2B — February 6, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

A swimmer, his father and an executive order

M

okhtar Al-Yamani 
just wants to see his 
dad and swim for his 

country. He has a father, Ali, from 
Yemen and a future competing in 
the Olympics. But for him, as for 
so many 
others, 
by the 
end of 
the day 
on Jan. 
27, the 
world 
had 
changed.

The 

19-year-
old 
sophomore swimmer at Michigan 
is hoping to travel to Baku, 
Azerbaijan, in May to swim for 
Yemen in the Islamic Solidarity 
Games. Now he doesn’t know for 
sure if he’ll be allowed to come 
back.

He is an American citizen, born 

in New York. His Japanese mother 
and Yemeni father met in college 
at the University of Kentucky 
and then moved when Mokhtar 
was a baby back to Japan, where 
Mokhtar grew up. So Al-Yamani is 
a triple citizen of the United States, 
Japan and Yemen, by virtue of his 
parents.

His next chance to swim for 

his father’s home country is still 
shrouded in uncertainty by the 
controversial executive order 
from President Donald Trump. 
The order suspended entry by 
citizens of seven majority Muslim 
nations, including Yemen, into 
the United States. Since then, 
Al-Yamani has kept his eyes on 
the news in search of what that 
policy means for him.

Reports from the White 

House have been unclear in the 
days following the ban about 
exactly whom it impacts, but as 
of now, Al-Yamani appears to 
be unaffected as a U.S. citizen. 
On Jan. 29, CNN reported that a 
State Department official told the 
network that the ban “should not 

affect dual-national Americans 
(like Al-Yamani) at all.” But 
Al-Yamani will keep following 
the news because he knows much 
could still change between now 
and May.

The government has already 

modified enforcement of the policy 
in the past 10 days; the Baku trip is 
in three months. And the fact that 
he’ll be traveling with a Yemeni 
passport to the Islamic Solidarity 
Games has Al-Yamani worried.

“I know the Yemeni delegation 

is really excited for me to go, and 
I’m excited to compete there 
also,” he said, “but it is troubling 
times.”

For now, Al-Yamani will focus 

on his collegiate season, though 
that causes another problem. 
Later this month, he will compete 
in the Big Ten Championships. 
His father, a citizen of only 
Yemen, will not be able to come 
see him.

Ali Al-Yamani, who lives in 

Japan separately from Mokhtar’s 
mother, passed down a middle 
name and a heritage to his son. 
He keeps up with Yemeni news 
and listens to Yemeni music. His 
home has couches with traditional 
Arabian designs and a room 
dedicated for prayer to the Muslim 
faith (Ali is Muslim, Mokhtar is 
not).

And while the executive 

order’s implication on Mokhtar 
is unclear, the 19-year-old has 
struggled to come to terms with 
an administration that deems his 
father unwelcome here. Mokhtar 
knows that his father thinks the 
travel ban is “outrageous,” but 
the two haven’t talked at length 
about it.

“He’s just told me that he won’t 

be able to come to Big Tens, and he 
just said not to worry about (him, 
he’ll) be fine,” Al-Yamani said.

But does Al-Yamani worry 

about his father, in light of recent 
events? “Yeah, because I don’t 
know if he’ll ever be able to come.”

Al-Yamani did not seem angry 

as much as he did incredulous, still 
six days after the executive order 
was signed. He was not eager to 
turn his situation into a political 
statement. He worried mostly 
about swimming and seeing his 
family, which he could do until 
a man he has never met signed 
a piece of paper making both 
uncertain.

“It seemed like such a far-

fetched idea, no one would pass it,” 
Al-Yamani said. “And then he just 
singlehandedly did.”

Again, Al-Yamani tries to 

stick to positives: His father lives 
in Japan, where he is safe, and 
Al-Yamani noted that several 
other countries have voiced their 
opposition to the travel ban, 
putting pressure on the United 
States. If Al-Yamani is able to 

travel to Baku in May, his father 
plans to join him for the occasion.

“He’s very proud of me,” 

Al-Yamani said. “Just the fact 
that even after living in Japan 
all these years, I chose to 
represent his home country, 
I think he’s really happy for 
that.”

Al-Yamani began competing 

for Yemen to have a better 
chance of making an Olympic 
team. In advance of last 
summer’s Rio Games, he made 
the international swimming 
federation’s B-cut qualifying 
time and was even issued 
credentials. But he couldn’t go 
to Rio as a Yemeni wild card 
— the Olympic designation for 
the fastest man and woman 
in certain small countries — 
because he hadn’t competed in 
the 2015 World Championships.

