Powerlifting pushes Racine barista Ouzounian
RACINE - Inside the gym, past the portable fan placed behind the doorway, Zaven Ouzounian vibes to lyrics of Lil Wayne.
He nods his head. He moves his arms. He has a big smile.
Unlike his daily job at Starbucks working as a barista, Ouzounian, an 18-year-old Racine Case High School graduate, Wisconsin state powerlifting champion and North American powerlifting champion, relishes daily workouts like these at Racine Horlick High School.
“Powerlifting has taught me that once you find something you like, you can give it your all,” Ouzounian said.
To squat 606 pounds, bench press 347 pounds and deadlift 562 pounds — all of which are Ouzounian’s bests — he’s had to do just that. He also had to recover from the injury that left three scars on his right arm.
Yes, the injury may have stunted his progression, but it also served as a wake-up call.
“That humbled me,” Ouzounian said, wearing a black shirt with “Be Better, Be Strong” labeled on it. “I always tell people I kind of needed that.”
Three years ago, Ouzounian was surfing the world’s most popular social media platform when he spotted a friend’s video. It was taken at Racine Horlick’s gym, and it portrayed a powerlifting performance.
Right then and there, Ouzounian, who quit wrestling and football because the sports just weren’t for him, was intrigued by the sport consisting of squat, deadlift and bench press competitions.
Because Racine Case does not have a powerlifting team (it dissolved years ago), Ou-
zounian reached out to Racine Horlick co-head coach Pete Nees, who invited him to come train.
Days later, Ouzounian walked into the gym, past the fan and got to work.
“He came with a pretty solid foundation, so we were pretty lucky to have him come join us,” Nees, 32, said. “He was already pretty darn good.”
Ouzounian first competed in 2014 and gradually improved. His success led to his setting an American record in 2015 at the Badger Open at Neenah High School. In the 165-pound division, Ouzounian squatted 468 pounds.
Last year, by the time he set out to break another squat record at the Badger Open, Ouzounian admits he’d become skeptical of advice from coaches.
“I got too know-itall-y,” Ouzounian said.
Minutes prior to that very competition, though, Ouzounian lost his balance while holding the bar above his shoulders. The bar fell forward and he did, too.
Ouzounian said he knew what the cold, stinging feeling in his aforementioned right arm meant: broken. The injury required the three stitches and four months of patience, something Nees was familiar with. Proven perspective
A running back at Racine Case more than 15 years ago, Nees broke his leg and needed to rehab it. His buddies, some of whom powerlifted, suggested the sport.
“Ever since then I’ve been hooked,” Nees said.
Nees powerlifted for Racine Case in the early 2000s, and was spotting Ouzounian as the accident unfolded. Because it happened so fast, Nees wasn’t able to catch his pupil. The injury was a blow to Ouzounian’s progressions, yet it showed him how much he’d need advice from coaches.
“I knew then if I applied myself in the right ways, it would all come to fruition and it would all pay off later on,” Ouzounian said. “I was exactly right.”
Ouzounian returned to the gym nearly two weeks after his surgery. He couldn’t deadlift. He couldn’t bench. He couldn’t back-squat.
So he front-squatted with others spotting him, Others like Noah Johnson.
Johnson, another Racine Horlick powerlifter who Ouzounian trains with daily, knocked off Ouzounian in his first event back after he was cleared in August.
This January, Ouzounian responded with a win at a regional competition in the 183-pound division. In March, he won a Wisconsin State Powerlifting Championship. Recently, in Orlando, Fla., he knocked off Johnson to win a North American Powerlifting Championship.
Ouzounian hopes he can make the United States’ world team (the highest level) and one day compete in the invite-only Arnold Classic, which is one of the biggest events in the sport. In the meantime, along with his Starbucks work and training, Ouzounian has begun to coach prospective powerlifters.
He uses knowledge gleaned from coaches like Nees and echoes words taped on the gym’s walls like “those who stay will become champions” and “believe in yourself.”
Those posters came in handy at the time of his injury, and they did during an occurrence weeks ago.
A steering column on his 2000 Chevrolet Prizm was awry, and Ouzounian struggled to fix it. After hours of work, he slept on it, woke up the next day with the belief he could do it and fixed the car in time for the following day’s trip to Racine Horlick.
Ouzounian doesn’t recall what T-shirt he wore as he worked out, but his goal that day — and everyday — can be summed up by the aforementioned black one: “Be Better, Be Strong.”