John's Journal: Refugee Wrestler Makes A Statement At State

A 114-pound wrestler from Bloomington Kennedy had no idea what he would be walking into Friday at Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. He has been wrestling since he was 12 years old, but the Minnesota high school state tournament was a brand new world.

Mir Amiri, a junior at Kennedy, has seen a lot in his young life. Some are memories he would rather not think about, but being able to come to Minnesota last year, enroll at Kennedy in the fall and join the wrestling team has been spectacular.

“Practice is hard and I love to work hard,” he said at school earlier in the week. “And I’ve made so many friends.”

Those friends cheered for Mir during the Class 2A individual competition at state. He competed hard before losing to Simley sophomore Jacob Kranz 16-1 in the opening round. That gave Mir a record of 23-16 this season; Kranz moved on to the quarterfinals with a record of 42-10.

Mir is a native of Afghanistan, where his father was employed by the U.S. government. When the U.S. left the country in 2021, the Taliban vowed to kill those who had been part of the American efforts in the country.

Mir, with his parents and four siblings, fled. Before arriving in Bloomington they were at a refugee camp in New Jersey and spent time in South Carolina.

Being able to join the wrestling team at Kennedy helped with the transition. Mir is one of five Afghanistan natives on the team. Joining him in qualifying for state were ninth-grader Will Fugleberg (107 pounds), senior Philip Phan (152), senior Anthony Kugmeh (215) and senior Will Storm (285).

Chuck Vavrosky, 63, has been the head coach at Kennedy for 39 years. He estimates that he has coached around 15 wrestlers who came from other parts of the world. The first one to qualify for state was Tommaso Costantini, a foreign-exchange student from Italy who wrestled at state a year ago. Before the Kennedy wrestlers competed in their section tournaments, Tommaso talked to them via video chat from Italy, offering advice and encouragement.

There’s a definite family atmosphere to many wrestling teams, as evidenced by Mir’s nickname for Vavrosky: Papa.

“I’m so grateful for Coach Vavrosky,” he said. “He keeps pushing us to work hard.”

Photos and videos of the state tournament can be helpful for a newcomer, but there’s no way to prepare for the bright lights, the big crowds and the noise.

“If you haven't seen it, if you haven't been there … I've had kids who've walked in and all of a sudden they're looking around up in the stands and whatever, and they're shell-shocked,” Vavrosky said. “I just don't see that from him. I just see him concentrating on the match and then going after it.”

The closest thing Mir had seen to a large, loud competition was the Bi-State Classic in La Crosse, Wis., a 60-team tournament in late December.

“He’s improved by leaps and bounds,” Vavrosky said. “He's mentally and physically very tough. After we went to the Bi-State, he kind of turned a corner. He’s always got a smile on his face and he always has fun in the room because he likes to kid around.”

Mir’s classes at Kennedy include English, algebra, science and social studies. He is a fan of mixed martial arts and would like to pursue that form of combat when he’s older.

Before his match on Friday, Mir warmed up on mats that are on the floor-level concourse behind one end of the arena. Pacing back and forth, he wore a Kennedy jacket and matching pants in the proud school colors of navy blue and gold. When he was called to his match against Kranz on Mat 7 in an eight-mat setup, the warmups were taken off. Mir had a brace on his left knee. He pulled off a gold Kennedy Eagles t-shirt, checked in at the scorers table, shook hands with Kranz and got to work.

Kranz led 3-0 after the first period. The Simley wrestler piled up points in the second period: reversal … near fall … takedown … near fall. Amiri scored an escape and trailed 11-1 heading into the third period, which Kranz controlled en route to the 15-point win.

The young man from Afghanistan shook hands with Kranz, who patted him on the shoulder. Mir also shook hands with the Simley coaches before exiting the arena with his coaches.

It lasted less than six minutes, taking place only 16 miles from Mir’s new school. For a young man whose family fled a war-torn homeland half a world away in pursuit of a better life, it was a powerful statement.

--MSHSL staff member John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Bluesky at johnmilleamn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected] or [email protected]