes win Michigan powerlifting championships
