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Gold for father-and-daughter duo
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Posted on Apr 10 2023
Father-and-daughter duo of Nicko and Nickole Salem from Saipan won gold in their respective divisions in the North American Grappling Association Atlanta Grappling Championship last March 25 in Atlanta, Georgia.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
In the sport of grappling, CNMI father-and-daughter duo Nicko and Nickole Salem bagged gold in the North American Grappling Association Atlanta Grappling Championship last March 25 in Atlanta, Georgia.
In the men’s 170- to 179-lb weight bracket, the 29-year-old Nicko, from Black Label Jiu-Jitsu, competed against five competitors and finished with the gold.
Second to him was Hutch Romanos from Ascension MMA and third went to Roman Merletti from Ascension MMA Alpharetta.
For 6-year-old Nickole, she won gold in the children 8-9 division, GI female intermediate 50- to 59.9-lb division. Second was Bailey Smith and third was Stevie Rhinehart.
Nickole went on to win silver in the no-gi division and grabbed another silver in the children no-gi male division. Gold went to Charlie Rivera and bronze went to Jackson Sonnemaker.
Nicko said on his performance that he is not at all satisfied, but “I was glad I got to compete and set a positive example for my family. That was the main reason I competed.”
“I’ve been training on and off because of multiple injuries and personal life. I pushed the pace a little bit two weeks before the competition and trained everyday just to prepare, because Atlanta is a major city and there [were] going to be tough competitors. One of them was a former NFL cornerback for the Carolina Panthers,” said Nicko.
Before this, the younger Salem won gold in the South Carolina Youth Wrestling Association Rookie/Novice State Championship for the girls division and silver in the mixed division last Jan. 29, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Nicko is a U.S. Marine and a 2012 graduate of Saipan Southern High School, while his wife and Nickole’s mother, Maria Victoria, is an alumnae of Marianas High School.
They now reside in Charleston, South Carolina.
The North American Grappling Association is the world’s largest mixed grappling tournament with over 700,000 competitors worldwide. NAGA tournaments offer both no-gi (no uniform) and gi (uniform) divisions.
