Featured Story

National champion Mima follows passion to Concordia

By Jacob Knabel on Apr. 10, 2025 in Weightlifting

Kaiden Mima had been enrolled in classes at Concordia University, Nebraska for roughly a month-and-a-half when he experienced the type of moment most athletes only dream about. It’s not officially a school record, but undoubtedly, Mima is the first athlete to ever start classes one month and then be crowned a national champion, while donning Bulldog Blue, the very next month. It all happened in a flash, one semester after Mima had broken his finger as a wrestler at Trinidad State College in Colorado.

On that late February day in Columbus, Ohio, the weight of the moment was enough to bring Kaiden’s mother to tears as she saw the result of her son’s determination. Kaiden traces the achievement of winning a national title at the 2025 University Weightlifting National Championships back to parents, Mike and Maren.

Says Kaiden, “I immediately went and hugged my mom. She was breaking down in tears. She was super happy. I was really happy. I was thankful. I told my mom, ‘I owe this to you. You’re the reason I’m here.’ It was great all around.”

It didn’t take a national championship for Mima to realize he had found his home at Concordia, a place he considered attending straight out of Liberty High School in Colorado Springs. The meandering path and the injuries Mima dealt with made his rise to the podium all the more thrilling – and impressive. At the 2025 national championships, Mima posted lifts of 96 kilograms in snatch and 116 kilograms in clean & jerk for a total of 212 kilograms (or about 467 pounds). That’s big-time for just about anyone and especially someone like Mima, who weighs in at 134 pounds (61 kilograms) and stands at 5-foot-6.

So how does one transition from wrestling at one school in the fall semester to winning a national title a different school in the spring semester? To be truthful, Mima wasn’t exactly starting from ground zero. He wrestled and competed in weightlifting all through high school and when he made the call to close the book on his wrestling career, Mima went all in on lifting. A major X factor for Mima was that he’s had the good fortune to work closely with Jackie Berube-Black, a renowned coach in Colorado Springs with a long list of athletic accolades.

The transfer to Concordia began to be set in motion on a very specific date. It was October 1, 2024, the day Trinidad State held its first official wrestling practice of the 2024-25 season. This was the start of Mima’s second college season as a wrestler. Mima broke his finger that day. Mima appreciated some of the life skills that wrestling had taught him, but he wasn’t sure the physical toll was worth it. He really just wanted to lift.

“I got hurt last semester and decided it wasn’t worth it,” Mima said. “It wasn’t worth the amount of injuries that I was getting. I had to make that choice. It led me to my relationship with Christ. I wasn’t very religious before last year. I started praying and it made my choice pretty clear. As soon as I started praying about it, I knew Concordia was the place I needed to be.”

Bulldog Head Lifting Sports Coach Freddie Myles had recruited him out of high school and held out hope that Mima may one day land at Concordia after two years at the junior college. Myles has known Mima’s coach (Berube-Black) for several years. That connection has helped Myles’ program land several recruits instructed and developed by Berube-Black. In other words, Myles quickly learned about what a talent Mima had become as a prep competitor.

Myles wasn’t shocked to see Mima at the top of the podium early in the spring semester, regardless of how recently he had arrived at Concordia. In the short time Mima had spent on campus, he improved his total by about 20 kilograms. He was ready to hit the ground running upon making his way to the national stage.

Said Myles, “I knew it was going to be a battle because he had to beat the reigning champion from the University of Oregon. I knew what that kid was capable of. Kaiden had some good training leading into transferring here and then had some personal bests leading into nationals. There was a kid in the B session that posted a really good total, so we knew what Kaiden needed to beat him. Kaiden won it with his second clean & jerk, so then he got to try a huge PR. He’ll definitely be the favorite next year.”

Kaiden has come a long way since he was dragged to the gym by his mother. The work ethic started with his mom and dad. His father served in the army and spent time stationed at Fort Carson and in Texas. Kaiden is thankful the family’s cross-country moves were limited despite his father’s status in the army. It was his father Mike who encouraged Kaiden to wrestle, and it was his mother Maren who introduced Kaiden to the weight room. Kaiden also tried jujutsu.

However, the lifting bug bit Mima, and he was hooked. Says Kaiden, “My mom was tired of me sitting on the couch one summer and said, ‘You’re coming to the gym with me.’ At first, I didn’t really like it. It was hard and something new. Over time, I realized it was something fun and challenging. I kept going and started seeing progress. I just took off with it. I owe it all to my mom. She was the reason I got into it.”

Mima competed in lifting for about six years prior to beginning his college career. In high school, Mima wrestled for Liberty and competed for a weightlifting club. His weightlifting accolades included runner-up nationals finishes each year his sophomore through senior campaigns. Mima excelled at wrestling and lifting to the point that he thought about the possibility of competing in both at the collegiate level.

The opportunity to wrestle at Trinidad State was the one Mima chose initially for various reasons. However, the injury as a sophomore sped up Mima’s return to competitive lifting.

As Mima detailed, “I sat down and told myself it wasn’t worth it. I focused on strength training and did not wrestle. I was training right after that. I couldn’t really grip the bar, so I was doing a lot of squats and deadlifts to keep me strong. Once my finger healed a little bit, I was back working technique. I was working technique right as November began. I actually competed at American Open Finals in December. I ended up taking third there.”

The work that took place from that moment forward ensured that Mima wouldn’t have to settle for third place at the 2025 national championships. Before tasting glory in Ohio, Mima landed at that school in Seward that he had visited as a high school senior. Another visit to campus nearly two years later helped refresh his memory. As Mima said, “The campus is beautiful. I got here and immediately felt at home. I felt safe. It was great.”

As a student, Mima is studying Biology at Concordia. His spirits have been lifted, and a renewed sense of purpose directs his focus. It all came together at the national championships in a show of what the Coloradoan is capable of. As Myles said, “He’s a very talented weightlifter. He’ll continue to improve. I think he can win again.”

On the day of a major competition, Mima knows exactly how to tackle it. Said Kaiden in reliving what led up to the national championship, “I’m huge into mental fortitude. I have to believe in myself. I have to believe that God is going to back me and I’m going to use His strength to do all things. I can’t do this on my own. If I could, I wouldn’t need Freddie and all the people who’ve helped me. I just had to get my mind right. I just trusted in Freddie and everybody else that it was going to be a good day. It turned out to be a pretty good day.”