By Glen Rosales
Special to the SUN

Gone are the state championship power lifters from the Escalante roster.

But maybe two freshmen are ready to fill that void, giving Lobos coach Earl Martinez some optimism heading into the state championships this weekend at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

“I’m pretty excited because we got a couple of kids in so that’s always good,” he said. “Our goals are to first, try to get them to state. Inside that goal are achieving personal bests each meet, which are small, personal goals. And they lead to the overarching goal, which is qualifying for state.”

Darian Ulibarri is seeking a big step up at 114 lbs. after placing sixth last season.

And power lifting newcomer Brooke Pacheco is stepping into the heavyweight division as she goes for her first state meet appearance.

Ulibarri needed a bit of a boost after football season, but he’s taken off since then, Martinez said.

“He’s been consistent,” Martinez said. “He played football and after football, he’s really been hitting the weight room. Kids sometimes get complacent and the coaching staff has been doing a real good job. He wasn’t hitting the weights, but they told him that, ‘We know your potential and you have a chance to podium, get serious.’ He took that to heart. And he hit another level and he’s been going hard.”

Getting after it has been tough, but absolutely worth it, Ulibarri said.

“I’ve been training way more this year than last year,” he said. “It’s about hard work and dedication. Just lifting. You need supportive teammates and coaches so a shout out to them to helping me get to where I am. I’m just really lucky.”

He also received the backing of his parents.

“They support me throughout everything,” Ulibarri said. “And they make me motivated to lift even more.”

The lifting program has had an impact in his performance in other sports, as well, he said.

Last year during football season “I felt weaker and I started lifting and I started seeing progress in muscle and strength,” Ulibarri said, adding it’s carried over to this season. “I was a lot stronger and more skilled than last year. I really lift as much as I can, train as hard as I can just prove to myself that I’m not as weak as I was when I first started.”

Pacheco said she hadn’t really thought about taking up power lifting, but “my friends inspired me to,” she said.

And she immediately took to it.

“I kind of thought, this is you,” Pacheco said.

And it was evident from the outset that this indeed was her, Martinez said.

“Her parents are very supportive and they trusted us to teach her the sport of power lifting,” he said. “Every meet, she’s gone up significantly. We don’t even know what her limit is. Every meet is an exciting meet because it’s going to be something special every time.”

While Pacheco has certainly found her calling in the weight room, she said she particularly appreciates the social aspect of the sport.

“It’s a lot of hard work and mostly a lot of training and motivation,” she said. “But being there with friends motivates me. They give me more confidence to do it. And the coaches are pushing me to push harder and to do more.”