What Kayla Miracle has done on the mat this season is nothing short of amazing. And she's heard the cleverly-worded praise.
"It's a miracle, she's a miracle," Miracle recalled.
The freshman at Culver Academies is 38-1 this season, with 20 pins, and ranked 13th in the state at 103 pounds. She's the first female in state history to earn a ranking, and only the second to ever advance to semi-state, where she'll wrestle this weekend.
"I've worked really hard lately," Miracle said. "Going to practices, doing extra things, going in early to practice and lifting and doing all that stuff, just so I can keep up my game. So I think I deserve it."
"She's very girly in some ways, and she's very beautiful," said her dad, Lee Miracle. "But in the other aspect, she's a hunter, she's a fisherman, she's a tomboy."
Wrestling runs in Kayla's family. Her dad runs his own wrestling academy in Bloomington.
"I had no idea how to raise a girl when I had her," Lee said. "So I raised her the way I knew how."
"Our garage, it's all matted up and everything," Kayla explained.
"There are times when she needs help with a certain technique.... and all she's gotta do is ask," Lee added. "We call them 'garage practices.' And they're normally very intense."
"Her father has coached her well," said Matt Behling, the wrestling coach at Culver Academies. "She's wrestled on the national circuit, she's been all over the country wrestling, so she's prepared for these big matches. This isn't new for her, since she's competed at a high level for a long time."
"I don't think I'm as strong as a lot of these guys," Kayla said. "But I get rid of their strength with my technique and speed."
Unfortunately, many people choose to focus less on the fact that she's a great wrestler, and more on the fact that's she's a she.
And she's had to fight through it.
"I've seen her beat a kid, and then I've see the coach or the parent of the other kid come down real hard on that kid, and say, 'you just got beat by a girl,' and things like that, really negative in nature," Lee said. "And they were seeing her as a girl, they weren't seeing her as a wrestler."
"Everyone has to make a name for themselves, and prove that they can do what they wanna do. But I think it's probably harder for girls," Kayla said. "A lot of people are doubting me and what I want to accomplish."
What Kayla wants to accomplish has never been done before - place at state this year, and win a title before she graduates.
"And then, when I graduate, my goal is to go to the Olympics, and be the first girl from the USA to win it," she added.
"Right now, she's on track to do something like that," Behling said.
"And I will do anything, anything to get it," Kayla added. "No one's going to stop me."
"I do relish those moments when I just step back and say, hey, that's my kid," Lee said.
And there have been a lot of those moments this season.
