WHO’S NEXT? USAW STAR OF THE FUTURE Burkert making her mark
By Gary Abbott For Jenna Burkert, leaving her home
on Long Island, N.Y. at the age of 15 to join the U.S. Olympic Education program at Northern Michigan University was a decision which helped her become one of the nation’s top young wrestling stars. “It is immeasurable how much she has
grown and developed in the 2½ years she has been here,” said Shannyn Gillespie, head women’s coach at the USOEC. “She came in as a 15-year-old green high school kid. She came onto a college campus, leaving her friends and her family behind. She was less secure about things when she got here and it was a challenge for her. She has grown every single day she has been here.” Burkert enrolled in high school in Marquette, Mich. early in her sophomore year and the results have been impres- sive. Burkert was named ASICS High School Girls Wrestler of the Year in 2010 after her junior year. So far during her senior season this
year, she won the Folkstyle Junior Nationals, placed fourth in the U.S. Senior Open at 130 pounds and qualified for the 2011 FILA Junior World Team. “When I first came here, I wasn’t confi-
dent,” said Burkert. “The biggest thing is that I got my self confidence, the mental aspect of wrestling. Coach Gillespie helps me with that every day. Being around a new team every year has also helped me. I had to grow up faster. The ability to push through the challenges has made me stronger.” Burkert got started wrestling in first
grade, when she saw a flyer about a kids club in her hometown. “I grabbed the flyer. My classmate Raymond ripped it out of my hand and said, ‘You can’t do that. You are a girl.’ I said ‘watch me,’” she said At first, her mother said no to her request to wrestle, but her parents even- tually decided to let her try it, expecting that she might quit. Jenna not only enjoyed the sport, but soon starting hav- ing success. She would often beat boys in the youth events. Burkert ended up going to Longwood
High School, a school where Olympian Kerry McCoy attended and which has a strong feeder program. Talented coaches Mike Picozzi, Nick Hall and Darren
30 USA Wrestler
Jenna Burkert is making an early impact in women’s freestyle wrestling. She placed fourth in the U.S. Senior Open and earned a spot on the U.S. Junior World Team this year. Larry Slater photo.
Goldstein were among her mentors. Jenna also started attending age-group women’s events, where she caught the eye of Tony DeAnda, the assistant coach for the USOEC program and the National Women’s Coach at the Cadet level. “It was after I made the Cadet team
that went to El Salvador that Tony DeAnda talked to me about the USOEC. It sounded good. He said maybe my jun- ior or senior year I should consider it. A month into my sophomore year, they called me. A spot opened up. I figured it was an opportunity I couldn’t let go. If I didn’t like it, I could always come home,” she said. Both Burkert and Gillespie admit that
the first year at Northern Michigan was tough for Jenna. She says she cried often and felt very homesick much of the
time. She used Skype to talk to her family daily. Over time, after going home a few times during vacation breaks, she learned to deal with the change and start- ed to thrive in her new environment. Her departure was also difficult for her
older brother Joshua, who is autistic. Jenna is extremely close to her brother. Jenna cares so much about him that last year, she got a new tattoo on her ankle, featuring the colorful autism awareness ribbon and Joshua’s name written above it.
“My brother made me who I am today. I
am much more patient and understand- ing,” said Jenna. “Autism needs to be noticed. People don’t understand what autism is. People would be mean to him and it hurt me and our family. It never
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