Wrestlers · Senior level
Katerina Lange
3x college national champion for Augsburg and Grand Valley State; 2026 NCAA champion at 138 pounds; 2021 Junior Pan American champion
Sherburn, MN · Martin County West HS · Grand Valley State
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 24, 2026
Katerina Lange, known as Katie, is from Sherburn, Minnesota, and wrestled for Martin County West High School, where she competed on a boys' team. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame lists her as a Minnesota girls' state champion in 2021 and gave her a Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award.
In 2021 she placed second at the Junior World Team Trials. That June she won the Junior Pan American title at 65 kg, about 143 pounds, in Oaxtepec, Mexico, with two pins.
At Augsburg University she won the 2023 NCWWC title at 143 pounds as a sophomore. Trailing top-ranked Ashlynn Ortega of King 6-4 in the final, she scored four points in the last 32 seconds to win. In April she won the U23 national title at 68 kg in Spokane. That year she was on the U.S. team for the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania.
She was pre-seeded third at 62 kg at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in State College, Pennsylvania. She then moved to Grand Valley State and went 20-0 in 2024-25. She won the 138-pound NCWWC title in Coralville, Iowa, with a 10-0 technical fall over Haylie Jaffe of McKendree in the final.
In March 2026 she was the top seed at 138 pounds at the first NCAA women's championships in Coralville. She beat Lilly Luft of Iowa 4-3 in the semifinals and Claire DiCugno of North Central 4-1 in the final. Grand Valley State recorded her as the first national champion in NCAA women's wrestling.
That spring she placed fourth at 62 kg at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas and fourth at 65 kg at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Louisville.
She finished her college career at Grand Valley State as a three-time national champion and now competes in senior women's freestyle.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | High school | Minnesota girls' state championship | 1st | For Martin County West, as listed by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. | |
| 2021 | Age group | Junior World Team Trials | 2nd | Listed by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. | |
| 2021 | Age group | Junior Pan American Championships, Oaxtepec | 65 kg | 1st | 2-0. Pinned Karime Martinez Teran (Mexico) in 1:11 and Aylah Mayali (Canada) in 0:49. |
| 2022-23 | College | NCWWC Region IV Regional, Naperville | 143 lb | 1st | 4-0. Three technical falls and a pin. She pinned Alana Duggan (Lindenwood) in 3:52 in the semifinals and beat London Houston (North Central) 10-0 in the final. |
| 2022-23 | College | NCWWC Championships, Cedar Rapids | 143 lb | 1st | Beat Grace Stem (Lock Haven) 10-4 in the semifinals. Trailing Ashlynn Ortega (King) 6-4 in the final, she scored four points in the last 32 seconds to win. |
| 2023 | Age group | U23 Women's Nationals, Spokane | 68 kg | 1st | Beat Augsburg teammate Nina Makem in the best-of-three final, 4-2 and 2-2 on criteria. |
| 2023 | Senior | Grand Prix of Spain | 5th | Listed by USA Wrestling in its U23 World Championships preview. | |
| 2024-25 | College | NCWWC Region 5 Regional, Adrian | 138 lb | 1st | 4-0. Beat Taylor Graveman (North Central) 11-3 in the final. |
| 2024-25 | College | NCWWC Championships, Coralville | 138 lb | 1st | 5-0. Won the final by 10-0 technical fall over Haylie Jaffe (McKendree) at 4:20. She finished the season 20-0. |
| 2025-26 | College | NCAA Regional Championships, Tiffin | 138 lb | 1st | 4-0. Beat Claire DiCugno (North Central) 5-1 in the final. |
| 2025-26 | College | NCAA Championships, Coralville | 138 lb | 1st | 4-0. Top seed. Beat Lilly Luft (Iowa) 4-3 in the semifinals and Claire DiCugno (North Central) 4-1 in the final. |
| 2026 | Senior | U.S. Open, Las Vegas | 62 kg | 4th | Lost the third-place match by fall. |
| 2026 | Senior | World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, Louisville | 65 kg | 4th | Lost the third-place match 8-0. |
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 to the operator, Joe Spisak, at joe@spisak.co and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/14727 · National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award. Katie Lange of Sherburn was a Minnesota girls' state champion for Martin County West in 2021, wrestled on a boys' high school team and placed second at the 2021 Junior World Team Trials.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/june/13/cd-and-jr-pan-ams-recap-4 · USA Wrestling, June 2021. Katerina Lange won the Junior Pan American title at 65 kg in Oaxtepec, Mexico, with pins of Karime Martinez Teran of Mexico and Aylah Mayali of Canada.
