Collegiate champion weightlifter heading to the Seminary

UPDATE: Another good look at this young man here - Toledo weightlifting star Will Heller aspires to be world's strongest ... Catholic priest

Nice story.

Will Heller, a 21-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, is a two-time Junior National Medalist and All American, a state record holder in Ohio and Michigan, and the 2023 University National Champion in the 102 kilogram class in weightlifting. However, the weightlifting phenom now has his sights on a more soul-intensive goal — becoming a Catholic priest.

At the age of 17, Heller was introduced to the sport of weightlifting by his high school strength and conditioning coach. He quickly excelled in the sport and earned a plethora of achievements, including being invited to represent Team USA in the 2022 and 2024 FISU America Games, the 2023 U20 Pan-American Championships, and the 2023 U20 World Championships.

Weightlifting consists of two lifts: the clean and jerk and the snatch. Heller shared in an interview with CNA that his heaviest weight for each is a 324-pound snatch and a 388-pound clean and jerk.

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Now, thanks to a FOCUS missionary he met while in college, he will be entering the St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota at the end of August.

After a Christmas Eve Mass during his freshman year, a missionary whom Heller happened to know from the grade school he attended approached him. She invited him to events on campus and he began to attend.

“It’s funny because my dorm was actually looking right at the Catholic Campus Ministry Center and I was on the Catholic Campus Ministries email list and I had unsubscribed myself,” he recalled.

He then met another FOCUS missionary who began to invest more time in Heller, and slowly he began to get more involved, leading Bible studies and other discipleship events.

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As an only child wanting to get married and have children, he considered the diaconate. However, after witnessing his diocesan Eucharistic congress and ordination, he started thinking that maybe he shouldn’t ignore this idea. He began spiritual direction, talking with priests he was close to, and read “Discernment of Spirits” by Timothy Gallagher. He decided to apply to the seminary in October 2023 and was accepted in January.

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When Heller visited the seminary, he was surprised to find out that the rector of the propaedeutic program is actually a powerlifter himself and has a gym in the basement with all the equipment Heller will need, which he took as divine providence.

“I think God really wants me to do this,” Heller said with a laugh.