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“It just breaks my heart.”

That’s what Jeannie Gadea thought when she looked out at the young men who were busy wrestling across the three mats set up in Salpointe’s gym on Saturday night.

To say those wrestlers were young men may be overstating it a bit. They weren’t men at all, they were boys (and a few girls).

Her son, Diego, was once one of those boys. He was good – very good. He won the 160 weight class last year but he was also suffering from something very painful and very mysterious that most parents, schools and friends do not like to talk about.

Diego was diagnosed with childhood depression at age 11 and, even though all measures humanely possible were used to help Diego, he took his own life last June – some seven months ago.

I’m not going to try put a number on it and I’m not going to quote the obvious that for every suicide there are many, many more failed attempts. I really don’t care. As a father myself, one is too many.

Salpointe changed the name of their yearly invitational to the “Diego Gadea Salpointe Wrestling Invitational” in an effort to help remember Diego and, perhaps, help other teens who may feel lost.

“It’s really an honor,” said Jeannie. “He had a passion for wrestling and he loved it. The team has been really supportive.”

Jeannie was on hand to help with the award ceremonies. She placed medals around the necks of every boy and girl who stood on the stage at Salpointe and offered them hugs.

Many of the parents in the stands, perhaps, had little knowledge of who she was but their own children played a small but important role in helping to mend her heart.

If you think your child may be suffering from depression then please seek help. Perhaps Diego may one day help your family like you have helped his.

RESULTS

Team
1. 258.50 Gila Ridge
2. 170 Mountain View
3. 158 Amphitheater
4. 151.50 Cienega
5. 134.50 Rio Rico
6. 134 Buena
7. 131 Deer Valley
8. 125 Marana
9. 105.50 San Manuel
10. 95.50 CDO
11. 94.50 Sabino
12. 86 Mountain Pointe
13. 73 Nogales
14. 68 Cholla
15. 67 Sahuaro
Tie 67 Salpointe
17. 57.50 Cactus
18. 55 Empire
19. 51.50 Pueblo
20. 44 Santa Rita
21. 27 Desert View
22. 26 Douglas
23. 25 Flowing Wells
24. 24 Rincon
25. 19 Palo Verde

Individual

285
1. Austin Andrade, Amphi
2. Eddie Pena, Gila Ridge
3. Kyle Jividen, Sahuaro
4. Zack Cortez, Deer Valley
5. Garrett Brandt, Cienega
6. Ben Crossley, Rio Rico

220
1.Caleb Cattermole, Deer Valley
2. Mike Ledesma, Cactus
3. Floyd Jones, Amphi
4. Jake Laird, Sabino
5. Patrick Penniston, Rio Rico
6. Ceasar Bray, Cholla

195
1. Cody Larimer, Buena
2. Ricky Alvarez, Mountain View
3. Jacob Parker, CDO
4. Nick Clark, Nogales
5. Jacob Reed, Cienega
6. Karl Gatzemeier, Deer Valley

182
1. Pablo Chavez, Rio Rico
2. Richie Estrada, Mountain View
3. Jomar Alcala, Buena
4. Zachary Nixon, Santa Rita
5. Nickolas Lerch, Salpointe
6. Colby Cecil, Marana

170
1. JT Hinson, Cactus
2. Scott Friedbaum, Marana
3. LJ Boutte, Buena
4. Connar Moore, CDO
5. Loren Henry, Empire
6. Alex Diaz, Gila Ridge

160
1. Kevin Jumbeck, Gila Ridge
2. TJ Gudeman, Cienega
3. Brian Powers, Buena
4. Chase Riddle, Marana
5. Eric Allen, Deer Valley
6. Antonio Verdugo, Palo Verde

152
1. Eli Callahan, Marana
2. Raul Hernandez, Amphi
3. Andy Meza, Gila Ridge
4. Seth Erikson, Deer Valley
5. Marin Seballos, San Manuel
6. Victor Chiquette, Salpointe

145
1. Marky Lopez, Rio Rico
2. Jesus Barrera, Amphi
3. Isaac Saenz, Gila Ridge
4. Colten Smith, San Manuel
5. Jose Salinas, Salpointe
6. Esteban Robinson-Bours

138
1. Tanner Waltz, Mountain View
2. Kyle Ford, Gila Ridge
3. Alex Stienebach, Marana
4. Eric Craven, Santa Rita
5. Ricardo Flores, Rincon
6. Tony Jimenez, Deer Valley

132
1. Matt Repp, Sabino
2. Geo Payan, Amphi
3. Eric Jeong, Rio Rico
4. Jake Bishop, CDO
5. Jose Cazares, Gila Ridge
6. Parker Erbe, Sahuaro

126
1. Abel Mejia, Gila Ridge
2. Wyatt Pena, San Manuel
3. Davey Basila, Sabino
4. Dorian Ramos, Cholla
5. Josh Camacho, Amphi
6. Ty Waltz, Mountain View

120
1. Darryl Lane, Gila Ridge
2. Carlos Duarte, San Manuel
3. Cristian Sanchez, Cienega
4. Trey Stevenson, Mountain Pointe
5. Chris Lee, Marana
6. Jeremiah Floyd, CDO

113
1. Bailey Janis, Mountain View
2. Cody Rojas, Mountain Point
3. Austin Gerber, Gila Ridge
4. Marco Colpo, Empire
5. Josue Rodriguez, Cholla
6. Areana Villaescusa, Rio Rico

106
1. Alvaro Gallego, Pueblo
2. Nathan Mendivil, Gila Ridge
3. Avery Cruz Ramos, Cienega
4. Matt Derrick, Mountain View
5. Jordan Elias, Empire
6. Sampson Sylla, Amphi

NOTE:

Former Sunnyside coach and National Hall of Famer Don Klostreich was very visible in his role as one of the coaches for the Gila Ridge team. Klostreich won nine state championship in a 10-year span while at Sunnyside from 1979 to 1988.

DIVISION I – SECTION II
Sectional at Skyline
Basha
Buena
Chandler
Corona del Sol
Desert Ridge
Desert View
Dobson
Gilbert
Hamilton
Highland
Mesquite
Perry
Rincon
Skyline
Sunnyside
Tucson

DIVISION II – SECTION II
Sectional at Flowing Wells
Canyon Del Oro
Casa Grande
Catalina Foothills
Cholla
Cienega
Flowing Wells
Ironwood Ridge
Marana
Maricopa
Mountain View
Nogales
Poston Butte
Pueblo
Queen Creek
Sahuaro
Vista Grande

DIVISION III – SECTION II
Sectional at Sabino
Amphitheater
Campo Verde
Catalina
Combs
Coolidge
Douglas
Empire
Florence
Higley
Palo Verde
Rio Rico
Sabino
Safford
Sahuarita
Salpointe Catholic
Santa Rita
Williams Field

DIVISION IV – SECTION II
Sectional at Benson
Baboquivari
Benson
Bisbee
Globe
Hayden
Morenci
Pima
San Carlos
San Manuel
Santa Cruz
Thatcher
Tombstone
Valley Union
Willcox

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.