KASSON, Minn. — Travis Wiuff is often asked what his secret is.
The
47-year-old Kasson resident
seems to continue to defy aging, lifting 500 pounds with ease in strongman competitions, even after a professional mixed martial arts career that spanned 25 years and more than 100 fights.
But for Wiuff, the process is simple. No, there isn’t a fountain of youth in the basement, or any secret sauce in the kitchen.
It simply comes from his drive to be the best.
“I love to compete and I hate to lose,” Wiuff said. “I do whatever I can to not lose. … I put out a lot more effort than most, because I just hate to lose.”
It’s a message he passes down to the athletes he works with at Kasson-Mantorville High School and at Kratos Athletic Center — the one-of-a-kind gym he co-owns with fellow strongman Albert Brand in the heart of Kasson: Give it your all every rep. There are so many aspects of life one can’t control, except for one: effort.
Wiuff is speaking from experience.
He has many examples of giving everything his body has. The most recent? That came less than a week ago, on July 19 at the 2025 Minnesota Strongest and Strongman Corp Midwest Regionals.
It was the second event of the day — the axle deadlift, where athletes deadlift a fatter bar with weights that total 500 pounds. Wiuff had just witnessed one of his competitors do 11 reps, and Wiuff was impressed. He had consistently been doing seven or eight reps of the event at Kratos. He had all but resigned himself to finishing second.
But Wiuff just kept going, seemingly tapping down deep inside to find an extra gear. Maybe he is storing a fountain of youth somewhere inside of him, because he ended up doing 12 reps, pushing his body to its limits. After the 12th rep, he passed out.
“I don’t know, just something clicks and there was no way I was going to lose to him,” Wiuff said. “I ended up doing 12 and passed out for a couple of minutes. But that’s exactly what I’m talking about. It’s just that competitive, that effort level, I think is, for me, just a little bit higher than those other guys. I mean, he was definitely stronger than me. I just think I tried a little harder.”
His first question after coming to?
“Did I get 12?” Wiuff said with a bit of a laugh.
Wiuff ended up winning all four events to retain his title in the master’s division, meaning the strongest (old) man in Minnesota still resides in Kasson.
In a couple of months, he’s hoping he can have the title of the strongest (old) man in the United States when he competes at nationals on Sept. 5-6 at the Westgate Resort in Las Vegas. Last year, he declined to compete at nationals. He felt he was still a rookie, still learning the craft of the sport.
This year, he feels he’s ready.
“I think I’m close enough to get on the podium, and if things go well, and I feel good, maybe I’m in the ballpark of winning it,” Wiuff said. “I think it’s a good opportunity. I think I’m in the ballpark, whereas a year ago, I wasn’t. I was still a little ways away, but I think I’ve closed that gap a little bit.”
Wiuff has dived headfirst into the sport the past couple of years, crediting his friend and business partner, Brand, for helping him along. His footwork and cardio from wrestling and his fighting days have made it a seamless transition.
It has led to the next chapter of his post-fighting life. That and wrestling — he defended his catch wrestling national title back in April — have helped keep his competitive cup full.
He admits he still gets the itch to get back into the MMA cage. It’s why he has hit pause on training fighters for the time being.
After all, he has an incoming second grader running around the house, as well as the facility at Kratos. She has gotten into wrestling, following in her father’s footsteps. Wiuff has done his best not to push it on her and is telling her to hit the brakes from time to time to avoid any potential burnout. Yet, he has certainly enjoyed watching her hit the mat.
“We’re taking it slow with a couple of tournaments this year,” Wiuff said. “If she continues to like it, then we’ll keep doing stuff. It’s fun to watch. She does OK, it’s just fun to see her out there.”
She, along with the other 100 athletes that train at Kratos, as well as the athletes at K-M, helps keep him young.
Wiuff will help out with K-M football again this fall, as well as the wrestling program in the winter. He was named the Section 1, Class 2A Assistant Coach of the Year last season.
Overall, Wiuff said he feels good and healthy.
As he has aged, he has learned the benefits of quality over quantity in his workouts, going harder for a shorter amount of time. Some days, he does just cardio, hopping on a bike, but he stresses the importance of doing something every day — a good rule of thumb for everyone.
“I think that’s one of the keys to why I’ve been able to do so well for so long, and why I still feel good at 47, it’s consistency,” he said. “Just do something every day.”
That’s what he also likes about strongman.
Each show, for the most part, has different events, so it’s something different to train for every few months.
Brand and Wiuff are hoping to bring more strongman shows to southeastern Minnesota. The first one they did in April was the first in the area in at least a decade and was considered a success. So much so that they will have another one on Sept. 6 — this one will take place in the parking lot of Kratos.
Wiuff won’t be there for that one; he has a national title to attempt to win.
