Wrestling | 5/26/2023 9:58:00 AM

ARLINGTON, Texas (May 26, 2023) – A pioneer for women's wrestling, Texas Woman's Wrestling Head Coach Randi Miller began her wrestling story in Arlington, Texas, and, last night, she became cemented in Arlington history and was celebrated for her many accomplishments.

On Thursday, May 25, Miller was inducted into the Arlington Athletics Hall of Fame at the 2023 Tom Vandergriff Night of Champions Awards Banquet, coordinated by the Arlington Athletics Hall of Honor Foundation.

According to the Arlington Athletics Hall of Honor Foundation, "the Arlington Athletics Hall of Honor Foundation recognizes the contributions of a coach, teacher, administrator, athlete, supporter, and volunteer whose advancement of athletics in the Arlington ISD made a profound difference in the lives of our young people."

Each year, the Hall of Honor committee nominates and selects five members to induct. The Hall of Fame recognizes one Arlington Independent School District athlete from each decade beginning in 1940.

Miller, who graduated from Martin High School in 2001, was inducted into the Hall of Fame last night along with Grover Cribbs (1950), Guy Morriss (1960), Jamaal Brown (1980), and Todd Van Poppel (1990).

Her storied wrestling career began at Martin High School, where the dreams of a basketball star quickly evolved and transformed into the goals and visions of a wrestling legend.

While at Martin, Miller was convinced she was going to be a great basketball athlete, but she was cut from the team and decided to join the wrestling team, because it was in the same season. Although it was an unplanned part of her path, she instantly found her passion for the sport.

"My first day of wrestling was a very intense experience," Miller said. "You either love it or you hate it and first practice, I loved it. I wanted to see how far I could take it. It was fun, and it challenged me. I felt like I finally found my space."

Miller entered the high school wrestling space just two years after high school wrestling was sanctioned as a sport in Texas in 1999, due largely to a mother advocating for her daughter to have a space to wrestle.

"There was a girl who wanted to wrestle [in the state of Texas] before I came along, but there was no space for her," Miller said. "Her mother used Title IX to advocate for her, so when I came along there was already a state tournament. Whoever that person was – the mom and the daughter – thank you, you changed my life immensely."

While at Martin, Miller earned the State Runner-Up Title in Texas. After graduating, she went to Neosho County Community College in Kansas, then to MacMurray College in Illinois, and then attended the University of Northern Michigan, which was a designated feeder program to the Olympic Training Center.

Miller always knew she wanted to be the best, but Olympics did not fully become a dream until 2004, when women's wrestling made its first appearance at the Olympic Games in Athens.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Miller triumphantly won a bronze medal, becoming the first African American woman to win a medal for the United States in women's wrestling. Miller's accolades continued after the Olympics, as she competed with the U.S. Senior National Team in 2008 and 2012-16. She was named the U.S. Senior National Champion in 2008 and 2014, and she won a 2014 Military World Championship as a 2014 U.S. World Team Member.

Miller is a 10-time Senior Level All-American and the 2008 USA Wrestling Female Wrestler of the Year.

Using her platform and her passion for the sport has always been vital for Miller, and now, she continues to pioneer in the space of women's wrestling through coaching.

Miller's message of courage, resilience, power and advocacy for women daily inspires her wrestlers to achieve their best. The memories of the day she first stepped onto the mat at Martin High School laid the foundation for her to blaze a trail for women's wrestling.

"I'm forever grateful to Martin High School, Arlington sports, the advocates for women in sports and women's wrestling, who created an opportunity way back then for me to wrestle," Miller said. "Little known fact -- states are just now sanctioning women's wrestling as a high school sport, something Arlington did 20 years ago. Again, thank you for the opportunity, and the leadership when I needed it the most. Thank you for this honor."