Sports haven’t always been a part of Nari Miller’s life. She was an artist first - she loved to draw and color, and she was in dance classes. When she got to high school she decided she needed to improve her resume for college applications so she decided to try wrestling - and the rest is history.

Miller, a 2022 Edison High School graduate, became the inaugural champion at 152 pounds in the first-ever Minnesota State High School League Girls’ Wrestling Championships last February. It took some time to get there - she said she dreaded practices for the first month her freshman year, and had to write down daily goals - but now all of her goals revolve around wrestling.

Along with becoming a first state champion, Miller was also the first-ever female conference wrestling athlete of the year as a senior. She competed at Fargo Nationals in 2019 and 2021, earned a spot on the Minnesota National Team at 152 pounds, and earned All-American honors. Now, she’s a freshman on the wrestling team at Texas Woman’s University where she’s competing for Randi Miller - one of just a few black female head wrestling coaches at the Division II level.

While wrestling became Miller’s first love, she was far from a one-sport athlete. She took up throwing in track and field to cross train in the offseason, and set Edison’s school discus record, won city championships in the discus and shot put, won the section discus title and qualified for state in discus. She also competed on the school’s football team and was a starting defensive tackle - and the only girl on the team. Miller - a team captain in all three sports - won an Athena Award at the end of her senior season.

Miller has been smashing through barriers her entire high school career, and she’s helping the next generation of female wrestlers do the same. This past summer, she coached the North Side Lady Polar Bears youth wrestling team at the MN/USA state tournament in Rochester. She’s also got big goals for herself - while she’s competing at the Division II level, she’s got her sights set on the Olympics.