When Escalante lost 49-0 to Jal in the state football tournament, outmatched the entire game, they wanted to make sure they did not have a repeat.
“We were pretty much manhandled,” said Earl Martinez. “None of the boys liked the way that felt.”
As a result, they started a powerlifting team, helping some of the football players get stronger, which soon took on a life of its own.
“Everyone kind of thought of it as a football thing,” junior Ezekiel Martinez said. “Over time it became more of a team bond. Everyone connected better, and it became individual, too. We kept pushing each other.”
Escalante brought two powerlifters to the state championships on March 31, and Jeremiah Martinez finished in fifth place in A-3A in the 181-pound weight class.
Ezekiel Martinez (no relation) also qualified in 220 pounds, but finished just outside the top five. He almost set a personal best in the squat at 380 pounds, but judges flagged him for a violation, scratching the result. That could have put him as high as fourth place, but instead he finished sixth.
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.
Earl Martinez is part of the Chama School Board, and learned about the powerlifting competition during a school board training. He worked with the school’s superintendent and principal to start the team, which he now coaches alongside Andrew Sanchez.
“Initially, we were just going to get them in the weight room and see,” he said. “But after we saw the numbers our kids were putting up, Ira (Harge, the school’s principal and athletic director) talked us into going ahead and going forward with the team.”
Earl Martinez said they tried to recruit athletes who did not participate in basketball and would be looking for activities in the winter.
Escalante had just one meet before state, when they competed at Shiprock on March 18. Their competitors had only that one chance to qualify for state. Six from Escalante competed at that meet, just a few weeks after they started practicing.
Competitors from Escalante will participate at the USA Powerlifting Association competition in Santa Fe in July, and Martinez is trying to recruit more athletes to participate.