LSUS's Brown wins national weightlifting championship as Pilots co-ed team finishes second

LSUS's Brown wins national weightlifting championship as Pilots co-ed team finishes second

SALT LAKE CITY - LSU Shreveport freshman Bryson Brown won the university national championship in the men's 65-kilogram weight class to lead the Pilots to a second-place finish overall in the co-ed standings this past weekend at the university national championships.

Brown set all three national university records in his weight class with a 117-kg snatch, a 147-kg clean and jerk, and a 264-kg total.

It's the first time an LSUS weightlifter set a U.S. collegiate record since 2014 (Jared Fleming).

"Bryson showed just how seasoned of an athlete he really is, and he stayed calm in the big moments," said LSUS coach Aaron Adams. "The crazy thing is just how strong this freshman class is on an international level, and he's one of the lifters that builds that reputation for this class.

"He knew what he needed to do, and he fulfilled that."

Brown's title led 10 lifters overall who finished in the top 10 in their respective men's and women's divisions, five of which earned All-American status. LSUS traveled 15 lifters overall to the championships in Salt Lake City.

The LSUS men and women each finished third in their competitions, which combined for a second-place overall placement in the combined co-ed standings with 169 points, edging third-place Concordia by a point.

The LSUS men totaled 140 points and the women garnered 120 points.

The Pilots reasserted themselves on the national stage after the program restarted two years ago under Adams' direction.

"When I learned where we finished, I felt like I was going to cry, and I did," Adams said. "To have both the men and women get on the podium as a team in Year 2 - I am beyond proud.

"Lindenwood is the top program in the country, and they won both the men's and women's titles. But like four of their lifters are 25-year-old graduate students, and this is their last year of competition. Our lifters almost all freshmen and sophomores."

Sophomore Kyle Martin Jr. is the other LSUS lifter who podiumed, placing third in the men's 94-kilogram weight class with 323-kg total. His 148-kg snatch took silver in his class.

Angel Vazquez brought home bronze with an 87-kg snatch, finishing fourth overall in his class.

Weightlifters earn All-American status by meeting an established standard in their respective weight class.

LSUS lifters reaching that status include Brown, Martin, Enyjai Tyson (sixth in women's 77kg), Hannah St. Gerard (sixth in women's 58kg), and Savannah Bolden (women's 69kg).

Other lifters who finished in the top 10 include Clair Callahan (fifth in women's 86+kg), Mav Holloway (ninth in women's 86kg), Henry Ludbrook (ninth in men's 79kg), and Braxton Wright (ninth in men's 71kg).

"Our kids outperformed our expectations coming in, and we had zero bomb outs, while other teams had key people bomb out (missed a lift and scored zero points)," Adams said. "Almost everybody surpassed their personal bests on a national stage, and the ones that didn't were really close."

In addition to guiding the team on the platform, Adams served as a history guide at times whenever coaches and others in the weightlifting world would come by and congratulate LSUS's resurgence on the national stage.

Under the direction of international hall of fame weightlifting coach Dr. Kyle Pierce, LSUS created a powerhouse that piled up individual and team titles, also creating a web of alumni that remain active in the weightlifting world.

One of those was the aforementioned Jared Fleming, the last LSUS weightlifter to break a university national record.

"Jared was coaching some of his older athletes on the platform next to us for awhile, and he was one of many people who came up to us to say hi," said Adams, who also set university national records at LSUS in his competitive days. "I would explain who they were and that they graduated from here.

"This is a great experience for the kids, and it means a lot to our graduates to see us back on the national stage. I can't thank the university, the department of education and human development, the faculty and the staff enough for supporting the program and giving us the resources we need to be able to do all of this."