WICHITA, Kan. – As part of the third powerlifting competition of the 2024-25 academic year, senior Abigail Velten emerged as the Best Female Lifter award winner. Her performance highlighted the efforts of seven Bulldogs who competed at the Friends University Open in Wichita, Kan., on Feb. 1. Both Velten and freshman Pablo Martinez qualified for the upcoming national championships.
Head Coach Freddie Myles’ squad had previously competed at the Strong Husker Meet (Oct. 12) and the Central Collegiate Cup Series (Nov. 23-24) during the fall semester. The major focus of the spring semester has been placed upon gearing up for the national meet.
“Everyone has been training hard and giving their best effort in practice,” Myles said. “It’s been showing up. In this meet, most of our athletes made all of their lifts with good movement patterns and good technique. The others who were not at this meet have been working just as hard.”
A native of Whitesboro, Texas, Velten competed in the 75kg weight class and achieved a personal best total of 327.5kg. Across disciplines, Velten lifted 120kg in squat, 72.5kg in bench and 135kg in deadlift. She was named the Best Female Lifter based on a formula that compares athletes across different weight classes. As for Martinez, he competed in a collegiate powerlifting meet for the first time and totaled 670kg in the 140kg weight class. A member of the football program, Martinez muscled up 272.5kg in squat, 165kg in bench and 232.5kg in deadlift.
A summary of all seven Concordia athletes at the Friends Open can be found below. Notably, Tyrek Fuller posted personal bests in all three lifts and totaled 612.5kg in the 110kg weight class. In addition, Taylor Gniot made all nine lifts and totaled 347.5kg at 90kg.
Friends Open Performance Summary
· Tyrek Fuller (Albany, Ga.), 110kg – Made all nine lifts with personal bests in each lift and for total (612.5kg).
· Taylor Gniot (Milwaukee, Wis.), 90kg – Made all nine lifts with a total of 347.5kg (improved by eight percent compared to previous competition).
· Pablo Martinez (Wichita, Kan.), 140kg – Qualified for nationals with a total of 670kg.
· Garrett Reimche (Lenexa, Kan.), 75kg – Totaled 560kg.
· Abigail Velten (Whitesboro, Texas), 75kg – Qualified for nationals with a personal best total of 327.5kg.
· Jacob Wagoner (Columbus, Neb.), 82.5 kg – Totaled 497.5kg.
· Adam Widmann (Long Beach, Calif.), 100kg – Totaled 552.5kg.
The Bulldogs will have nearly two months to train and prepare for the 2025 Collegiate Powerlifting National Championships slated to take place in Oklahoma City, April 3-6. For more information on collegiate nationals, check out the USA Powerlifting website linked HERE.