Grappling 4 Good: Cape Girardeau police, firefighters square off for Special Olympics Missouri

The inaugural Grappling 4 Good fundraising tournament had members of the Cape Girardeau Police Department and Cape Girardeau Fire Department going head-to-head, but for a good cause.

Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Joey Hann, and creator of the event, said around 400 people attended the grappling tournament, held Saturday in the Eagles Banquet Hall at 321 N. Spring Ave. in Cape Girardeau.

While the blue team — police — won the overall tournament, Hann said, the real winner is Special Olympics Missouri, who takes home $8,000 in donations raised throughout the night.

Hann said the departments weren't able to host their usual fundraising events for Special Olympics Missouri in the last year because of COVID-19, and he didn't want to see the athletes suffer.

"We wanted to try to find a way to make-up those funds, so the athletes wouldn't have to miss out on any more training or travel opportunities," Hann said.

Members of the Cape Girardeau Police Department and Cape Girardeau Fire Department compete in the Grappling 4 Good fundraising tournament to benefit Special Olympics Missouri on Saturday at Eagles Banquet Hall in Cape Girardeau.Brooke Holford

Fire department driver/operator Chris Miller fought in the tournament and said an added bonus to the event was that while the police and firefighters work together on a lot of scenes, they don't get to collaborate outside of work very often, so it helped to strengthen that connection and build "unity" between the departments.

Hann shared Miller's sentiment, and said although participating officers were facing-off in an MMA match, it remained a friendly competition.

"We had fun, and we all competed very seriously, but the second that match was over, we were shaking hands and hugging," Hann said. "We're friends, brothers and sisters in law enforcement, so we were able to compete, take it seriously, but then go back to being family again."

Hann said he also felt that given the "current climate towards law enforcement," the event provided an opportunity for the department to demonstrate their skills and various training.

"We really wanted to show that we do train really hard using our hands as much as we can so that we don't have to go to our weapons if something does happen," Hann said. "We train in several ways, so we don't hurt our officers, or other people, and it's rare for us to be able to showcase those skills."

Hann said the departments will be bringing the event back next year since there was such a good turnout this year.