The Wood River High School boys soccer team always made an exception for Alberto Romo.
On more than one occasion last season, the team bus rolled to a stop outside his house so someone could run in, wake him up and get him on board.
“He happened to be on the way,” friend and former teammate Mateo de la Torre said with a laugh.
But nobody was ever really mad about it. Because that was just Bert—a friend who’d show up at your door, a teammate who’d fight for you and a kid who, underneath a tough exterior, just wanted to make people laugh.
Romo, who helped the Wolverines win two state titles in three years, died Thursday—the day before his 19th birthday. Romo fell approximately 150 feet while rock climbing in the Snake River Canyon near Twin Falls, according to Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lori Stewart.
Friend and former teammate Zach Torres, who will attend the University of Utah, refused to believe it at first. He was driving with his brother when a friend called and said he’d heard Romo had died. Torres had just spoken to Romo the day before. They were supposed to go out to dinner on Friday, for Romo’s birthday.
“A lot of people called me just to see if it was true or not,” Torres said. “As much as I wanted to say, ‘No, it’s not true.’ It wasn’t. It still didn’t feel real.”
De la Torre, who is now playing football at the University of San Diego, heard it from Torres.
He couldn’t make out the words at first. But then, when de la Torre figured out who Torres was talking about, the devastating news dropped him to his knees.
“I was heartbroken,” de la Torre said. “I collapsed in tears. I couldn’t believe it.”
Torres said, “If you don’t know him, I’d say he’s one of the scariest people I’ve ever met. He’s super intimidating. But once you actually know him, he’s probably the sweetest, nicest, funniest kid I know.”
So the two quickly became friends, bonding over soccer. Romo was at Torres’ house nearly every day that first year. That never changed in the years that followed.
”We never made plans to hang out,” Torres said. “He’d always just say, ‘Yo, I want to do something,’ and we’d meet up and find something fun to do. He was a very outgoing, fun person.”
In his sophomore year, Romo helped the Wolverines win their first state title in 20 years. The following year, he earned All-Great Basin Conference honors, but still wasn’t satisfied—not after Wood River lost 3-1 to Vallivue in the 2024 Class 5A state championship game.
“I think his state run as a junior was not what he wanted it to be,” said Wood River head coach Greg Gvozdas. “So I think he came back with a bit of a chip on his shoulder in regards to letting those outside District IV really recognize how talented of a player he was.”
He did just that—and wasn’t always nice about it, even to his own teammates.
”He was my least favorite person to play against—even in practice, he’d be grabbing you, scraping you, just kind of being a jerk on the field,” Torres said. “But it’s what made him so good.”
Romo was a Class 5A first-team all-state forward last season with 18 goals. That’s six more than he scored his first two years combined. His 30 career goals sit top-15 in program history, according to Gvozdas.
Two of those goals came in the rematch against Vallivue in the state title game, where the Wolverines handily won 5-0 this time around.
A few days after Romo’s death, de la Torre found himself watching that game back. He couldn’t help but notice how much harder Romo played than anyone else on the field that day.
Torres had a different takeaway.
“Even in the final when we were winning by four, he fully went up to an opposing player and knocked him off the ball, and then went down and scored,” Torres said. “No matter the circumstance, he was always giving his all.”
Off the field, Romo was known as “Little Birdy Bear.”
He was someone who tried on random sunglasses and hats at a gas station or tucked his napkin into his shirt like a bib.
“Dude, you look like an idiot,” Torres told him.
“No, I’m being respectful,” Romo insisted. “They’re gonna like me.”
“He was such a funny kid,” de la Torre said. “He was always checking up on you, making the funniest jokes without even trying. He made the whole room lighter.”
His favorite place around town was the Hailey restaurant Mr. Dee, where he’d get a different friend each day to claim it was their birthday for the free fried donuts. He also tried snowboarding for the first time on Dollar Mountain, losing control and running right into a lift operator.
“He was just well liked,” Gvozdas said. “He was just an important part of our team, both on and off the field.”
That’s why nobody minded picking him up for games. It became a running joke, but also proof of how much they wanted him there no matter what.
“It’s not like he was careless,” Torres said. “He was just always in his own world doing his own thing.”
He was set to leave for the Marines in September. Torres said Romo personally called him this summer to share the news himself.
”I was happy that you’re gonna go do something that’s gonna make you feel accomplished and set you down the right path,” Torres said he told him. “He was excited to become a better person and excited to do something good.”
Romo’s viewing was held Friday at Wood River Chapel and his funeral Tuesday at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Hailey. More than $18,000 was raised on GoFundMe to help cover those expenses.
”I just sat with him,” de la Torre said. “I told him I loved him and I wished I could be there for him one more time. There wasn’t a lot of talking. It was just about spending one more moment and having one last chance to connect with him.”
”I know he’s always gonna be looking over me,” he added. “And I’ll always try to make him proud.”
Gvozdas said the team plans to honor Romo this season.
There will be a moment of silence before the season opener at home against Middleton on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 4 p.m. at Wood River High School. Players will sport black armbands bearing his initials and the No. 10. No player will wear that number this season.
”I’ll probably think about him every day,” Torres said. “He came into my life at such a random point, and slowly became my best friend. I just hope that I can hold his memories with me—and that when people think of me, they think of Bert, too, and how amazing he was.”