Pair of LSUS lifters set national junior records at USA Championships

Pair of LSUS lifters set national junior records at USA Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Two LSU Shreveport weightlifters set new American junior records en route to winning their respective weight classes at the USA Weightlifting National Championships in late June.

Bryson Brown smashed the Olympic standard with a 125-kilogram snatch as he won his 65kg weight class. He added a 140kg clean and jerk to total 265kg in his two lifts.

Kyle Martin Jr. also set a new American snatch record with his 155-kg snatch, marking the best lift in his 94kg weight class.

American records reset in 2025 as the International Weightlifting Federation adjusted weight classes.

Brown initially intended to compete in the junior division, but a registration error placed the 19-year-old in the open category with all ages, which he won by three kilograms.

"I was frustrated at first because I had already made hotel and travel plans," said Brown, who added that the open category lifted later in the week after the juniors. "But I knew I had still had a chance to compete in the open.

"It didn't really change anything for me. Every meet, it's you versus you, so I came in and accomplished my goals of winning the category and setting the snatch record."

Martin Jr. won both the junior and 25U categories in the 94kg weight class, winning those divisions with his 330 total kilograms while placing third in the open.

The Penn State transfer placed 10^th overall in lifters of all weights, which uses a formula to calculate a score based on amount lifted and bodyweight.

The performances bolstered both lifters standing on the USA National Team Program, which identifies the top competitive lifters from youth, junior and senior lifters in the country.

The efforts are just the latest signal that LSUS weightlifting has returned to an elite status in the second year under coach Aaron Adams.

The Pilots finished second in the National University Championships in the coed division with Brown winning the national championship in the 65kg division and setting all three university national records back in April. Martin claimed bronze in the 94kg division.

"We're not just building a bunch of individual lifters, we're building an environment," Adams said. "We want to make sure that lifters have the resources and know that we support you to continue growing as a person and in the sport.

"We attract elite world team members and lifters who need to develop because we have the tools to develop everyone."

Adams has led recent facility improvements like new jerk boxes and a recovery room for the LSUS Olympic Development Center.

"I've had a great experience at LSUS so far," Brown said. "(Adams) is a great person and a great coach, and it helps that he was a great lifter here as well.

"Being around people who know the sport and lifting around people who have been doing this longer than I have helps me get better every day. This is a team with a good foundation and a mindset to go achieve what we want."

The summer isn't over for Brown and Martin.

Both will lift at the IV FISU Pan American University Games in Lima, Peru later this month while Brown has already earned an invitation to the FISU World University Championships in Qatar in September.

The pair already competed in the British Championships this May, where Brown won the senior division in 65kg and took fourth in the 94kg senior division.

Other LSUS lifters shine at nationals

Brown and Martin were far from the only lifters with LSUS ties at the U.S. nationals.

Three other lifters found the podium in their respective junior weight classes.

Braxton Wright placed second in the 71kg junior class with his 230 total, missing gold by just one kilogram.

Clair Callahan took silver in the 86+ class with a 182 total.

Ayana Parker found the podium at bronze in the 58kg class with a 162 total.

Henry Ludbrook earned fifth in the 79kg class with a 266 total.