Wrestlers · Career complete
Jenna Burkert
2021 World bronze medalist at 55 kg; 4x U.S. World Team member; 2019 Pan American Games silver; Army WCAP staff sergeant
Rocky Point, NY · Longwood (N.Y.), then Marquette (Mich.) HS · Northern Michigan University
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 3, 2026
Jenna Burkert started wrestling at six in Rocky Point, on Long Island, and spent her early years in boys' brackets. She wrestled at Longwood High School, then moved to Marquette, Michigan, for the U.S. Olympic Education Center program at Northern Michigan University. She placed fifth at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and made three straight Junior World Teams.
She made her first Senior World Team in 2014 and placed 15th at 60 kg, about 132 pounds. She joined the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program as a unit supply specialist. In 2018 she won the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament and wrestled at the World Championships.
In June 2019 she won Final X at Rutgers, beating Becka Leathers of the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club 4-2 and 5-0 at 57 kg. That August she took silver at the Pan American Games in Lima, losing the final 2-1 to Lissette Antes Castillo of Ecuador.
Burkert has said her mother died shortly before the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth. She reached the 57 kg final and lost the series to Helen Maroulis of the Sunkist Kids, winning bout two 6-5. That September, at the World Team Trials in Lincoln, Nebraska, she beat Jacarra Winchester of Titan Mercury two matches to one. She won bout three on a takedown in the closing seconds.
In October she beat Pinki of India 5-2 for the bronze medal at 55 kg in Oslo. It was her first Senior World medal on her fourth World Team. She made staff sergeant in 2022 and ended her Army service in August 2024. She retired that year and joined Bixby High School in Oklahoma as associate head coach, then became head coach, guiding six individual state champions at the nation's second-ranked team.
She is an assistant coach for the University of Iowa women's wrestling team, working under head coach Clarissa Chun in Iowa City.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Age group | Youth Olympic Games, Singapore | 60 kg | 5th | Aug. 16, 2010; def. Christiana Victor (Nigeria) 3-1 in the fifth-place match after pool losses to Pooja Dhanda (India) and Dzhanan Ahmed (Bulgaria) and a 4-0 win over Natasha Puteri (Singapore); also a bronze medalist in beach wrestling at the same Games, per her USA Wrestling bio |
| 2011 | Age group | Junior World Championships | 59 kg | 8th | First of three straight Junior World Teams; ASICS Girls High School Wrestler of the Year in 2010 and 2011 |
| 2013 | Age group | Junior World Championships | 59 kg | 8th | Third straight Junior World Team; she placed 18th at 59 kg in 2012 |
| 2014 | Senior | World Championships | 60 kg | 15th | First Senior World Team, earned by winning the Phase II World Team Trials that year; the host city is not given on the source page |
| 2017 | Senior | U.S. Open | 1st | She was also fourth at the CISM Military World Championships that year; the weight class is not given on the source page | |
| 2018 | Senior | World Championships | 59 kg | 15th | Won the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament and was the Final X runner-up that year, then went to the World Championships as a replacement |
| 2019 | Senior | Final X, Rutgers Athletic Center, Piscataway, N.J. | 57 kg | 1st | June 8, 2019; def. Becka Leathers (Chapel Hill, N.C./Titan Mercury WC/Tarheel RTC) 4-2 and 5-0 after losing to her in the U.S. Open final that April; led bout one 4-0 on a takedown and two step outs, then won bout two on two takedowns and a pushout |
| 2019 | Senior | Pan American Games, Lima | 57 kg | 2nd | Def. Paula Ramirez (Nicaragua) 10-0 and Giullia Penalber (Brazil) 11-0; lost the final 2-1 to Lissette Antes Castillo (Ecuador) |
| 2019 | Senior | World Championships, Nur-Sultan | 57 kg | 15th | Third Senior World Team; she was also the U.S. Open runner-up that year |
| 2021 | Senior | U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Fort Worth | 57 kg | 2nd | April 3, 2021; lost the finals series to Helen Maroulis (Sunkist Kids), who won bout one 5-3 and bout three by fall in 24 seconds after Burkert took bout two 6-5. Some pages label the event the 2020 Olympic Team Trials and others the 2021 Trials, so the year label is left as the date wrestled |
| 2021 | Senior | U.S. World Team Trials, Lincoln, Neb. | 55 kg | 1st | Def. Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury WC), the 2019 World champion, two matches to one: Burkert 7-6, Winchester 9-8, Burkert 4-3 on a takedown in the closing seconds |
| 2021 | Senior | World Championships, Oslo, Norway | 55 kg | 3rd | Oct. 5, 2021; def. Pinki (India) 5-2 in the bronze-medal match on a step out and a shot clock point in the first period, another step out early in the second, and a counter go-behind takedown with under a minute to go; her first Senior World medal on her fourth Senior World Team |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://www.usawmembership.com/senior_national_teams?bio=2888 · USA Wrestling bio: born May 9, 1993 in Rocky Point, N.Y.; high schools listed as Marquette, Mich. (2011) and Longwood, N.Y.; Northern Michigan University and University of Colorado Springs; Senior Worlds 2014 15th at 60 kg, 2018 15th at 59 kg, 2019 15th at 57 kg, 2021 bronze at 55 kg; Junior Worlds eighth in 2011 and 2013 and 18th in 2012; 2017 U.S. Open champion; 2018 and 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion; 2019 Final X champion; 2018 Final X runner-up; fifth at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games; ASICS Girls High School Wrestler of the Year 2010 and 2011
