Ashton Rouska has worked extremely hard to prepare for the 2026 AMP Open Nationals, which took place on March 5-8 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Well, it clearly paid off since Ashton made unbelievable progress on the squat event compared to a few months ago. Consequently, he managed to complete a 400.5-kilogram (883-pound) raw squat, setting a new U120KG American Record and unofficially exceeding the IPF World Record.
Ashton Rouska’s Full Performance Breakdown
Ashton Rouska has previously competed in the 105-kilogram weight class. However, for the 2026 AMP Open Nationals, he decided to move up to the 120-kilogram division. Moreover, he weighed in at 111.64 kilograms (246.1 pounds), which means that he still has room to put on more mass while still remaining in the same class. So, there is no doubt that Ashton will make further improvements in the near future.
Squat
Ashton Rouska’s performance at the 2026 AMP Open Nationals started with the squats. With everyone waiting in anticipation to see what he is capable of doing, Ashton loaded 360 kilograms (793.7 pounds) for his first attempt and absolutely smoked it. The excitement just kept growing in the arena as Ashton loaded 386.5 kilograms (852.1 pounds) for his second attempt. Although he has never even attempted to squat this much weight in prior competitions, Ashton still made the lift look smooth, leaving everyone wondering what his limit might be.
Just minutes later, Ashton Rouska came back out onto the competition platform and prepared to take on a barbell loaded up to 400.5 kilograms (883 pounds). Ashton was extremely energetic prior to the attempt and was clearly ready to make history once again. The pressure under the weight was tremendous, as seen from Ashton’s behavior. However, the lift itself was still pretty strong since Ashton was never even close to failing. As a result, he became the first U120KG powerlifter in the IPF and its affiliate federations to squat over 400 kilograms (881.8 pounds) raw.
- 360 kilograms (793.7 pounds)
- 386.5 kilograms (852.1 pounds)
- 400.5 kilograms (883 pounds) — U120KG AMP American Record & Unofficial IPF World Record
*Dennis Cornelius holds the official U120KG Raw Squat IPF World Record of 386-kg (851-lb), which he set at the 2017 IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships.
Watch Ashton’s squat here:
Bench Press
The bench press event also went well for Ashton Rouska, who ended up successfully completing all three of his attempts. His heaviest press came out to 202.5 kilograms (446.4 pounds), which marked another huge step toward his heaviest Total ever.
- 190 kilograms (418.9 pounds)
- 197.5 kilograms (435.4 pounds)
- 202.5 kilograms (446.4 pounds)
Deadlift
Despite completing some massive lifts across the first two events, Ashton Rouska still had enough energy left to lock out one of his heaviest deadlifts ever. His final attempt came out to 380 kilograms (837.8 pounds), pushing his Total to 983 kilograms (2,167.1 pounds), which marked a new competition PR for him.
- 340 kilograms (749.6 pounds)
- 372.5 kilograms (821.2 pounds)
- 380 kilograms (837.8 pounds)
Total — 983 kilograms (2,167.1 pounds) — Competition PR
Watch all of Ashton’s lifts here:
Ashton Rouska has taken part in over 60 sanctioned powerlifting competitions over the course of his 13-year-long career and won a large majority of them. Most notably, Ashton won the 2024 IPF World Classic Championships but has also set multiple records as well.
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