D’Mitri Garza-Alarcon could’ve easily led a gang life. Or, he might have been a renowned bull rider. Or, in a different dimension altogether, he could’ve been just another student at Fort Lupton High School.
But wrestling changed all that. Wrestling made him. Wrestling saved him.
Because of the sport, Garza-Alarcon escaped an unhealthy family cycle, taking a different path than his older brothers. He’s still a darn good bull rider, but that’s his side pursuit. And, as he goes for a fourth state title on the mat this winter, he’s definitely not just another kid in Fort Lupton.
“My two older brothers were really into the violent gang life, and nobody’s really been to college in my family, nobody’s done anything great in their life yet,” Garza-Alarcon said.
“Wrestling’s been the only way to help me get out of the circle that I’m in, and break the cycle. I saw the impact that drugs have on your life, the way that people change over (gang affiliation and drugs). Everything can get really negative. But if you turn your life positive, it can change you.”
The force behind the wrestler
Growing up without his father, who was deported to Mexico when he was 3, taught Garza-Alarcon self-reliance. And growing up with his mom, Angelina Garza-Alarcon, showed him the importance of having his biggest fan in his corner.
As the Fort Lupton senior aims to become Colorado’s 31st four-time state champion in February at Ball Arena, the wrestler’s dominance is rooted in his mother’s unwavering support.
“My mom stopped working her jobs when I started wrestling and dedicated her life to me and my sister so that we wouldn’t end up like my brothers,” Garza-Alarcon said. “She was with me all the time and kept me on the straight-and-narrow. She’s my No. 1 supporter and I could not be where I am without her.”
Garza-Alarcon got into the rodeo when he was 5, shortly before he became a wrestler. He showed promise, winning titles in sheep riding and calf riding while learning toughness, respect and focus, but it quickly became clear wrestling was his true calling.
After Angelina quit her job when her son was young, she never missed a match.
Along the way, she often drove him hours away from Fort Lupton so he could practice against elite partners, including to Pueblo (six hours round-trip) and powerhouse programs like Pomona and Ponderosa in the Denver Metro.
“Our saying is, ‘Til the wheels fall off,’” Angelina said. “I had him wrestling everywhere, trying to get the best competition out there. He’d wrestle bigger kids, older kids, we’d double-bracket him at every tournament. It’s been such a fun journey. We’ve gone to tournaments where the car needed water in the radiator, and we’d put water in there and keep going. We’ve popped a tire, and kept going.”
To make ends meet at home for D’Mitri and his sister, and to fund the wrestler’s trips out of state, Angelina has pulled off a continuous array of side hustles. She made quilts to sell. Set up raffles and fundraising banquets, one of which paid for D’Mitri’s trip to wrestle in Vietnam. She sold masks during COVID, and singlets at tournaments. She donated plasma.
“I do what I’ve got to do to get those dollars to get him to where he needs to be,” said Angelina, who only recently started working a full-time job again. “We have hustler in our blood, that’s how we did it. It’s been hard at times. But that’s what has set D’Mitri apart from these other wrestlers. He’s never had things handed to him. He’s had to work for them.”
An undeniable work ethic
To bring money into the house, D’Mitri’s also worked jobs in flooring, roofing and siding.
Last year, en route to his third state title, he was on the night shift at McDonald’s after practice. He often wouldn’t get off until around 2 a.m. One night after a long day of school, practice and work, he fell asleep at the wheel while driving home.
His truck skidded off against the side rail of the highway. The vehicle was damaged, but he was OK. At that point, he quit McDonald’s and started to focus on wrestling full-time.
“That was very scary,” Garza-Alarcon recalled, “and it made me realize that there’s more to life (than money). … I hit the guard rails and I woke up. I looked around, and just drove home.”
He’s taken his tunnel vision into this season, with his summers spent riding bulls at rodeos and refocusing his faith at various Bible camps. It’s been a total transformation for an 18-year-old who was once jumped when he was with one of his older brothers — an incident that saw Garza-Alarcon escape unhurt but also receive “the biggest wake-up call.”
“I noticed that being that way, and living that lifestyle, was not going to make my life right for me,” added Garza-Alarcon, who said he’s had one brother in and out of prison most of his life. “I was just going to end up in the same position as everybody else. I wanted to be different.”
Garza-Alarcon has become more than that for Fort Lupton’s wrestling program.
As coach Tom Galicia explained, he’s “become a great leader in our room” who also looks for improvement in the film of every match he wrestles. As he aims to become the school’s first four-time champ — the Blue Devils have had six three-timers — colleges are taking notice. He has interest from Northern Colorado, Colorado Mesa and Adams State, among other programs.
“He’s an extended coach for us,” Galicia said. “He’s always there when his teammates get off the mat, and he’ll pull them aside and (give them tips). It’s nice to see his leadership in that effect. He’s had a big impact on other kids.”
Focus on the four-peat
Over the last six years, no one’s been able to beat Garza-Alarcon on the sport’s biggest stage.
He won the state championship all three years in middle school, then proceeded to win CHSAA Class 3A titles at 126 pounds as a freshman and 138 pounds the past two years.
That included denying Woodland Park’s Brady Hankin his own four-peat in 2022 — a narrow 4-3 decision in a thrilling title match. To date, Garza-Alarcon is 127-7 in his high school career, with 95 pins and just two in-state losses at the prestigious, all-classification Top of the Rockies tournament as a sophomore and junior.
“I know there’s a lot of people watching me this year, and there’s a lot of people who look up to me around here in Fort Lupton,” Garza-Alarcon said. “This year I have a lot of bubble-guts because of all the pressure that I have on me, and because I have a big X on my back and there’s a lot of people who want to beat me. But I’m staying confident and I’m just focused on myself. If I can win the match before the match, I’ll keep winning.”
Garza-Alarcon will be challenged on the first weekend in January in California at the Doc Buchanan Invitational, a prestigious national tournament where he placed eighth last year, and again at the Top of the Rockies where he hopes to get back atop the podium.
Despite those looming tests, Pomona coach Sam Federico believes Garza-Alarcon is a sure bet to run the table once again during the state tournament Feb. 15-17.
“He’s a rodeo kid, so he’s tough as hell,” Federico said. “I remember (in middle school) he tore up his legs pretty badly riding a bull one time, and he was back wrestling in no time. He’s one of those type of kids who can deal with adversity and still compete.
“And once you get down to Ball Arena, I have a hard time believing that someone’s going to beat him. Ball Arena is a different deal. There are some kids who wrestle really good all year and then can’t get it done down there. He’s the opposite — he’s 12-0 there, and he’s had some close matches and has always found ways to win them. I don’t see that changing.”
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