A year ago, EJ Martinez was unable to compete at the state tournament.
He had qualified in the 198-pound weight class. But that morning, when he weighed in, he was less than a quarter of a pound over the weight.
“I thought of it as, time to come back for revenge,” Martinez said. “And take my place that I wanted really badly.”
A year later, the Española Valley junior made weight, and by the end of the day was crying on the top of the podium as a state champion.
Martinez was joined by teammate Jack Purdy as first-place winners at the state powerlifting competition on April 1 at Rio Rancho High School. Bryan Almedia took second place, and Leandro Salazar finished third. Overall, in their second year having a team, the Sundevils team took third place, a remarkable feat by just four competitors — the teams that finished first and second had 12 and nine who qualified.
“It feels like we’re on top of the world,” Purdy said. “We’re on cloud nine right now.”
The competition has three parts — squat, bench press, and deadlift. Each competitor gets three attempts on each lift, and choose their weight to attempt but cannot decrease. The final score tallies the biggest successful lift on the three events.
The four competed in honor of team coach Rudy Martinez, who had been away from the team since early March due to an illness. Football coach Tylon Wilder, who in the past worked with the Silver team, took over to help out in the interim.
“Our coach Rudy, who couldn’t be here with us today, has been training us since eighth grade,” Martinez said. “We’ve been working and grinding in the weight room every single day. And it’s paid off.”
Purdy and Martinez will soon see their picture hang on the wall at the school gymnasium alongside the other state champions from Española Valley.
For this season, the competition was separated between A-3A, 4A and 5A. Last year, all competed together.
Purdy was tied for first after two events, while Martinez led by 25 pounds. Both dominated in the deadlift portion, with Purdy lifting a personal-best 335 pounds, far higher than anyone else in his class, and Martinez picking up 480 to set a personal high and extend his lead over the competition.
“I hope it just shows that Española, we get a bad rap, but Española has some great people in it, we have some fine athletes, and we’re not as bad as the state says,” Purdy said. “We can compete with the best of the best.”
Almedia, who admitted to having “butterflies” at the start of the day, finished second with a strong day at 308 pounds, lifting 1,240 pounds overall — which would have tied for the win in superheavyweight — but he ultimately had no chance against Lovington’s Daniel Wall. Wall dominated the competition on every event; his final attempt, a 600-pound deadlift, was so much weight it barely fit on the bar, and he just barely missed extending all the way.
By the end of the day, Almedia and other Sundevils were rooting for Wall, despite being in direct competition. Salazar also lost to a Lovington lifter, but was happy to see them succeed.
“I didn’t know those guys when I got here,” Almedia said. “But after talking to them all day, I feel like I have a good connection with them. They’re good guys, they deserved their win.”
Overall, setting personal bests seemed to be almost a given for everyone throughout the day. And scores towered over those from a year ago, as the sport continues to grow.
All of the four Sundevils will be returning next year, and have a chance to put the team even higher.
Salazar, in 275 pounds, had the other major highlight of the day, extending his own state record in the bench press to 380 pounds, across all weight classes and classifications. Salazar held the statewide record since last year, when he benched 320, and is significantly higher than anyone else. (Event-by-event results were not available, but the second-highest bench press entering the state final was 330.)
The spotters were surprised to be setting his weight in the first round, when the competition jumped from 260 by the second-highest to Salazar’s 340 on the first attempt. Salazar lifted 360 on his second, and seemed as if he could have done even more than 380 on his third.
Being the best high school bench-presser is certainly a strong bragging point to have.
“This guy brings up his ‘state record’ all the time,” Almedia joked.
“Not me,” Salazar retorted. “Everybody else does.”
Girls Competition
Española had three competitors on the girls side of the competition, which took place the day before and combined all of A-5A. Freshman Olivia Suazo led the group with a third-place finish.
“I’m happy that I got on the podium,” Suazo said. “I think I could have done a lot better, but you win some, you lose some. And it just gives me motivation for next year.”
As a tennis competitor, Suazo spent time in the weight room a year ago for training. This year, her mother, the head tennis coach, along with boys in her second-period algebra class, asked if she wanted to join the powerlifting team, so she gave it a shot.
Suazo, in the 105-pound weight class, was tied for first after the squat and bench press, and seemed to have the edge based on personal bests entering the competition.
But on her first deadlift attempt, Suazo seemed to have the lift but then was ruled against because of movement in her shoulders. That may have gotten in her head for the second lift, when she lost her balance trying to lift 200 pounds. She managed to brush it aside on her third attempt, at 205 pounds, but was under her season best. Meanwhile, Eldorado’s Audrey Siderek breezed past her previous personal best with a 240-pound deadlift (her past high was 205) to take the championship.
In the third year of girls powerlifting competition, weights are skyrocketing across the board. The score of the 2022 state champion in 105 pounds, a total of 415, would have finished outside the top 10 at state this year. Suazo’s marks would have been state records a year ago in all three events. She was second after the squat when she lifted 180 pounds; the high mark in all of 2022 was just 145.
Española’s Anna Lee Trujillo finished just outside the top five in 198 pounds, and Melorie Martinez also competed in the 148-pound class.
“I expect to be back next year, and stronger,” Suazo said.