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When I talked to Jeannie Gadea last year she told me that it broke her heart to see all the young men wrestling at the Salpointe Wrestling Invite that has been changed to include her son’s name in the title.

Her son, Diego, was diagnosed with childhood depression at age 11 and he took his own life a couple of years ago despite all the efforts to help him by his parents, family, friends and doctors.

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.

This year, the Gadea family honored the entire Empire wrestling team and community due to the loss of one of their own boys, Grayson Weeks. Weeks, as you may recall, passed away in an automobile accident before the wrestling season began. Weeks was also the star quarterback of the Empire football team.

The Gadea family helped with the award ceremonies and placed medals around the necks of every athlete who stood on the stage at Salpointe and offered them hugs and congratulations.

Diego was on that medal stand once just like Weeks was throwing touchdown passes a few weeks ago. We all know things come and go and that everyday will be a new day but we never figure we would have to face the new day without our children.

There are already too many of these invitations held in the name of lost children but we know there will be more in the future. Invitationals and tournaments used to be named after coaches and others who had lived long lives. If only we could have lived to see the day where Diego’s own grandchildren could have placed medals on athletes in honor of their grandfather.

We know that is not possible now but it is possible to try to save other children with childhood depression. What was once taboo to talk about should be the focus of conversation at all schools, churches and homes where children are trying to reach out to us everyday.

If a child fell and broke his arm we wouldn’t hesitate to reach back so why not reach back to heal the wounds that we cannot see?

Former Sunnyside coach and National Hall of Famer Don Klostreich helped lead the Gila Ridge team to a first palace finish over Cienega. Klostreich won nine state championships in a 10-year span while at Sunnyside from 1979 to 1988.

Rio Rico grappler Marky Lopez and Kyle Jividen of Sahuaro were named the outstanding wrestlers of the invite.

One wrestler who did not win his class still stood out for what he accomplished on and off the mat. Cholla’s William Hohmann had pinned all four of his opponents until the 182 final where he came up against Joey Zuta of Cienega.

Hohman is an honor student who carries a 4.2 grade point average at Cholla and he had to leave the invitational for a few hours for a mandatory biology project where he had to calculate the diversity of plants.

Hohman was gone to the desert for almost three hours while still wearing his wrestling gear. He told me after his loss to Zuta that he will get a second chance at the sectional meet.

He is planning to join the Marines after he graduates. “I’m not going to make a living,” Hohman told me. “I’m going to serve my country.”

“I lived my life knowing I always did my best,” he added.

And that’s what this is all about…

RESULTS

Team
1 – Gila Ridge – 272.50
2 – Cienega – 192.50
3 – Campo Verde – 191.00
4 – Sahuaro – 129.00
5 – Rio Rico – 125.00
6 – Blue Ridge – 120.00
7 – Buena – 119.00
8 – Cholla – 98.50
9 – San Manuel – 96.00
10 – Salpointe – 92.50
11 – CDO – 85.00
11 – Empire – 85.00
13 – Amphi – 81.50
14 – Vista Grande 69.50
15 – Rincon – 67.50
16 – Sabino – 57.00
17 – Pueblo – 54.00
18 – Catalina Foothills – 44.00
19 – Nogales – 42.50
20 – Catalina – 31.00
21 – Walden Grove – 30.00
22 – Palo Verde – 21.00
23 – Douglas – 18.00
24 – Flowing Wells – 15.00
25 – Santa Rita – 8

Individual

106 lb Weight Class
1 – Mendivil – Gila Ridge
2 – Dunham – Campo Verde
3 – Richards – Blue Ridge
4 – Tomayo – San Manuel
5 – Williams – Empire
6 – Ahumada – Pueblo

113 lb Weigh Class
1 – Rodriguez – Cholla
2 – Romero – Sahuaro
3 – Perez – Buena
4 – Roberts – Blue Ridge
5 – Collier – Gila Ridge
6 – Grajeda – Walden Grove

120
1 – Colpo – Empire
2 – Gerber – Gila Ridge
3 – Felix – Pueblo
4 – Woolridge – Salpointe
5 – Tellez – Cienega
6 – Sanchez – Campo Verde

126
1 – Manriquez – Cienega
2 – Lopez – Vista Grande
3 – Bishop – CDO
4 – Cox – Gila Ridge
5 – Hassan – Buena
6 – Stilb – Salpointe

132
1 – Ford – Gila Ridge
2 – Hawk – Campo Verde
3 – Erbe – Sahuaro
4 – Maestad – Sabino
5 – Davis – Catalina Foothills
6 – Floyd – CDO

138
1 – Jeong – Rio Rico
2 – Hawk – Campo Verde
3 – Riley – Gila Ridge
4 – Schecter – Cienega
5 – Payan – Amphi
6 – Bryson – Rincon

145
1 – Lopez – Rio Rico
2 – Saenz – Gila Ridge
3 – Smith – San Manuel
4 – Brown – Cienega
5 – Valencia – Pueblo
6 – Eto – CDO

152
1 – Barreras – Amphi
2 – Stryker – Campo Verde
3 – Torres – San Manuel
4 – Warren – Vista Grande
5 – Henkel – CDO
6 – Castagnaro – Cienega

160
1 – Gudeman – Cienega
2 – Duarte – Rincon
3 – Echols – Sabino
4 – Hess – Campo Verde
5 – Chiquete – Nogales
6 – Powers – Buena

170
1 – Keime – Blue Ridge
2 – Ortiz – Buena
3 – Waller – Cienega
4 – Kuckuk – Gila Ridge
5 – Rogers – Cholla
6 – Jayassi – Nogales

182
1- Zuta – Cienega
2- Hohmann – Cholla
3- Rodriguez – Amphi
4- Riesgo – Catalina
5- Beaumont – Gila Ridge
6- Martinez – Walden Grove

195
1- Badger – Blue Ridge
2- Castro – Gila Ridge
3- Chavez – Rio Rico
4- Michaels – CDO
5- Vega-Flores – Rincon
6- Velasquez – Salpointe

220
1- Penniston – Rio Rico
2- Renaud – Gila Ridge
3- Vera – Cienega
4- McKay – Salpointe
5- Pacheco – Cholla
6- Kauer – Campo Verde

HWT
1- Jividen – Sahuaro
2 – Connelly – Campo Verde
3 – Crossley – Buena
4 – Munoz – Blue Ridge
5 – Jones – Gila Ridge
6 – Hinojos – Cienega

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2013 at 8:11 am 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.