Jake Berentsen is the proud possessor of a gaudy championship belt, a byproduct of his victory in a national college boxing tournament last spring.

A few years down the road, he hopes to add an Olympic medal to his collection.

The 27-year-old Hoquiam resident is hoping to use his recent 165-pound title in the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association Championships as a springboard to an appearance in the 2020 Olympics.

A North River High School and Grays Harbor College graduate who works as a fitness trainer at the YMCA of Grays Harbor, Berentsen recognizes that he is a longshot to attain that goal.

He would be in his 30s, very old for a world-class amateur boxer, when the Olympic torch is lit at Tokyo three years from now. His USIBA title came in a novice division. He has no experience against international competition.

Yet Berentsen is unfazed by the underdog role.

“I know the odds are stacked against me,” he reflected. “I was talking about this with my coach and we both agree that neither of us are (people) who care about the odds. When I showed up at nationals, nobody knew who I was and then I lit them up.”

If nothing else, the outgoing, enthusiastic Berentsen has already conquered long odds to reach this point in his boxing career.

He overcame a major injury that not only required him to switch sports but forced the natural right-hander to turn southpaw boxer. The USIBA tournament represented his competitive debut.

Before turning to boxing, he played a key role in another Cinderella story. Berentsen was the starting point guard for the North River boys basketball team that earned a state tournament berth in 2008 — ending a 42-year state drought for the tiny Brooklyn school.

Berentsen once intended to pursue a career in mixed martial arts. But, while training about four years ago, he tore several labrum muscles in his left shoulder.

After undergoing surgery, Berentsen switched to conventional boxing to reduce the potential for re-injuring the shoulder. The recovery process was long and arduous, limiting him to light sparring for about 18 months.

“I got surgery to see if I could keep fighting,” he recalled. “It was a long, long recovery to continue. In my head, it was always like, ‘When will it go out again?’ All I wanted was to get to nationals and (the shoulder) has held up great.”

By comparison, the conversion to boxing left-handed was relatively smooth.

“The footwork was hard to pick up,” Berentsen said. “But I’ve got a nasty (right) jab, because I’m right-handed, and a good right hook.”

Berentsen also encountered a few obstacles on the road to nationals. Although he was eligible for the tourney as a Grays Harbor College student, the college does not have a formal boxing club.

That forced Berentsen to undertake an extensive fundraising effort to finance his trip to Virginia Military Institute for nationals. He secured the necessary funds, but his coach, Christian Pre of Olympia, was unable to attend.

Competing in the 165-pound Beginners A Division, Berentsen opened the tourney against a local favorite from VMI who was supported by a raucous crowd.

“It was crazy,” he said. “(The crowd) was booing me. Every time he’d hit me, they’d go nuts.”

But Berentsen silenced the crowd by scoring a second-round technical knockout.

After his semifinal opponent forfeited after failing to make weight, Berentsen faced Miami’s Kevin Togami for the championship. Resisting the temptation to trade punches with his heavy-hitting foe, the Harborite won by decision.

“The game plan going in was to box, not to brawl,” he said.

He won the title, incidentally, under the name of Jakob Herron. He legally changed his name to Berentsen (the name he went by in high school) a few weeks ago.

Berentsen describes himself as a boxer-puncher.

“The Miami coach described me as slick, but I’ve been known to pack a punch,” he said. “My coach said you have to be good at everything. You can get by by brawling at the local shows. But at the nationals, you have to be able to box.”

“His volume (of punches) is good. You’ve got to throw a lot of punches,” Pre said. “Does he have a good transition between throwing a lot of punches and being able to defend? We won’t know that until we see him against (tougher competition).”

Pre believes Berentsen’s greatest assets are his dedication and work ethic.

“He’s a very disciplined hard worker,” the Olympia-based coach said. “That’s what we’re looking for in a competitive boxer. A lot of guys do it for three months and quit.”

Including roadwork and weight training at the Y, Berentsen estimates that he works out an average of five hours per day six days per week.

“Seven, if my fiancee (Heather Nations) lets me,” he said jokingly.

Today presumably would be one time when she’d nix a workout. This is the couple’s wedding day.

Although he often ventures to Olympia and Seattle to spar under Pre’s supervision, Berentsen does much of his training at the Aberdeen Boxing Club gym.

Even by the less-than-palatial standards of most boxing gyms, the Aberdeen Boxing Club is a modest facility. Located across Heron Street from Les Schwab Tires, it is a small, dimly lit gym in which space heaters provide the only warmth during the winter.

There is room, however, for a regulation-sized ring and the standard accessories such as large and speed punching bags.

“Everything you need to get better is there,” Berentsen said.

One of Berentsen’s favorite sparring partners is Nathan Stolen, an Aberdeen resident who has compiled a 7-1 pro record in mixed martial arts.

Berentsen credits Stolen’s natural aggressiveness with sharpening his defensive skills.

“He just keeps coming. He makes you want to box,” Berentsen said.

One thing Berentsen lacks at present is much experience in actual fights. He hasn’t competed since the USIBA tournament.

That situation will drastically change in the coming months. Berentsen has eight bouts scheduled in a variety of locations in September and October alone. That schedule includes an appearance in the Elite Invitational tourney in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“When you want to become a national-level athlete, you’ve got to do national-level events,” Pre asserted. “There is a big difference between national and local.”

Although conceding that the Chattanooga event and the Golden Gloves in Tacoma early next year represent significant tests, Berentsen insisted he won’t be dissuaded by potential setbacks.

“It’s never make or break,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to display my skill at a high level.”

Meanwhile, Berentsen plans to continue working at the YMCA while taking on-line University of Alabama courses in hopes of eventually pursuing a career as a dietician.

He also intends to keep his eyes on the Olympic prize.

“If I do it, then I win,” he reasoned. “If I fail, it doesn’t matter because (at least) I tried, the only one around here who tried.”

“I’ve been putting off job opportunities, career opportunities, starting a family,” Berentsen concluded. “But at the end of the day, that’s what I want to do. The faith people have in me is what keeps me going.”