Gustavo Escandon likes to lift.
The senior from McAllen Memorial High won his school’s first-ever state championship for a male powerlifter this spring. He enjoys the sport, in part, because it requires you to push yourself to improve.
“You get in return what you put in,” Escandon said. “If you put the work in, you’re going to get the results in the meet. Same thing to my teammates. I help them. I motivate them. They motivate me. More than my team, this is my family. It’s a blessing to have these teammates.”
At the 2026 THSPA (Texas High School Powerlifting Association) Boys State Powerlifting Championships in Abilene, Escandon bench-pressed 425 pounds. His squat was 675 pounds and his deadlift measured 635 pounds. That gave him a winning total of 1,735 pounds for the 198-pound division. He was also Outstanding Deadlifter of the State Meet which considers your lift plus your weight class.
Escandon has competed in three weight classes in his three years in the Mustangs’ program and has set school records in each.
“Gustavo, he loves to work out,” Mustangs Boys and Girls powerlifting Coach Joe Guerra said. “He’s jumped three weight classes in reverse. He was heavier when he got here (as a sophomore). He set all the school records in 242 (weight class), the following year he set all the school records in the 220 (weight class). And this year, he set all the school records in the 198 and he’s our first boys state champion ever.”
Escandon has also competed in football (as a center, defensive end and tight end) and track (shot put and discus). The key, he says, is putting in the hard work at practice and not trying to turn it up on match-day.
“My goals (this year) were to change the way I practice,” he said. “I knew I had to show up (to practice) if I wanted to win. The hardest part of a sport is showing up to practice. Games, that’s the easy part. Showing up to practice, that’s where it takes courage.”
There was a lot of courage in this year’s Mustang weight room. Not only did Escandon win a state title but two girls won state titles (Jaky Reyna and Amanda Soria-Cueto) and the entire girls team won state for Class 5A – the first team title ever in the program’s history.
“I competed for years, over 34 years, was lucky enough to compete nationally and won a couple of world championships,” Coach Guerra said. “This feeling (winning four state titles) is way better than that. Just to see how hard they work and set a goal for themselves and for them to see it through and accomplish it. It was awesome. You can’t beat it.”