Rio Grande Valley body building and powerlifting pioneer Tito Mata began lifting with bricks and coffee cans filled with cement in the 1970s. Mata was one of the first to promote the sport in the Valley, hosting various competitions during the 1980s.
Powerlifting has evolved massively since then, turning into the premier sport when it comes to Valley athletes winning state championships.
Schools were reluctant at first to add it as a sport/program until Brownsville schools included it. Mata said misconceptions stunted the growth of the sport in the past, especially fear of injury.
“They just did not want to do it,” he said. “Now, Brownsville is very successful. Every year they send kids to state, and Lopez won a state championship recently. The kids are doing really well.”
Former Lyford powerlifting coach Albert Garcia also saw the evolution firsthand. Garcia helped lead both boys and girls powerlifters to state championships during the early ’90s, the first in the Valley.
In those early days of high school powerlifting, competitors lifted raw, just a simple shirt and shorts, with a lifting belt, Garia said. Now they wear expensive lifting suits and wrap themselves like mummies as they seek to maximize their potential with strenuous amounts of weights.
Garcia also said the sport became popular at the high school level among football players who were not dual athletes, and mainly linemen. If linemen do not participate in throwing events during the track and field season, they do not have much to do in terms of athletic competition.
Powerlifting provides a competitive sport during the offseason. Similar to skill position football players using track to gain a competitive edge on the field, bulkier positioned athletes use powerlifting.
Now, everyone is joining in.
“It is so big now that the kids want to specialize in the sport,” Garcia said.
At the girls’ state meet earlier this year, 1,267 athletes competed across eight divisions based on classification. It was a 104% increase over 2012, when 619 athletes competed. The boys have grown as well, 803 athletes competed this year in four divisions compared to 480 in 2012, a 67% increase.
The addition of divisions in recent years has created more opportunities to win titles and earn scholarships.
Last year’s 123-pound Div. I state champion, Donna North’s Louie Cavazos, and state runner-up, Mercedes’ Roan Galvan, said the sport is meant for the Valley athlete.
Galvan will be lifting for the University of Texas.
“It is an amazing opportunity for people down here, in other sports we get overlooked. Powerlifting is a way to get the Valley athlete noticed, so they can be able to go to colleges and do the sport they love,” Galvan said. “I hope kids look at my opportunity to lift at the University of Texas and better themselves.”
Team dynasties have formed, too. Weslaco East’s boys team won three titles in four years, beginning in 2008.
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons have brought home seven straight state championships, and the Edcouch-Elsa Lady Jackets are on the verge of becoming a dynasty with back-to-back titles.
Both the Lady Jackets and the Lady Falcons have good chances of repeating next season.
Los Fresnos will bring back two state champions, twins Hailey and Tyler Martin. Los Fresnos coach Jaime Vela has an average of 80-90 girls on his roster every season. Vela said the school in general is heavy on lifting weights.
The numbers provide girls like Ana Martinez and Arissa Sanchez time to develop. The two hope to make some noise this year by winning titles and grabbing points to contribute to the school’s eighth straight title bid.
The Lady Jackets also have two state champions, sophomore Adrienne Anzaldua and senior Georgina Alaniz. Edcouch-Elsa graduated two state champions, Aisha Garcia and Anabel Martinez, both of whom will lift in college. Opportunities that just years earlier would not have been available like they are today.
Martinez will attend the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Garcia is headed to Blue Mountain State College in Mississippi.
Edcouch-Elsa coach Patrick Boutwell inherited the program from La Villa powerlifting coach Jesse Garza and Edcouch-Elsa Athletic Director Christian Navarro. Edcouch-Elsa won the Region V meet earlier this year. Boutwell said Region V is the strongest in the state.
Twenty-four girls and five boys from the Valley brought home individual state titles this past season. The Valley also boasts the strongest girl out of all eight of the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association’s state meets, La Feria’s Alyssa Ramirez.
Ramirez’s 1,315-pound total was 40 pounds better than Victoria East’s Alyssa Sauceda to earn the distinction of Texas’ strongst girl.
The sport has come a long way, from homemade weights to packed arenas. Hundreds of athletes filled Bert Ogden Arena for Region V’s meet, a stark contrast from the days of lifting raw in small gyms.
In 2025, Bert Ogden Arena will host the THSWPAState Championships.
