Nicko golden in Charleston Int’l Open

The patriarch of the Salem family, Nicko, is golden in the Charleston International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2024 last Saturday in South Carolina.

In the middleweight, blue belt division, Salem won gold over silver medalist Matthew Kruger. Third place were Ryan Berberian and Philip Matherly.

With his gold medal, he said it was, “very refreshing especially as a parent and coach of jiu jitsu. I get to place myself in my children and students’ shoes and set the example for them.”

Before this tournament, he competed last Oct. 12 in Emerson, Georgia. There, he won two gold medals in two separate divisions at a Newbreed Jiu Jitsu Federation tournament. “Competing at the tournament back in Georgia was a preliminary event to help me get ready for the IBJJF tournament here in South Carolina,” he said.

In this IBJJF tournament, he said, “The competition was tough. I sustained an ankle injury in my first match, but couldn’t let myself miss the chance to win gold in the finals.”

He will next compete alongside his daughter, multi-awarded young martial artist, Nickole, at a super fight in Cincinnati, Ohio at the end of December.

Nicko is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Marines for almost 12 years now and is a 2012 graduate of Saipan Southern High School. In 2014, he became the first recruit from Saipan to earn the coveted company honor graduate for Company M after completing his boot camp training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California.

His wife, Nickole and Mattheo’s mother, Maria Victoria, is an alumnae of Marianas High School. They now reside in Charleston, South Carolina.