Ortega is carrying a load at Menlo College

Little did Ortega know, he would continue to compete in college — just not in a sport he expected, or at a school he knew very little about.

Ortega recently wrapped up his sophomore year at Menlo College, where he is a member of the school’s Olympic-style weightlifting team. A 2022 report from USA Weightlifting said there are more than 40 colleges and universities offering Olympic-style weightlifting at some level — whether club, intramural or varsity level.

Olympic-style weightlifting is not what a normal gymgoer might do. Most people think of weightlifting and think either body building or power lifting, using traditional gym exercises such as bench press or squats.

Olympic-style weightlifting consists of two disciplines: the snatch, which is a move in which a lifter lifts the barbell from the ground straight to overhead; and the clean and jerk — a motion that sees the barbell first lifted and rested on the upper part of the chest and then exploding overhead.

Ortega was familiar with the more traditional weightlifting due to his time playing football. His best friend and football teammate, Jeshua “Peanut” Ambrosio, had begun Olympic lifting at Villian Dumbell in San Carlos and Ortega would beg Ambrosio to take him. He finally made it to the gym and instantly was hooked.

“I just ended up falling in love with Olympic weightlifting,” Ortega said by phone from Waikiki, Hawaii, where he is spending the summer working and training with a Menlo teammate.

“I always thought Olympic lifts looked so athletic. … I didn’t like powerlifting. There’s nothing interesting there.”

The gym where Ortega was working happened to be the same gym the Menlo team would use a couple times a week, so their paths crossed for months. The Menlo coaching staff inquired about Ortega, saw that he was progressing as a lifter and recruited him to the team.

The school offered Ortega a small scholarship and after opening the 2022 fall semester at City College of San Francisco, he transferred to the private business school in Atherton.

For Ortega, it met all his wants and needs.

“It was an overall ‘W,’” Ortega said. “I was trying to get a business degree at City College. But then Menlo started taking about how it’s a private business school. That piqued my interest more than weightlifting. … I get to pursue my dream of owning my own business and at the same time, still be an athlete.”

Ortega did not go to Menlo as a fully formed weightlifter. In fact, Ortega found the sport to be quite humbling as he started out. The lifting and movements were nothing he had ever done before; Olympic weightlifting is about technique as much as it about lifting weight.

“It was very humbling,” Ortega said. “For the first two months, it was just snatching with just the stick. My coach wouldn’t let me put any weight on.”

And the stick was not a euphemism for the barbell. Ortega meant an actual stick — like a broom stick — as he learned the technique to the snatch.

“Snatching is my favorite. It’s a more fun movement and really technical,” Ortega said. “Thankfully, I was flexible enough so I picked it up pretty quick.”

Ortega said the 2023 spring semester at Menlo College was one of adjustment, as he dealt with the school’s large international student body.

“It was a lot of change,” Ortega said.

But he had the weightlifting team to help him with the transition. And when he made his first collegiate appearance, Ortega found what he was looking for.

“I did a competition over in Oakland (the SPS Rite of Passage). I did pretty well. I competed against some grown-ass guys and took third. … I was nervous, but at the same time excited,” Ortega said, adding he had been training for about a year at that point.

“I got to wear the Menlo singlet for the first time. To be part of the team that is good at what they do, it motivated me a lot. … I built a little family [at Menlo]. I was the only one (from the team) competing, but they all came over to Oakland. That was was something else.”

The format of Olympic weightlifting is kind of a combination of wrestling and pole vault. Like wrestling, lifters compete in different weight categories — Ortega competed at 81 kilograms (178 pounds). They then declare an opening weight, similar to an opening height in pole vault — and then get three chances to lift each weight, with the amount going up each round. The total combined maximum weight lifted in both the snatch, and clean and jerk, are added together to determine the winner.

At the Rite of Passage competition, Ortega finished with a total of 195 kilograms (430 pounds). In his next competition, Ortega set a new personal record in both disciplines, finishing with a combined 205 kilograms.

And he steadily got better this season. His had a total of 188 at the American Open Series in the fall. He set a new PR at the Don Wilson Golden West Open with a total of 213, with a personal best in both the snatch (93 kg) and clean and jerk (120 kg).

At the University Nationals, Ortega set PRs in snatch (98 kg), clean and jerk (125 kg) and total (223 kg).

“It was really exciting. It’s hard to PR on a set day. It’s hard mentally,” Ortega said.

Now that Ortega has found his passion, he wants to ride it as long as possible. He still has two-plus years at Menlo and, after that, he would like continue competing, with the ultimate goal of making a national team.

“I think I’m a great athlete. I work really hard. I don’t think I’ve missed a workout in the last 2 1/2 years. I work out five days a week. There’s not a moment in the day that I’m not thinking about lifting,” Ortega said. “I’m going to stick with it.”