- https://www.themat.com/news/2010/august/17/burkert-finishes-fifth-in-wome-22392 · USA Wrestling, Aug. 17, 2010, dateline Singapore: fifth at 60 kg/132 lbs. at the Youth Olympic Games; def. Christiana Victor (Nigeria) 3-1 in the fifth-place match; pool losses 0-3 to Pooja Dhanda (India) and Dzhanan Ahmed (Bulgaria) and a 4-0 win over Natasha Puteri (Singapore); then a senior at Marquette High School in the U.S. Olympic Education Center program
- https://www.themat.com/news/2019/june/08/army-gets-three-wins-in-final-x-rutgers-first-session · USA Wrestling's Final X: Rutgers report, June 8, 2019: Burkert (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) swept Becka Leathers (Chapel Hill, N.C./Titan Mercury WC/Tarheel RTC) 4-2 and 5-0 at 57 kg, a rematch of the 2019 U.S. Open final Leathers won 7-5; the club affiliation the WIN Magazine page does not carry
- https://www.army.mil/article/253885/sustainment_soldier_pursues_excellence_on_two_fronts · Rocky Point, N.Y. native; started wrestling at six; U.S. Olympic Education Center in Michigan from 2008; U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program; unit supply specialist; 2021 World bronze at 55 kg in Oslo; 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2021 World Teams
- https://www.army.mil/article/252092/army_wrestler_wins_first_world_championship_medal · 2021 World bronze at 55 kg in Oslo on Oct. 10 dateline; Rocky Point, New York native; Olympic alternate at 57 kg for the Tokyo Games; her mother died shortly before the Olympic Team Trials
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/june/05/pride-month-profile-jenna-burkert-on-her-wrestling-journey-her-family-and-the-future · Started the sport at six on Long Island; left home to attend high school in Marquette, Mich., and train with the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan; one year of college at NMU; later a resident athlete in Colorado Springs and then an Army WCAP soldier; her mother died just before the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth; retired from competition, ended her military service and took a coaching job at Bixby High School in Oklahoma
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/october/05/miracle-wins-silver-burkert-wins-bronze-at-worlds · Oct. 5, 2021 Oslo results: bronze at 55 kg with a 5-2 win over Pinki of India, scored on a first-period step out and shot clock point, another step out early in the second and a counter go-behind takedown with under a minute to go; first career Senior World medal; her fourth Senior World Team; Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan won the weight
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/april/03/ott-finals-results · U.S. Olympic Team Trials championship series at 57 kg: Maroulis dec. Burkert 5-3, Burkert dec. Maroulis 6-5, Maroulis pin Burkert 0:24
- https://nwhof.org/news/olympian-miracle-makes-women-s-world-team-burkert-qualifies-for-fourth-world-championships · 2021 Senior World Team Trials in Lincoln, Neb.: Burkert (Army WCAP) def. Jacarra Winchester two matches to one at 55 kg, 7-6, 8-9, 4-3, with a takedown in the closing seconds of bout three; her fourth Senior World Team
- https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7709494-jenna-burkert-accepts-bid-to-final-x-stillwater · Native of Rocky Point, N.Y.; attended Longwood High School in New York, then finished high school at Marquette High School in Michigan with the U.S. Olympic Education Center team at Northern Michigan; four Senior World Teams in 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2021; 2019 Pan American Games silver; fourth at the 2017 CISM Military World Championships; fifth at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games
- https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/6551208-complete-2019-pan-am-games-recap-9-golds-for-team-usa · 2019 Pan American Games at 57 kg: 10-0 over Paula Ramirez (Nicaragua), 11-0 over Giullia Rodrigues Penalber de Oliveira (Brazil), 2-1 loss to Lissette Antes Castillo (Ecuador) for silver
- https://www.win-magazine.com/2019/06/08/francis-burkert-and-stefanowicz-avenge-us-open-losses-to-make-world-team-at-final-x-rutgers/ · June 8, 2019 Final X Rutgers: Burkert def. Becka Leathers 4-2 and 5-0 at 57 kg after losing to Leathers at the U.S. Open
- https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2026/05/15/world-bronze-medalist-jenna-burkert-tabbed-as-iowa-assistant-coach · Named assistant coach of the University of Iowa women's wrestling program on May 15, 2026 by head coach Clarissa Chun; 'Burkert has coached and taught a leadership course at Bixby (Oklahoma) High School since 2024. She joined the program as associate head coach before being elevated to the top chair. Bixby was the No. 2 ranked team in the nation and Burkert coached six individual state champions.'; Army WCAP non-commissioned officer in Colorado from January 2015 to August 2024, staff sergeant in 2022
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