Security was much heavier than before, too.

The athletes were training for an intra-club match, and they seemed so pleased to see me and Kiana Hayeri, a photographer. Reza Ahmadi, who has been organizing the reconstruction, greeted us by putting his right hand on his heart, because like many pious Afghan men he considers shaking hands with women to be improper.

“We are very thankful for Mr. Hooman and Mr. Paul,” Mr. Ahmadi said. “If they hadn’t helped us, we would never have been able to rebuild our club.”

Maalim Abbas was also there. He was famous as a champion wrestler when he first became head coach at Maiwand, where they call him Teacher Abbas. He is even more famous now, because he kept the suicide bomber outside of the club by blocking a door with his powerful left arm.

Teacher Abbas is back on the job now, despite his amputation. What is most gratifying, he said, is that Maiwand has more wrestlers than ever — as many as 400 a day, so many that the club has had to add a fourth training shift.

“They all believe we need to show the terrorists that they can kill us, but they can’t stop us,” he said.

Mr. Halsey and Mr. Tavakolian were very happy to hear of the wrestlers’ reaction to their efforts.

“Wrestling is a sport that requires great sacrifice and also helps young wrestlers channel their emotions in a positive way,” Mr. Halsey said, explaining his desire to help the club. “The tragedy connected me to them in a very personal way.”