Pilot soars to new heights with weights

Yahoo

10-06-2025

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A pilot for Sanford AirMed is hoping to soar to new heights later this month when he goes to Atlanta, Georgia, for a special competition; not with wings, but rather with weights.
Being a pilot for a hospital carries a lot of responsibility and weight,
'I've always wanted to be a pilot, it's always been a dream of mine since I was a kid,' Braxton Large said.
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But Braxton Large is used to weight…a lot of weight.
Large is a nationally ranked powerlifter who will be going for a national title.
'Going into this competition takes a lot out of you, you got to make sure you eat right, you're sleeping right, I've been prepping for this probably for the last six months,' Large said. Large placed first in the regional competition with bench press, squats, and dead lift, but he knows it'll be tougher at nationals. 'There's some really good competition there I'm excited to compete against people that are relatively the same strength,' Large said.
Large works out five days a week, Liberty Barbell, but his coach actually lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. 'The best part for me has been being privileged to see how hard he works every single session and just how hard he's able to push himself,' strength coach Desi Cooney said. Large says what drives him is competition.'I'm a very competitive person, I just needed to find something, I'm not really good at cardio, I've always been pulled to strength, because I've always been a stronger individual,' Large said. His coach thinks he has what it takes. 'He's ranked 3rd right now going into it, but of course we are going to be going for that gold medal and I think he has a really really solid shot,' Cooney said. Large says he won't fly through the competition, but being a pilot will help him get there. 'In aviation there has to be a lot of discipline within your job in operating the aircraft, there's a lot of checklists, you're always going through checklist 1,2,3,4 so it's easy for me to follow a list and execute the list,' Large said.
Right now Large benches over 500 pounds, but when he competes on June 28, he says his goal is to lift a total of 2,000 pounds in bench, squat, and dead lift.
If he does that, he thinks he'll win the national title.
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