From family tragedy to wrestling triumph

Eight years ago, Dunia Sibomana was clinging to life after several wild chimpanzees attacked him and two family members as they played near Virunga National Park in the Congo, in Central Africa.

His brother and cousin were killed, but Dunia, then 6, survived, though he was left with life-altering facial injuries. His lips were torn off, his cheek was lacerated, and he suffered muscle damage that made it hard to swallow or talk.

Dunia has undergone more than a dozen surgeries, the first of which took place in January 2016, at Stony Brook University Children’s Hospital, to restore his appearance and facial functions thanks to a nonprofit organization called Smile Rescue Fund for Kids. Since he arrived in the United States in November 2015, he has lived with three host families. He had never entered a classroom or spoken English until his first host, Jennifer Crean, enrolled him in a Hauppauge school a month before his initial surgery.

Now he is an Honor Roll student at Long Beach Middle School — and a Nassau County wrestling champion.

Last Sunday afternoon at Nassau Community College, Dunia, an eighth-grader, captured the Nassau Division I 102-pound title with a 14-2 major decision over Massapequa’s Carlos Arango. “I’m pretty excited about it,” said Dunia, who will take a record of 31-2 to the New York State tournament in Albany Feb. 25-26. “I just wanted to be aggressive the whole time.”

He began wrestling competitively four years ago in the Gladiators youth program, coached by Miguel Rodriguez, who is the Long Beach Middle School coach and a longtime varsity assistant. Rodriguez and his wife, Marissa, met Dunia in the summer of 2016 at a Skudin Surf camp, and they bonded almost instantly.

“Dunia was spending almost every weekend with us for a year, and then he moved in during the summer of 2017 and soon started fourth grade in Long Beach,” Miguel Rodriguez recalled. “He’s a special and humble kid who will never forget where he came from.”

In 2020, the Rodriguezes began the adoption process to make Dunia a member of their family. Two weeks ago, on Feb. 2, the adoption became official. “It was very emotional,” Rodriguez said.

In addition to wrestling, Dunia is passionate about soccer. He played for the Marines’ JV team last fall, and hopes to move up to the varsity as a high school freshman. “He has a ton of energy,” Rodriguez said. “I coach soccer, wrestling and track, and he always went everywhere with me. He’s competitive in everything he does, and takes school very seriously.”

Ray Adams, head wrestling coach at Long Beach High, said that Dunia is a fast learner with a combination of skill and explosiveness. “Dunia is like a sponge,” Adams said. “Anything we’ve taught him, he’s picked it up right away. As the season unfolded, we knew he had a chance at a county title. I’m so proud of him. He’s an incredible story.”

In the 102-pound semifinals last Sunday morning, Dunia trailed Plainedge’s Shane Dobbins 6-2 before pulling off a reversal that led to a thrilling victory by pin. “It was only the second period, so I wasn’t too nervous about being behind,” Dunia said. “I just kept moving and kept working.”

He is the 74th county champion in Long Beach wrestling history. He had plenty of support from teammates in the crowd: Eight of them painted their chests to spell out S-I-B-O-M-A-N-A.

When the buzzer sounded at the conclusion of the final, Adams said, Dunia acted like he’d been there before. “It’s not like he was jumping around and going crazy,” Adams said. “He just raised his arms to celebrate. But everyone else was going nuts.”