Nalani Jordan is a junior at Powell High School, and she is extremely involved with everything she has time for. From wrestling to journalism, she makes an impact in every activity she participates in.

Recently, Nalani took first place in her weight bracket at the Ron Thon tournament and was nominated for WyoPreps athlete of the week.

“Ronthon was a great experience; there was a big crowd,” Jordan said. “There was lots of noise and lots of matches going on at once. It was just really cool to be there and experience that.”

Jordan works hard in and out of the season to make sure she is in top condition for matches.

“I like to hit some Zumba, go stretch, and just work on my flexibility,” Jordan said.  “Out of season, I’m normally lifting once or twice a day and then also working on my conditioning Or sometimes I work on different techniques.”

Some may think that the most memorable matches are the ones that you win, but what you gain from losing can help you for the rest of your season.

“I lost to a girl that I’ve lost to before, and I think that’s memorable,” Jordan said. “It’s teaching me, and even though I didn’t win, I’m happy that It allowed me to learn how to overcome certain moves or techniques and gave me more to look forward to in practice.”

Girls wrestling was made an official high school sport in 2022. Since then, Powell has had great success with their girls’ wrestling team.

“Some days are harder than others, but I think my main motivation is just to improve myself as a human,” Jordan said. “I think about younger girls that are starting the sport and that they need someone to look up to.”

Whether teammates, coaches, or teachers, role models are a huge part of success in any field.

“I have always wanted to wrestle since I was really little,” Jordan said. “So I am starting to become this person that little me would have loved to have as a role model, and I’m just continuing that forward for other people. I think that’s a really big motivation.”

When you can’t find Jordan on the mats, you can find her supporting other PHS activities by taking photos. Jordan’s photography recently received 3rd place in the Spring 2025 High School Photo Contest sponsored by the Photographic Communications program at Northwest College, and Roberts Camera of Indianapolis.

“I saw a poster for the competition,” Jordan said. “I decided I should enter a couple of my images because it was free.”

Jordan is the opinion editor for The Prowl and dedicates countless hours to the stories she writes.

“I do a lot of background research,” Jordan said. “I’ve been to the museum for one of my articles for research. Mainly I go out and I talk to people, and I just try and relate to them on a level that helps me.”

Although Jordan has great success with her stories it took time to get to that place.

“A challenge I faced was learning the different styles of writing,” Jordan said. “And how you can convey a story most accurately and to gain the most emotion or reaction from the audience.”

A short while ago, Jordan won a Best Of SNO badge for her story ‘SURVIVING THE SPIN.’ The Best of SNO badge is used to recognize students for outstanding stories.

“Getting the SNO badge was a really good honor,” Jordan said. ”I feel like it was more the story that I was telling, rather than my writing exclusively, so I’m thankful that I’m able to tell important stories that have meaning.”