STATE POWERLIFTING
Sandia, with three individual winners, repeats as Class 5A boys state champion
Matadors edge Roswell at Rio Rancho Events Center
RIO RANCHO 鈥� And still.
It was those two words, from a Sandia High assistant coach, that defined the Matadors鈥� Friday inside the Rio Rancho Events Center.
With three individual state champions, and a bulldog mentality running through this team鈥檚 veins, the Matadors successfully defended their Class 5A boys state powerlifting title, 28-26 in a tight battle with runner-up Roswell.
鈥淥ne of the best things about our team is, we really don鈥檛 have an offseason,鈥� Sandia coach Javan Weitz said. 鈥淭heir full-time job really is powerlifting.鈥�
Sandia had five lifters finish in the top three. Roswell had four runner-up finishes.
Cleveland was third, with 24 points.
The Matadors produced state champions in senior Adrian Ibarra at 123 pounds, senior Cris Marquez at 132, and senior transfer Anthony Cadena (who was a past state champion in Texas) at 165.
Sandia had four senior state champions a year ago, but didn鈥檛 lose a beat.
鈥淭hey are the hardest working group of kids I鈥檝e ever seen,鈥� Weitz said. 鈥淭hey did not take any days off, and most of them added about 200 pounds (from the previous year).鈥�
Athletes are judged at state simply by the weight they move in three disciplines: squad, bench and deadlift.
Sandia, Weitz said, also had the intangibles that cannot be measured.
鈥淓ven outside of school, outside of practice, we鈥檙e always working out together, we鈥檙e talking to teach other, we鈥檙e communicating with each other. We鈥檙e constantly supporting each other,鈥� said Marquez.
And the quest for more glory in 2027 will begin almost immediately.
鈥淚鈥檒l probably give them a week or so,鈥� Weitz said, adding, 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 physically hold them out of the gym if I wanted to.鈥�
If you were looking to identify the alpha among all the alphas, it was easily super heavyweight Jesus Ortiz of Hobbs, whose combined total was 1,755 pounds.
Ortiz was so dominant, not another athlete at the competition reached even 1,600 pounds. Richard Medina of Las Cruces (1,575 pounds) had the second-highest total among all three classifications Friday.
Lovington (4A) and Clayton (1A-3A) also won state championships on Friday.
The Wildcats lost by a single point to rival Portales last April, but Lovington had 10 athletes place in the top four, and the Wildcats 鈥� largely on the strength of having four runner-up finishes 鈥� ran away from Belen, 39-23, in the 4A standings. Miyamura (21) was third. Lovington only had a single individual weight division champ.
The orange-and-black clad Yellowjackets had three champions, and took down defending state champion Legacy Academy, 31-24. New Mexico Military鈥檚 19 points earned the Colts third place.
Overall weight movers were Gary Chavez of Grants in 4A, with 1,435 pounds, and Evan Byers of Hot Springs, with 1,325 pounds.
The metro area earned a few individual titles along the way Friday.
In the 5A division, outside of Sandia鈥檚 three, there was Cleveland鈥檚 Brandon Pingao (148), Nicholas Alderete of Atrisco Heritage (198), Tony Abeyta of Atrisco (220) and Treavon Sewell of Rio Rancho (242).
In 4A, locals to win state were Manny Valdez of Belen (132), Nehemiah Sanchez of Belen (181) and Jasper Groves of Highland (198).
James Schroeder of Oak Grove Classical Academy was the metro鈥檚 lone state champion in 1A-3A as he captured the 165-pound division.
The girls state competition is scheduled Saturday, and will be ongoing all day. Individual events are 10 a.m. (squat), bench (1 p.m.) and deadlift (3:30 p.m.).
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .
