Long Beach's Sibomana wins state wrestling title

Only 14 years old, Dunia Sibomana has already experienced a life’s worth of tragedy and triumph.

On Saturday evening at Albany’s MVP Arena, the eighth-grader from Long Beach etched himself into the New York State wrestling history book when he capped a dominant weekend with a pin of No. 1-seed Ryan Ferrara (Chenango Forks) in 1 minute, 32 seconds to capture the 102-pound Division I championship.

Sibomana, who was seeded third, won his first three matches in the tournament by a combined score of 35-7. He’s the 17th state champ in program history.

“I really can’t believe it,” said Sibomana, who finished the season with 35 wins in 37 matches. “There was definitely so much competition and I’m so excited to win.”

Long Beach head coach Ray Adams said the road to the state title went through major contenders. “His quarterfinal and semifinal wins came against previously undefeated opponents,” said Adams, referring to Sibomana’s 12-2 major decision over Mason Mangialino of Comsewogue in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon and a 9-3 decision over second-seeded Luke Satriano (Valley Central) in Saturday morning’s semifinals. “Dunia is not only a powerful and motivated kid, but he’s so coachable,” Adams added. "It was incredible to watch his journey unfold. It’s like a movie script.”

Eight years ago, Sibomana was clinging to life in his homeland of the Congo in Central Africa after a group of wild chimpanzees launched an attack on him and two family members playing near Virunga National Park, a vast animal preserve. While his brother and cousin were killed, Sibomana survived but was left with life-altering facial injuries that included torn lips, a severely lacerated cheek, and muscle damage that made it hard to swallow or talk.

Since arriving in the United States in November 2015, he’s undergone more than a dozen surgeries at Stony Brook University Hospital to restore his appearance and facial function thanks to a nonprofit organization called Smile Rescue Fund for Kids. He’s evolvedfrom never speaking English to Honor Roll student.

“It’s just pure happiness and excitement,” said his adoptive father, Miguel Rodriguez, who serves as Long Beach’s Middle School wrestling coach and one of Adams’ assistants. “He deserves it.”

Sibomana had approximately 8 hours in between the semifinal and championship matches. He stayed at the arena until lunchtime, grabbed a turkey and cheese hero, took an hourlong nap and played some video games before heading back for the finals.

“I couldn’t sleep last [Friday] night because I was so excited,” he said. “I tried my best to relax.”

He was a little late to take the mat for the semis Saturday morning to face Satriano because “Mother Nature called,” Adams said. Satriano had defeated Sibomana twice a few years back in youth tournaments but was no match this time on the big stage.  

“We gave him scouting reports on every opponent and he just followed the game plans perfectly,” Adams said. “Coach [Leo] Palacio had the book on Ferrara in the finals. He saw a tendency that Dunia could take advantage of and that’s exactly what led to the pin.”

Sibomana celebrated with a backflip.

“It’s the first time I did something like that after a match,” he said. “I couldn’t hold back my excitement.”

On Feb. 13, Sibomana won the Nassau D-I 102-pound title with a 14-2 major decision over Massapequa’s Carlos Arango in the finals. He’s became the 74th county champ in school history.

Sibomana began wrestling four years ago with the Gladiators youth program, also coached by Rodriguez. Dunia is also passionate about soccer and track.

“He has a ton of energy and is competitive in everything he does,” Rodriguez said. “He’s such an amazing kid."

Please check back for updates on this developing story.