Six years ago, Troy Garcia’s brother, Dino Garcia, a former Gilroy Hawk and Gilroy High wrestler who carried his passion for the sport far past his 1986 graduation, died of complications from diabetes at the age of 36.
For the past five years, Troy, who runs Heavy’s Grill on the Green located in the clubhouse at Gilroy Golf Course, his sisters Ruby Jeske, Gina Salgado and Michelle Adams, father Gil and mother Gloria, and plenty more family and friends have dedicated countless hours year-round to organize an annual golf tournament – The Dino Garcia Memorial – which takes place every Saturday after Father’s Day. Proceeds from the event have gone to various entities over the years.
But following the most recent tournament, and after a portion went toward Dino’s eldest daughter’s tuition at Chico State University, Troy got together with the family to discuss what to do with the rest of the money raised.
After attending a GHS dual meet – something Dino did dozens of times while alive – last season, Troy noticed a few problems.
“Last year, we started going to watch and we felt (they were) a team of champions and they don’t have anything – mat’s beat up, uniforms are beat up,” Troy said.
The family knew exactly where the extra money needed to go.
“We all decided that my brother would want money to go to the wrestling program,” Troy said. “So with a little help from Guy Trujillo, Ignacio Magana and Chris Martinez, they all donated money, as well as what we raised at the golf tournament, we decided to get some sweat suits for the kids.”
The perfect tribute to both Dino and the storied GHS program.
So Troy invited the 2011 team down to the grill – which is named in honor of Dino as “Heavy” was his nickname – Thursday night for what they were told was a special team dinner prior to a dual meet the next night at state-ranked Oakdale High School.
The meal happened to be just the start of their night.
Troy shared of his brother’s love of the wrestling program, how he was a member of the Gilroy Hawks and wrestled in the hometown Mid-Cals tournament.
“It takes a different beast to wrestle and he just loved it,” Troy recalled.
After gobbling up carefully doled out portions – cautiously watching their weight, of course – the wrestlers were treated to the early Christmas present. Out came shiny new blue sweat suits, emblazoned with the Gilroy Mustangs logo in yellow.
“Don’t be surprised if you see me wearing this at school when we get back from break,” senior Willie Fox chuckled as the team stared wide-eyed at their new digs.
But wait, there was more.
“With a little help from Hard Ninety, it turned into backpacks, beanies, polo shirts. You know, we just felt like these kids are champions and they should look like champions,” Troy said.
As junior Leif Dominguez pulled each item out of the backpack to display for the rest of the team, the kids showed their appreciation in unison.
“I can’t believe someone has done this for us,” GHS head coach Greg Varela said. “I’ve been coaching here for 10 years and no one has ever done anything like this. This is special. We’ve never once had gear like this. It has always been pieced together. We look like a team. It means a lot to us that someone is looking out for us and has a tie to the team. We really appreciate it.”
Roger Hernandez, owner of local clothing company, Hard Ninety, said he jumped at the opportunity to help Troy with the donation.
“He’s a family friend and we just put our heads together because we wanted to help out as much as we could,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez co-owns Hard Ninety with Steven Leungskil and Rick Hattaway, and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and other local athletes have worn their clothes.
After all the noise had settled and he shook hands with all the wrestlers, Troy sat back in his chair, angled his head slightly to the left, drew an extended breath, slowly exhaled and said, “did you see the smiles on their faces? My brother would’ve been proud.”
The nine-time Central Coast Section champions will debut their new gear at their first home meet of the season, Jan. 4 against Alvarez.