In the end, despite his time, 

he didn’t make it into the field of 

athletes, which was capped at 
900. Still, he was encouraged by 
the journey and looks forward 
to continuing his international 
career at the 2020 Olympics in his 
hometown of Tokyo.

That’s a bright future, but 

questions surround much of it. 
Al-Yamani wants to compete 
for the country of which his 
father is so proud, but the travel 
situation puts that dream in 
doubt. He hopes to travel to 
Yemen to learn more about the 
culture for himself, but the 
country’s civil war makes that 
a dangerous proposition for 
now. And he’s trying to learn 
Arabic to connect with a fellow 
Yemeni swimmer, Ebrahim 
Al-Maleki, whom he would have 
met in December in Canada if 
Al-Maleki’s visa had not been 
denied. Now, Al-Yamani must 
live with uncertainty.

“I don’t want to talk too much 

about my own political opinion on 
each of the candidates,” Al-Yamani 
said. “But I do feel that, completely 
policies aside, I think that 
someone who’s going to lead an 
entire country should have more 
morals and just human character 
than Trump had shown during his 
election. I guess we’ve seen more 
of Trump during the election than 
during his presidency so far, but 
we’ll just have to see where that 
goes.”

When news of the executive 

order broke, Al-Yamani first 
received a text from a friend back 
home who wondered if Al-Yamani 
would be able to return to Japan 
under the new policy. Al-Yamani 
was shocked. He read the news 
of the order and then continued 
following cases of people being 
detained or deported over the 
weekend.

“And then,” he said, “I was just 

like, ‘Wow, this is real.’ ”

If you have a story like Al-Yamani’s, 

we want to hear from you. Lourim 

can be reached at jlourim@umich.

edu and on Twitter @jakelourim.

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

U-M PHOTOGRAPHY

Sophomore Mokhtar Al-Yamani has been affected by Donald Trump’s executive order, as it could prevent him from competing in the Islamic Solidarity Games.

JAKE LOURIM
Daily Sports Writer

Michigan tops Spartans despite early deficit

EAST LANSING — Following 

the 149-pound bout, things looked 
bleak for the No. 10 Michigan 
wrestling team. 

Redshirt 
sophomore 
Malik 

Amine had raced out to an early 
7-2 lead, but was unable to hold 
on as Michigan State’s Nick 
Trimble stormed back to earn 
a 13-8 victory. The Wolverines 
trailed 9-4 at that point and 
were in danger of taking their 
second-straight loss to an in-state 
foe following a loss to Central 
Michigan last Thursday.

But senior Brian Murphy put 

the Wolverines (4-4 Big Ten, 8-5 
overall) back on track by earning 
two third-frame takedowns to 
ensure a 5-1 triumph over Austin 
Thompson in the 157-pound weight 
class. Redshirt freshmen Logan 
Massa and Myles Amine followed 
up Murphy’s performance with 
technical falls to springboard 
Michigan to a 24-9 lead. The score 
could have been more lopsided 

had redshirt junior Ayoola Olapo’s 
injury not forced the Wolverines 
to forfeit the heavyweight match, 
giving the Spartans (1-7, 4-10) the 
final six points of the meet.

“We mentioned briefly after we 

got back from Central Michigan, 
‘Don’t forget how we felt when we 
got back,’ ” said 
Michigan coach 
Joe McFarland. 
“We had to make 
sure 
that 
we 

wrestled better 
today, and I think 
for the most part 
we did.”

Massa scored 

early and often 
in the 165-pound 
bout, nabbing six 
takedowns in the 
first period to take a 12-5 advantage. 
He added four more takedowns in 
the next two stanzas en route to his 
23-8 win over former high-school 
teammate Drew Hughes, putting 
Michigan ahead for good. Massa’s 
individual record this season is 
now 23-1.

Amine also had a stellar bout, 

earning five takedowns and 3:28 of 
riding time in the first two periods, 
which gave him a 13-3 lead. But 
Amine was most dominant in the 
third period, as he used a double-
leg and a near fall to secure the 21-5 
technical-fall victory.

“We’ve 
talked 

a lot about bonus 
points,” McFarland 
said. 
“If 
you’re 

working 
towards 

bonus 
points, 

that 
means 

you’re 
wrestling 

aggressively 
and 

you’re 
working 

hard.”

Yet 
the 
most 

surprising 
result 

of the day was that 

of redshirt junior Ernest Battaglia 
in the 184-pound bout. In his first 
start since defaulting out of a match 
against Illinois on Jan. 20, Battaglia 
netted three takedowns, eight back 
points and 2:05 of riding time en 
route to a 16-5 major-decision win.

