SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Tuesday evening Har-Ber High School held the first annual Unite Night wrestling match between the Springdale Bulldogs and Har-Ber Wildcats celebrating the many Marshallese students on both teams.
The coaches for both rival programs say they know exactly how much their Marshallese athletes mean to them.
“I mean, they mean everything to us. I mean, for us the culture that they bring in the community that they have, it matches us. The toughness brings a lot to us, to our program,” Springdale wrestling head coach Joshua Rivers said.
Har-Ber’s women's wrestling coach Nika West came up with the idea a little over a month ago because he wanted to celebrate his athletes and show the community that while they may be rivals on the mat, they are still one community.
“It tells the community that we're working together. I think it's big for both sides because we have wrestlers that are friends with each other from Springdale from Har-Ber. And, you know, all in all, even though we're friends, when we step on the mat, we go to battle, but when we step off the mat, we're friends again,” West said.
“The Marshallese culture has found a niche for wrestling. It's something that they're excelling in and having success with,” West added.
This event has meant a great deal to the Marshallese athletes.
“It really means more than just wrestling. It's really about our culture, our Marshallese culture, like bringing all Marshallese all together and celebrating who we are, where we came from,” Springdale wrestler Drake Kaiko said.
This event also means a lot to their families who are seeing their kids being honored and come together as one community.
“This event means a lot to me, especially since my mom was really excited about it saying how Marshallese people during her time were overlooked and everything. So, I have her here with me watching me, so it just means a lot. When my grandma heard it, she just started tearing up and I was like giving her hugs and everything telling her it's gonna be okay and she was like, 'I'm finally happy that we're all coming together as one,'” Har-Ber wrestler Serina Nunes added.
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