Topic: News: Jake Brant makes mark on lifting scene

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Jake Brant makes mark on lifting scene
By Nate Beutel

Western region coach Steve Titus describes the snatch and clean and jerk as two of the “hardest things in athletics to master.”

So when first-timer Jake Brant, 18, came into the Steel Mill in Lackawanna this past May and handled the lifts with relative ease, Titus knew he had a keeper.

“My first impression of Jake — thoroughly impressed,” Titus said. “He had the flexibility, timing and athleticism that make up a successful Olympic lifter.”

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N.Y. - Jake Brant, practicing for the snatch exercise, will leave July 26 for Westchester County
to compete in the Empire State Games as a weightlifter and is at his home. Photo by Doug Benz
 
Those attributes are rare in guys as big as Brant, according to the Olympic lifting coach.

“He’s about 6-1, 260 (pounds) and he has a lot of the flexibility that I usually see in smaller guys,” the coach said. “Even when the weight got heavy, the mechanics stayed there.”

Brant, a 2006 Starpoint High School graduate and sophomore defensive lineman at St. John Fisher College, said one of his teammates and his prior experiences in lifting got him intrigued in the sport.

“I’ve always done weightlifting and I did powerlifting in high school,” the Cambria resident said. “Olympic lifting always interested me and it was something I thought I wanted to get into after college, so I figured I’d give it a try.”

After a few weeks of training at the Mill, Titus recommended Brant try out for the Empire State Games team. Brant easily qualified for the men’s open superheavyweight division after lifting well over the 220-kilogram standard.

“Jake’s biggest improvement has been in his strength,” Titus said. “He’s not an overwhelmingly strong guy, but he’s starting to get stronger and when that happens, the weight goes up easier.”

Brant is now snatching 120 kilograms and cleaning and jerking 150 kilograms, which should put him right in the hunt for the top two or three spots in his division when he travels to the Empire State Games in Westchester County next week.

“I’m hoping he can get silver and if he has a couple real good lifts, maybe the gold,” Titus said.

Brant agreed.

“There’s six guys in my division, so I’m going to be right there for the silver and maybe even gold.”

Even if that doesn’t happen, Brant is still looking forward to the opportunity to represent his area for the first time.

“It’s going to be cool to go down there,” he said. “It should be real fun.”

And if he does continue with the sport in the future, Titus said others in the heavyweight division should be on alert.

“He’s a hard-working kid with a lot of potential,” Titus said. “He has the mental and physical qualities to go very far in the sport.”

JAKE BRANT

• AGE: 18

• HOMETOWN: Cambria

• SPORT: Weightlifting

• DIVISION: Open men’s heavyweight

• THE DIRT: Brant, a 2006 Starpoint High School graduate and current football player at St. John Fisher, is preparing for his first Olympic weightlifting competition at the Empire State Games next week.

[Shaun Le Conte]

That's an interesting training space. I wonder if he has trouble doing jerks due to his height, and the height of the ceiling