- https://athletics.augsburg.edu/news/2023/2/19/wwr021923.aspx · Augsburg University, February 2023. Katie Lange won the 143-pound title at the NCWWC Region IV Regional in Naperville, Illinois, with three technical falls and a pin.
- https://athletics.augsburg.edu/news/2023/3/4/wwr030423.aspx · Augsburg University, March 2023. Lange won the 143-pound NCWWC title in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, scoring four points in the final 32 seconds against top-ranked Ashlynn Ortega of King.
- https://athletics.augsburg.edu/news/2023/4/18/wwr041823.aspx · Augsburg University, April 2023. Lange won the U23 national title at 68 kg at the Women's Nationals in Spokane, Washington.
- https://athletics.augsburg.edu/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/katie-lange/24602 · Augsburg University roster biography. Katie Lange of Sherburn, Minnesota, and Martin County West High School, with her 2021-22 season results.
- https://nwhof.org/news/elor-kilty-among-u-s-stars-competing-in-u23-women-s-world-championships · USA Wrestling preview via the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, October 2023. Katerina Lange of Sherburn, Minnesota, on the U.S. team at 68 kg for the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania, and fifth at the 2023 Grand Prix of Spain.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/april/15/women-s-freestyle-pre-seeds-released-for-u-s-olympic-team-trials-wrestling · USA Wrestling, April 2024. Women's freestyle pre-seeds for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in State College, Pennsylvania, with Katerina Lange third at 62 kg.
- https://gvsulakers.com/news/2025/2/22/womens-wrestling-team-makes-history-with-runner-up-finish-at-regional-tournament.aspx · Grand Valley State, February 2025. Katerina Lange won the 138-pound regional title in Adrian, Michigan, with a pin and three technical falls.
- https://gvsulakers.com/news/2025/3/9/womens-wrestling-a-fourth-place-finish-and-two-national-champs-after-day-2-of-the-ncwwc.aspx · Grand Valley State, March 2025. Lange won the 138-pound NCWWC title in Coralville, Iowa, going 5-0 and finishing the season 20-0, with a 10-0 technical fall over Haylie Jaffe of McKendree in the final.
- https://gvsulakers.com/news/2026/2/21/womens-wrestling-womens-wrestling-claims-four-regional-champions-and-runner-up-finish.aspx · Grand Valley State, February 2026. Katie Lange won the 138-pound title at the NCAA regional in Tiffin, Ohio, going 4-0.
- https://gvsulakers.com/news/2026/3/8/womens-wrestling-womens-wrestling-takes-fourth-at-inaugural-ncaa-nc-womens-wrestling-national-championship.aspx · Grand Valley State, March 2026. Lange won the 138-pound title at the first NCAA women's wrestling championships in Coralville, Iowa, as the top seed, the first national champion in NCAA women's wrestling.
- https://www.win-magazine.com/2026/03/07/mckendree-iowa-finals-inaugural-ncaa-womens-wrestling/ · WIN Magazine, March 2026. At the first NCAA women's championships, Katerina Lange of Grand Valley State beat Lilly Luft of Iowa 4-3 in the 138-pound semifinals, and the finals opened at 138 pounds.
- https://gvsulakers.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/katie-lange/18137 · Grand Valley State roster biography. Katie Lange of Martin County West High School, a three-time national champion whose final season as a Laker was 2025-26.
- https://nwhof.org/news/senior-women-s-freestyle-champions-crowned-at-u-s-open · National Wrestling Hall of Fame, April 2026. U.S. Open results in Las Vegas, with Katerina Lange in the 62 kg third-place match.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2026/may/15/elor-and-kilty-pin-to-women-s-freestyle-senior-world-team-trials-titles · USA Wrestling, May 2026. Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament results in Louisville, Kentucky, with Katerina Lange in the 65 kg third-place match.
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