Posted 1:53 PM 1/23/2012 : Family & Teammates Remember Diego Gadea
TUCSON --- You could say Diego Gadea was the face of the Salpointe wrestling team. As team captain for the Lancers, Gadea qualified for state last year as a junior.
"It was almost like having another assistant coach in the room, he was always making sure everyboy was working hard and if somebody was down he would go over and bring them up," said Michael Cruz, Salpointe's wrestling head coach.
Off the mat, Gadea was quite the personable teammate. "He always told the best jokes and we always had a good time with him," said Diego's former teammate John-Michael Stilb.
But there was one opponent that Diego constantly grappled with off the mat.
"We knew he had depression, he had depression diagnosed when he was about ten," said Diego's mother, Jeannie Gadea.
June 17th, 2011 was a day Diego's family, friends, and teammates will never forget. That was the day Diego took his own life.
Nobody thought that he was thinking about dying," said Jeannie.
In their time of grieving, Diego's family and his wrestling family came together.
Click on the video above to watch how Diego's family and teammates decided to commemorate Diego's life.