A wrestler’s journey from Afghanistan to Newberry College

NEWBERRY COUNTY – The start of a new season for the Newberry College wrestling team means a crop of new wrestlers with unique backgrounds and stories. One of those unique stories is that of Bashir Rostami, an Afghanistan refugee who, after wrestling for his high school in Florida for one year, found his way to Newberry.

Rostami was born in Kabul (the capital city of Afghanistan), and grew up in the Parwan Province before once again living in Kabul. His sister, Malalai, had a high-level position at the Kabul International Airport and according to Bryant Blanton, associate head wrestling coach at Newberry college, she bravely risked her own life helping to get American soldiers out of Afghanistan.

This heroic act led to the troops offering to get her and her family out of Afghanistan, to which they took advantage.

The family then came to the United States, specifically Tampa, Florida. Rostami attended Freedom High School for two years. While he was unable to wrestle his junior year, he did participate during his senior year.

And wrestled he did as Rostami said he won over 20 matches with just one loss.

This was not Rastami’s first experience with wrestling, or contact sports in general. He said he wrestled for about six or seven years in Afghanistan, as well as practicing kung fu, muay thai, mixed martial arts and soccer.

Rastami said he has a goal of being a UFC world champion and that his family is his motivation to succeed, especially that of his father who passed away two years ago.

Unfortunately, his high school career was cut short as he was disqualified prior to going to the state championship in Florida.

According to Blanton, Rostami’s opponent acted unsportsmanlike to get a reaction out of him – which led to the disqualification.

“That wrestler’s coach contacted me, saying his wrestler was in the wrong and should have been disqualified, and the best kid in the state (Rostami) would fly under the radar because he was not going to state,” Blanton said.

This phone call led to Blanton getting in touch with Rostami – putting the young wrestler one step closer to Newberry College.

“His story tells me how solid this young man’s values are, he comes from a family that helped support and protect freedom, helping the United States,” Blanton said.

Blanton invited Rostami to visit the Newberry College campus, to see how he performed on the mat. After seeing him wrestle live, the decision was made that Rostami could benefit the program and likewise, they can help him achieve his dreams.

However, prior to coming to Newberry College, Rostami had to get his residency status, which took about a year.

Rostami said he also took an English course at a community college in Florida, which Blanton said was done in good faith to show he was proficient enough to do well at the college level.

“That was strong in his favor, doing well in that course and showing his willingness to complete the course and do well, along with the residency status and FAFSA eligibility,” Blanton said.

Newberry College Athletic Director, Sean Johnson, added that Newberry College is an institution that prides itself on embracing international and first-generation students and helping them reach goals that can change their future and the future of their families.

“Many of our students have had to overcome numerous challenges just to make it to college and Bashir and his family had to overcome huge obstacles just to get to this point. Now, it is up to us to make sure we help and empower him to reach his goals to help his family achieve all that is possible,” Johnson said.

In the world of international wrestling, there are two international styles – freestyle and greco-roman. In the United States, American folkstyle is the form of wrestling that is performed in high schools and colleges.

While in Afghanistan, Rostami, who prefers to wrestle on his feet, wrestled freestyle and according to Blanton, freestyle and American folklore are similar enough to where Rostami is not far off from what they do.

“I am excited to have Bashir at Newberry College and look forward to the diversity he brings to our team, not just culturally but with regard to his style of wrestling being from Afghanistan,” said Head Coach Deral Brown.

While wrestling in Florida, Rostami’s weight class was 152 and 160. While at Newberry College, Blanton said they will see where Rostami naturally falls, but there may be some options.

Rostami said his goal is to do his best this season and he still has four or five years to be a champion.

Now that he is a full-fledged Wolf, Rostami has been enjoying his time at Newberry College, especially his team.

“I love the team, they help me a lot, with my homework too, the coaches are so kind and nice. I love the dorm and the food is the best – everything is good,” Rostami said.

Aside from wrestling, Rostami has interests in modeling and photography. He has plans to make a documentary film, after he graduates, with Dr. Scott Paton, the father of one of his high school teammates, who has been documenting Rostami’s journey. He is also a practicing Muslim and prays five times a day.

“Bashir is one of the most phenomenal young men I’ve ever met. If he was in the world of Harry Potter, he would be a Hufflepuff. He is loyal, almost to a fault, he is well rounded, he is extremely fair and he will hear what you have to say,” Blanton said.

The Newberry College wrestling team will have their next match at Lincoln Memorial University on November 6, 2024. You can follow their season by searching Newberry College wrestling on social media.