Life
Charles “Trey” Mitchell, or “Big Tex”, as he is referred to, is a 6’ 4” (1.93m), 155kg (342lb) professional strongman from Lumberton, Texas. Trey is best known among strongman aficionados as one of the best stone lifters in the world and he is rarely beaten in this event.
In just 6 years competing professionally in the sport Trey has risen from the American amateur ranks to becoming a genuine title contender for World’s Strongest Man and any contest he chooses to enter.
Career
Trey started strongman at the age of 18 after building up his strength levels training for high school football. Like many other competitors, he had watched World’s Strongest Man on the television and decided that was what he wanted to do. In 2012 Trey entered his first amateur competition in Houston, and was handed his trophy by event organisers Travis Ortmayer and Josh Thigpen, both veterans of the sport.
Mitchell entered and competed in a multitude of contests as he progressed through the amateur ranks. In 2018 he won America’s Strongest Man, defeating Jacob Fincher by 9 points. That same year he won the Official Strongman Games and became the first man to qualify for World’s Strongest Man by virtue of winning that show.
At the 2019 World’s Strongest Man finals in Bradenton, Florida, Trey distinguished himself by defeating Oleksii Novikov, the 2020 champion, in a stone-off, despite trailing the Ukrainian by 7 points. Trey went on to place 8th in the final. The following year he failed to qualify for the finals, finishing 4th in an extremely tough heat.
2021 proved to be a breakthrough year for the Texan as he triumphed at the Brian Shaw Classic, in Colorado, and placed a highly impressive 4th at World’s Strongest Man, in Sacramento, California. Both these results have served to signal his arrival as one of the major contenders for the world title.
Trey established a world record in the Thor’s Hammer forward hold at the 2021 Rogue Record Breakers Exhibition. He held the 29kg/65lb hammer for 60.72 seconds.
Best Title
Trey has said that winning the 2021 Brian Shaw Classic has been the highlight of his 6-year professional strongman career. Beating 4-time World’s Strongest Man winner, Brian Shaw, in his own contest was certainly no mean feat. His 3-point win over Shaw and J F Caron, in 3rd came curtesy of a win in the log lift and second place finishes in the super yoke and giant dumbbell press.
Mitchell’s 4th place finish at the 2021 World’s Strongest Man Grand Final, in Sacramento, California, is arguably his greatest achievement in strongman to date. He was only 1.5 points behind Canada’s Maxime Boudreault, who was third, and a place on the podium.
Competition Results
Best Lifts
Competition Lifts
Training lifts
Present Day
Mitchell realises that at the level he is at, there are very small margins between winning and losing and he is determined to focus on these details. Improving his grip strength and eliminating small mistakes are major areas of focus as he prepares for the 2022 World’s Strongest Man, as well as improving his overall work capacity to eliminate fatigue at the end of shows.
Trey is hotly tipped to have an excellent 2022 season and a few commentators believe that the events selected for the 2022 World’s are well-suited to Trey’s abilities.
Media
Trey can be found on Instagram under the handle @berserkerlifter, where his 30k fans are kept up to date with his training activities and contest performances and preparation. There is also an abundance of online content featuring Trey’s contest and training lifting on both YouTube and Facebook, on the World’s Strongest Man and Giants Live STRONGMAN channels. Laurence Shahlaei has interviewed Trey on his YouTube channel, Big Loz Official.
