Eighteen-year-old Ellis Kempf is captain of his wrestling team, the Royal Oak Ravens. He wrestles in the 152-pound weight class. Kempf is also completely deaf without his cochlear implants, which he can't wear during matches. Most of the time, it's not an issue. Kempf has a sign language interpreter who signs his coach's instructions during matches. But during state matches sanctioned by the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), Kempf's interpreter was prohibited from moving around the wrestling circle to maintain eye contact with him. "Not only could he not hear instructions from his coaches," says Kempf's attorney Jason Turkish, "he didn't even have a way to have the whistle translated. He wouldn't know when a match actually started and stopped." Turkish says Kempf and his family negotiated unsuccessfully with the MHSAA for a year to change the group's rule, before they filed a federal lawsuit. Turkish says his firm took the case on pro bono (without payment), because
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