Storm’s male lifters 4th, Rams 9th

RIO RANCHO—There was good news and there was bad news for the Rio Rancho High School boys’ powerlifting team Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

The good news was that their senior super-heavyweight, Jose Zapien, set a school record and a state record when he “squatted” 535 pounds, topping the previous record of 525, set by Clovis High’s Jeremiah Johnston last year.

The bad news was Zapien’s seven points were all his team managed in the Rams’ ninth-place finish at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and National Electrical Contractors Association State Powerlifting Championships at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

He placed first in class 5A, with total poundage of 1,370, and that first-place finish garnered him seven points.

“Our coaching staff and I were not surprised in Jose’s performance,” said Rams co-coach Rocky Ramirez. “He’s been there before. He took a season off from a knee surgery and was eager to be back to win state and get a record.

“Before Saturday, he came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I want that squat record,’ and I told him, ‘Well, let’s go get it.’ Jose was one of our athletes that showed up every single day — unless he had a family emergency — and it obviously showed.

“Show up and anything’s possible,” Ramirez continued. “(Overall), we were a little disappointed, of course, but we knew going in it, it was going to be heck of a fight. We lost both a lot of boys and girls from last year, so we were rebuilding our program with fresh faces this year. … Jose was the only one who had been there from the year 2023. So, going in with only four new boys we knew it was going to be a difficult fight.”

The other Rams’ qualifiers were 114-Troy Pickens, 181-Waylon Trevino and 220- Treven Sewell.

Sandia (41), Carlsbad (38) and Roswell (30) were the top-three teams; Cleveland (28) was fourth. Sandia and the Rams finished 2-3 in 2024.

Picking up five points apiece for the Storm, with total poundage in parentheses, were second-place finishers 114-Mario Munoz (720), 148-Brandon Pingao, 308-Wyatt Lohr (1,215) and super-heavyweight Gabriel Marquez, right behind Zapien with 1,290 pounds. (Pingao, a junior, qualified with the best bench press of the season and was 2024’s champ in that event.)

181-Michael Paskiewicz (1,195) was third.

114-Raphael Campbell (705) and 132-Isaiah Yannis (905) were fourth; 242-Jon Baca (1,180) was fifth. 165-Cameron Camacho also competed for the Storm but did not reach the podium.

“While we didn’t quite finish at the top, there was progress made throughout the season, and it motivates us to keep pushing for improvement,” said one of the CHS coaches, Steven Steele, speaking about both teams. “Every lift and every moment leading up to the competition was a learning experience that we can continue to build on. We have a solid foundation, and I’m excited for the future.”

Bernalillo High School, with 10 points, was eighth in the Class 4A boys’ field, won by Portales (35).

For the Spartans, 123-Josh Barrajas (825) and had the top deadlift of the day at 358.95 pounds. He was also deemed the third-best lifter of the day.

220-Tarynce Pino (1,120) was fourth, and 148-Elijah Quintana (930) was fifth.