OVERCOMING ADVERSITY: Fragoso completes comeback with another national powerlifting title

RENO, Nev. — After three lifetime hip replacements most athletes would give up, but not Sandpoint's Chuy Fragoso.

The 52-year-old, 175-pound powerlifter grabbed his second national title recently, winning the masters division of Powerlifting America Age Division Nationals held May 28 through June 1 at The Reno Ballroom.

Fragoso achieved weights of 462.9 pounds in the squat, 330.7 pounds in the bench, and 633.8 pounds in the deadlift for a total of 1,427.5 pounds, which tied three-time world champion Donald Bigham, a native of Clinton, S.C. Because Fragoso weighed about 3.5 pounds less than Bigham, he came away victorious in the 83-kilogram weight division.

"I can't even put it into words, it was such a huge achievement," Fragoso said. "It seems unfathomable that I was able to do that. The hopes were there, that I'd be able to pull something like this off, but until you actually do it, it's really just a dream."

Heading into the deadlift, the event's final competition, Fragoso was trailing by 49.6 pounds. Conservative in his first two lifts, he decided to risk it all during his final lift for a shot at the title after Brigham finished at 584.2 pounds. Having lifted no more than 600.7 pounds in a competition and 617.3 pounds in training, Fragoso went for the 16.5-pound lifetime personal best of 633.8 pounds and cleared it. For his efforts, he received the Best Lifter Award, which is a pound-for-pound calculation across all weight classes.

"One of the vinyl stickers on my deadlift platform says 'load the bar for the win,' and that's exactly what needed to happen," Fragoso said. "We knew it was going to come down the last lift, and I told my coach I would rather go for the win than to come up short."

Having his partner, Irene, and sons Klein and Slate cheering him on nearby seemed to have made all the difference.

"Irene has been a huge supporter," Fragoso said. "Slate actually ended up getting recruited to come up to the platform and load the bar for me on all my lifts ... I mouthed that I loved him before attempting the last deadlift and proceeded to do it. Something like that just sparks all sorts of emotions — it means the world to have them there."

It was Dec. 1 of 2024 that Fragoso started working with coach Patrick Thomas of Portland, Ore., with their eyes set on Powerlifting America Age Division Nationals. The choice was easy for Fragoso, since Thomas was set to be working with a few other athletes at nationals as well. Fragoso had been training lightly since February of 2024, six months post-operation of his third hip replacement, but was now ready to take things to the next level, even competing in some small meets in Portland and Vancouver, Wash.

In 2023, Fragoso, coming off a four-year hiatus and two hip surgeries already, became a masters division national champion for the first time, qualifying for the world championship in Mongolia where he was seeded second. 26 days prior to the competition, he completely broke the femoral neck of his right hip and went into surgery less than 48 hours later at Bonner General Hospital. Fragoso, despite the new founded adversity, attended the world championship that year, only truly competing in the deadlift. He captured a gold medal in the event with a 319.7-pound rep.

Afterwards, waiting for his hip to fully heal, he underwent dual carpal tunnel surgery, a procedure he had been putting off for a long time. After a few months at rest, Fragoso had serious doubts about being able to train at the level needed to compete again — surely, being able to watch his son, Klein, become the 4A (now 5A) pole vault state champion in 2024 reinvigorated his spirit and has led him to where he's at today.

Up next, Fragoso is looking forward to the 2025 International Powerlifting Federation Masters World Championship, set to be held Oct. 10 through 19 in Cape Town, South Africa. His goals are to podium on all three lifts, take a crack at the masters division world record of 652.6 pounds in the deadlift, and finish top three overall.

With grit and determination like Fragoso's, those goals are certainly attainable as he looks to bring a world title back to Sandpoint. When asked what inspires him to continue on despite setbacks, Fragoso said it's the thought of achieving more that keeps him going.

"Never be happy with what you did yesterday," Fragoso said. "It's the stubbornness, hard-headedness, wanting to prove something to myself — that's just part of my personality. I just have this drive to be better and want to achieve more."

    At this moment, Chuy Fragoso cleared 633.8 pounds in the deadlift — a lift that made him a two-time national champion.