In Kyrgyzstan, wrestling “has always been in our blood,” says Shamil Kalmatov, CAS/BS ’25. It appears in the millennium-old Kyrgyz epic Manas and served as a point of national pride as recently as 2021, when three wrestlers from the Central Asian nation of 6.8 million medaled at the Tokyo Olympics.
The sport was in Kalmatov’s family history. He followed in older brother Aidan’s footsteps and picked up wrestling at 7 years old.
And fortuitously for a teenaged Kalmatov, it was in his social media feeds. There, he watched videos of wrestlers in headgear—required for collegiate competition in the United States but unfamiliar to him—and imagined wrestling and studying more than 6,000 miles from his Bishkek home. “I was very determined,” says the cadet (16- and 17-year-olds) freestyle national champion and Asian bronze medalist. “I was constantly telling my family, ‘I think I have a chance to get there.’”
He improved those odds by emailing 300 coaches across all collegiate levels—including all 78 in Division I—feeling “discouraged at the beginning when I didn’t receive many responses. Only 20 or 25 answered.”
Without opportunities to impress college coaches in person, he brought his bouts to them, compiling a highlight reel that demonstrated his smarts and emotional control on the mat. Aided by multilingual talents sharpened by years of after-school English classes, Kalmatov garnered a small but impressive list of suitors. He selected AU sight unseen for its academics, wrestling program, and student body representing 130 countries. In doing so, Kalmatov became, to his knowledge, the first wrestler from Kyrgyzstan to commit to a Division I school.
By chance, he now counts a few fellow international students as friends. While walking through the Terrace Dining Room one day during his freshman year, the computer science major heard a group of 10 conversing in Russian, a language he speaks, and introduced himself. Only seeing family over FaceTime can be lonely, he says, but even 11 time zones away, “I’ve found my community.”
Another is in AU’s wrestling room, where Kalmatov has made several big adjustments—to his ideal weight of 125 pounds, to the nuances of wrestling from the bottom in folkstyle, and to highly concentrated talent in the top rung of American college wrestling.
“It’s really tough,” says Kalmatov, who carried a 7–15 record in his first 22 collegiate bouts. “Every guy here is good—many are state champions—and in every match I feel like I’m wrestling in the finals of the Kyrgyzstan national championship.” Still, Coach Jason Borrelli sees in Kalmatov a tireless worker who has made considerable progress in bridging the gap with his 125-pound peers.
“Sometimes in life, we take for granted the opportunities we have,” Borrelli says. “With Shamil, I feel like he really appreciates his and is constantly seeking how he can get better and make the most of it.”
Kalmatov often reflects on that opportunity, flashing back to the countless hours he spent emailing coaches in high school. He’ll often say, “Hey, I’m here. That really happened,” reminding himself that a big life goal of his creation has been pinned.