“Bouncing back with this win, 

especially 
against 
an 
in-state 

rival, it’s always nice,” Battaglia 
said. “You just sometimes have to 
weather the storm and stay solid.”

Redshirt 
freshman 
Jackson 

Stiggow sealed the dual meet for 
the Wolverines with a 7-1 victory 
over the Spartans’ Matt Okaiye. 
Stiggow nearly earned a major-
decision on a potential takedown 
near the end of the third period but 
did not receive the call from the 
official.

The middle and heavyweights 

were not the only ones who found 
success 
against 
the 
Spartans, 

though.

Redshirt 
freshman 
Stevan 

Micic dominated his match at 133 
pounds, as he cruised to a 10-2 
major decision win over Javier 
Garcia. Micic outscored Garcia 6-0 
in the third period thanks to 2:06 of 
riding time, two stalling points and 
a single-leg takedown.

With 
Sunday’s 
triumph, 

Michigan has now won its last 
seven dual meets against Michigan 
State and is 69-35-3 in the all-time 
series.

MAX KUANG/Daily

Redshirt junior Ernest Battaglia earned a 16-5 major-decision win against the Spartans in his first start since defaulting out of a match against Illinois on Jan. 20. 

NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily Sports Writer

“You just 

sometimes have 
to weather the 

storm”

‘M’ falls to Ducks 

Coming into its first game of 

the 2017 season, the Michigan 
women’s lacrosse team was full 
of excitement.

For the first time in program 

history, the Wolverines have a 
senior class that will don the 
maize and blue. The women’s 
lacrosse team kicked off its 
inaugural varsity season with an 
exclusively freshman roster in 
2014, and those same players are 
now seniors.

“The energy on the team was 

very high,” said Michigan coach 
Jennifer Ulehla. “The girls are 
very excited about the season 
and what can be 
accomplished.”

But 
all 
the 

energy 
in 
the 

world could not 
help 
Michigan 

overcome 
a 

slow 
start 

against 
Oregon 

on 
Saturday, 

ultimately falling, 
11-8. Though the 
Wolverines won 
the draw, 10-1, in the first half, 
it wasn’t enough to contain the 
Ducks’ offensive onslaught in 
Eugene, Ore.

Oregon took an early lead 

three minutes into the game off 
of a free shot from midfielder 
JoJo Hesketh. Two more Ducks 
would find the back of the net 
over the next eight minutes to 
surge to a 3-0 lead.

But with 16:30 remaining in 

the first half, one of Michigan’s 
seniors stepped up to put the team 
on the scoreboard. Midfielder 
Anna Schueler — a two-time 
team captain and leader of the 
program — scored an unassisted 
goal, breathing some much-
needed life into the Wolverines.

Yet, Michigan was unable 

to capitalize further, and three 
more Oregon goals put the 
deficit at 6-1 with seven minutes 
remaining in the half. 

Finally, 
the 
Wolverines 

mustered up a slight run at the 
end of the half — outscoring 

the Ducks 3-1 with goals from 
freshman 
midfielder 
Molly 

Garrett and senior midfielders 
Kim 
Coughlan 
and 
Lauren 

Oberlander — to build momentum 
going into the second half.

Although 
Michigan 
found 

itself trailing after the first half, 
its success in the draw provided 
some consolation.

“We had been practicing the 

draw a lot,” Ulehla said. “But 
Oregon 
showed 
a 
different 

defense and stopped us from 
being as successful as we would 
have liked. We needed to be 
able to capitalize on our success 
better.”

Coming 
into 
the 
second 

half, the Wolverines kept their 

momentum 
up 
from 
the 

end of the first 
half, and just 
1:30 after play 
resumed, senior 
midfielder 
Lauren 
Oberlander 
narrowed 
the 

deficit to just 
two. After six 
minutes of back-

and-forth play, another senior 
— midfielder Kim Coughlan — 
closed the gap to only one goal.

But 7-6 was as close as the 

game would become, as Oregon 
went on a 4-2 run to end the 
game, ultimately securing victory 
for the Ducks. Michigan attacker 
Tess Korten, another senior, 
scored the team’s final two goals.

The Wolverine seniors will 

have to wait another day to win 
their first game in their final 
season, but Ulehla is excited 
about the future after their 
performance Saturday. She is 
hopeful that the Wolverines will 
win their first ever Big Ten game 
this season, and with a roster full 
of seniors, this will be the year to 
do it.

“The team as a whole stood 

out today,” Ulehla said. “I’m 
disappointed about this result. A 
few things here and there could 
have changed the outcome, but 
there is lots to be optimistic 
about.”

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

MATTHEW KENNEDY

Daily Sports Writer

“The girls are 
very excited 

about the 
season”

