It was a competition, social event and marketing opportunity all in one day.

When Travis Wells competed in the Pan American No-Gi Championships last month, he was just hoping for a good showing.

“I just wanted to go in there and represent well,” said Wells, a Turner native and graduate of Leavitt Area High School. “You want to go in and do your best, but you want to be able to represent your school and who you’re fighting for.”

Wells trains under Ricardo Almeida of Hamilton, N.J. He also runs and teaches at Central Maine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on Academy Street in Auburn.

When he competed in last month’s competition in New York City, it became one of his greatest triumphs in the sport, and it wasn’t exactly bad for business either. Wells won a pair of Gold Medals, one in the Purple Belt Senior Division Med-Heavy weight class and another in the Absolute Purple Belt Division, a open class.

“It was definitely the first time to reach that high on the podium, which is nice,” said Wells, who works in sales at Portland Air Freight in Scarborough. “It’s an international level. People are there from all over the place. They actually stopped letting in the spectators at 2 p.m. because of the fire code. That’s how many people there were.”

The event is sponsored by the International Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. Typically, it has been held on the West Coast, but was moved to New York this year. Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that focuses more on grappling, especially ground fighting with the goal of gaining a dominant position.

Wells competed in six matches in each division. He rolled through most of them, dominating most of his opponents.

“I think it was being a conditioned athlete and using the techniques that we’re taught,” said Wells, who says his family, colleagues and students played a large role with their support and encouragement.

He said he’ll compete in a handful of Federation sanctioned tournaments in the course of the year, but his medals of last month were a significant accomplishment.

“I’m really excited and proud of what I was able to accomplish,” said Wells. “This is definitely the biggest tournament that I’ve won. It’s the first time I’ve won anything in an International level.”

Wells, a former football player at Leavitt, was originally drawn into the sport as a spectator at a tournament. It sparked his interest and he began training.

“I saw one of the pro’s, Ricardo Almeida,” said Wells, who was living in New Jersey at the time. “He was at a tournament. We watched him fight. That’s what definitely got me involved.”

Wells returned to Maine and has been teaching for three years. His classes run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. With such an interest in various forms of the sport on the rise, business is looking up. He recently ran a seminar for the Army National Guard.

“You can see people joining all the time,” said Wells. “Every week we have people joining us. Things are just growing. It’s taking off.”

His experience and connections in the sport have allowed him to bring friends and colleagues to make appearances at the school. Some have gone on to great success in the sport. That includes Maine’s Mike Brown, who has become a high-profile name in World Extreme Cagefighting. Reaching that level, said Wells, may be past him, but continuing as a student and a teacher of the sport keeps him involved.

“My focus is building the school up and having a good group of guys around us,” said Wells.