'The outcome depends on me': Afghan refugee students succeed in local wrestling programs

Feb. 10—Ongoing political unrest has caused a mass exodus in the south-central Asian country of Afghanistan. Since Sept. 11, 2001, it has been estimated that nearly six million people have fled the country or have become internally displaced.

Following the complete withdrawal of American troops in August 2021, approximately 76,000 Afghan nationals were brought into the United States. Their stories are unique and vast and many have faced incredible hardships to reestablish themselves in a new country. But this story isn't about war, bloodshed, or politics, this story is about a handful of teenage boys pursuing the American dream in the Yuba-Sutter area.

"The U.S. government helped my family a lot, so now it's my turn to serve the United States," said Sami Mullah, an 18-year-old student at Yuba City High School. "I want to be a nice person in the community and I want to be a good person to represent the United States."

Mullah's journey to America started a little over a year ago in Kabul, Afghanistan. From there, his family stopped in Qatar and then stayed at a refugee camp in Germany for 35 days before flying into Pennsylvania. They stayed there only a couple days until they embarked on a cross-country trip to an air base in New Mexico, which they called home for several months. Afterwards, they were able to meet up with Mullah's older brothers who had settled in Yuba City.

Before coming to America, Mullah had enjoyed the sport of wrestling, but said the facilities in his country had not been as well kept.

"When I came here, I joined in wrestling. It's a little different, but I like it, I know I can do this folkstyle," added Mullah.

Wrestling in the United States differs from other countries a bit in its format. Local coaches explained that the main style seen in American schools or colleges is classified as "folkstyle" or "collegiate." Overseas, the dominant form is freestyle, which involves taking an opponent to the ground and thereby ending the match. Folkstyle allows for more time on the mat where opponents earn points for escapes, reversals, and tapouts.

The high school wrestling programs in Sutter county seem to draw in Afghan students quite frequently with coaches from both Yuba City High School and River Valley High School reporting a steady rise in attendance over the years.

"Sami's story is honestly kind of familiar to us," said Kristen Costa, one of the wrestling coaches at Yuba City High School. "A lot of schools here have been having a lot of Afghan refugees, and there seemed to be a lot more in the school system this year after COVID."

Costa currently has two students on his team that came from Afghanistan, but during his time at the school he's coached around a dozen.

"People don't realize how big wrestling is in the middle east," said Costa. "It's the national sport in those countries, so there's a natural draw for them to want to do this."

While wrestling is quite popular throughout the Middle East and other neighboring countries, the 15 countries that currently comprise the Middle East all list soccer as their national sport except for Iran which has traditionally claimed freestyle wrestling, but now leans more toward soccer as well. It's important to note that Afghanistan is not technically considered a Middle Eastern country, although it is sometimes included in reference to the "greater Middle Eastern area," a term that was coined in the early 2000s. The core Middle Eastern countries include: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Afghanistan does share a border with Iran, however its national sport is buzkashi, a traditional Central Asian sport which translates to "goat pulling," but its most popular sport is cricket.

Aside from learning different wrestling styles, coaches at both Yuba City and River Valley noted barriers in language as being the next biggest hurdle. But this is something the Afghan students seem to have conquered on their own, helping each other out even if they aren't competing on the same team.

"At the Battle of the Buttes this past December, one of the River Valley kids was on the side of the mat translating my instructions while Sami was wrestling for his third place match," said Costa. "When you're in the heat of the moment like that, it's a lot easier to pick up on your own language versus having to deconstruct what's being said in your head. It was extremely helpful."

One of those helping students may very well have been Ahmad Wafi, Mohammad Safa, or Ahmad Wahedi, three promising Afghan wrestlers on River Valley's varsity team.

"These three are the first group that we've had from Afghanistan that have come out and stuck with it," said Jason Ramos, the head wrestling coach of River Valley. "We've had others that will come out for a day or two or a week but then decide that it's just not how they envisioned it."

Wafi, Safa, and Wahedi have developed a seemingly close friendship over the past couple of years. All three are in their senior year at River Valley and have dreams of becoming future UFC fighters.

"You don't look at wrestling as a destination, you look at it as a journey," said Wahedi. "You want to learn wrestling, boxing, jiu jitsu, all of that and then go on to MMA. That's our goal"

Wahedi was the first to arrive at River Valley during his freshman year of high school. His first experiences in the United States came during the early pandemic shutdowns of 2020 and 2021.

After graduating, he plans to go to college and study nursing as a back up or supplement to his prospective UFC career.

"It's always been easy for me to learn biology and math, also my brother is a nurse, so that helps keep me motivated," added Wahedi.

While in Afghanistan, Wahedi had trained in Taekwondo for three years and was planning to start wrestling before having to come to America. Relocating put a damper on his momentum for a couple years until he was able to establish new connections and acclimate himself to the country.

"When we moved here, the whole thing was very different from what we expected," laughed Wahedi. "We thought that we were gonna have some big buildings over here and that everything would be fancy, but when we got here, to Yuba City, let's just say it wasn't like the movies."

Wahedi went on to explain that in addition to the culture shock, adjusting to the language was also admittedly a hurdle. The boys had all taken a bit of English as a school subject in Afghanistan, but said they hadn't paid that much attention because it was never something they expected to use much.

"The wrestling program actually helped us a lot with our language," said Wahedi. "It kept us learning new things. If you don't do anything outside of the home, you're not going to learn English."

Wahedi has shown great promise as an athlete, taking home last year's "rookie of the year" title and winning at least five separate tournaments.

"I like wrestling because it's individual," explained Wahedi. "I mean, I need my team to help and support me, but it's individual in that the outcome depends on me and the person that wants to take me down. I'm in control."

Wafi and Safa were the next to arrive, joining River Valley almost two years ago. Wafi plans to continue wrestling, but would also like to pursue a career in IT like his older brother.

Safa, relatively new to wrestling, is also looking at expanding into the medical field as a nurse.

"Wrestling is a good hobby," said Safa. "It keeps me healthy and very active."

When not in class or on the mat, the boys said they enjoy going to the gym, playing soccer, watching movies, or spending time with family. Family ties are extremely important to all three students and none of them plan on moving too far from home. Vacationing on the other hand was quite a high priority with destinations such as Los Angeles and Lake Tahoe marking the top of the list.

"Where I was born, we were surrounded by mountains, there was a lake, trees, and it snowed every year," said Safa. "I'd like to go see the snow in Tahoe as well."

Wahedi recently purchased a brand new 2023 Toyota RAV4 for his family with savings from a summer warehouse job. His goal is to take them all on a road trip to celebrate once he's graduated and wins the league championship.

"We're 95% sure that we will win the league title," said Wafi. "Not saying we're the best, but we are very good."

Coach Ramos seemed to agree and commented on how much work the group had put in toward winning the championships this year. Sure enough, as of last weekend, during the 2023 DII Capital Valley Conference Championship held at Yuba City High School, Wafi took fourth place while Safa and Wahedi walked away first place champions. Mullah had also planned to compete, but was unable to do so at this time due to an injury.

"Afghans wrestle, because Afghans are tough," said Wahedi. "They have seen a lot of wars, and they are not scared of anything, only God."