After attending her brother, Drake’s, wrestling practices and tournaments for two years, 6-year-old Cierra Foster thought it was only natural to step onto the mat. With the help of her father, Todd, she convinced her mother, Annie, to let her enter one tournament.

She won that tournament and has never looked back. Foster has even spent two years on the Post Falls High School wrestling team with Drake, who is a three-time Idaho state champion who is now wrestling at the University of Wyoming.

As a high school freshman, Foster became the first female in Idaho to place in the boys’ state tournament, finishing third in Class 5A, after she became the first girl to be a 5A district champion. Foster was named Sophomore of the Year and Wrestler of the Year by USA Idaho Wrestling.

Foster won the gold medal in the 56 kg/123.25 lbs. division at the 2016 Pan American Cadet Championships and helped the U.S. capture the team title. She received the Golden Boot as the Outstanding Wrestler of the event after she won all three of her matches by pin. She is a two-time champion and five-time finalist at USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals. Foster also won the USA Wrestling Cadet Freestyle Nationals in 2014 and finished second at USA Wrestling Junior Freestyle Nationals.

Foster also captained the Post Falls High School girls’ soccer team as a junior and senior, and she was awarded the Scholar Athlete award all four years in both soccer and wrestling.

Foster volunteers at Real Life Ministries, local churches and soup kitchens while also coordinating food drives for various food banks in Idaho. She was asked to be a member of the National Honor Society but had to decline because of her class and wrestling schedule. Foster has signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Oklahoma City University, and she plans to major in biochemistry with hopes of becoming a forensic pathologist.