Photo: Jenna Burkert (right) is the head coach for the Bixby High School girls’ team in Bixby, Okla. Photo by Steve Doak.
Editor’s Note: This article appeared in WIN’s Volume 32 Issue 5, which printed on Jan. 21, 2026.
By Tristan Warner
Her success in the sport of wrestling has been well documented.
So has her inspiring story of perseverance, battling through grief after losing her mom just days before the 2021 Olympic Team Trials.
And to think, Jenna Burkert, a 2021 World bronze medalist who is now impacting the lives of countless students and student-athletes through her coaching and mentorship at Bixby High School in Oklahoma, may have never stepped on a mat if a first-grade boy hadn’t scoffed at her, stating “girls can’t wrestle.” Burkert recalls responding, “watch me.”
“I got started in Rocky Point, N.Y. with Darren Goldstein,” she said. “He knew a lot about the freestyle scene and really pushed for girls’ wrestling. I had a good room that wasn’t very intense or scrutinizing; I learned to love it and had fun.
“Goldstein helped educate me about the Senior level. He always made me believe in what was to come.”
Burkert moved to Northern Michigan at age 15, spent time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and then joined the Army.
“I got the best of all of it. I never actually wanted to coach; I didn’t think of it because you didn’t see women coaches much growing up.”
Burkert planned to get into counseling originally, but after her time in the Army, she felt a calling toward the leadership aspect of coaching.
“I really loved mentorship and molding people; the military changed who I was fundamentally and transcended my wrestling. It made me a better person.
“As I was getting prepared for the World Team Trials and had a lot of younger teammates, I started to see the vision.”
Shortly after announcing her retirement from active competition, Burkert wound up taking a teaching and coaching job at Bixby High through a mutual connection. It was the perfect convergence of her strengths and past experiences, as she teaches leadership classes and serves as the girls’ head wrestling coach for the Spartans.
“It was an instantaneous fit,” she said. “They had just won a state title, so they were already really good, which helped me get situated with my brother who has an intellectual disability and is nonverbal.”
The transition from athlete to coach, a new teaching role and becoming a mom did not slow Burkert from her mission of building relationships with students in the classroom and student-athletes on the mats.
“It is so meaningful to get to know all of these kids because nobody has the same story. At this age, the girls are in a position where they want to learn and they are moldable.
“I want to help them build confidence and get them comfortable to go up in front of a classroom or at a job interview. This age level sets them up for life. I always tell them if I just taught you wrestling, I’ve failed.”
One way to help them grow and build toward these goals is to prod them to step out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves.
“Without a doubt growing up and wrestling boys taught me how to fight and demand my presence.
“We have a girls’ wrestling room that is separate from the boys’ room. Wrestling boys made me tougher. I tell the girls to step out of their comfort zone and get a boy partner. Training together helps grow the sport.”
Fresh off a second-place team finish at the Women of Ironman tournament in Ohio, it is no secret that Burkert offers world-class wrestling coaching. She believes, though, perhaps her greatest attribute to share with her students and student-athletes alike comes on the mental side.
“All these kids are handling different things, and you have to remember that,” Burkert said. “I talk to the girls a lot about my experiences, both the highs and the lows. Real world stuff that I’ve gone through.
“In October, I go over resilience. I show them my Flo film. That is a turning point in my classroom. They know what I’ve been through. I lost my mom and competed four days later at the Olympic Trials.
“I want to give them real-world examples because I want them to be battle tested and know they can overcome anything. They can take time to grieve and still perform.”
Combining her unique background and expertise in counseling and leadership topics derived from her wrestling and military experience, Burkert goes deeper than the surface level when helping kids overcome mental obstacles.
“You can preach mental, but you also have to teach them how to deal with their emotions. Why am I feeling emotional? What is being triggered inside? Why am I nervous? Am I protecting my ego? Teaching emotional intelligence helps them understand their emotions.”
And while Burkert has big dreams of leading many current and future Spartans to state podiums and age-level World Teams, she has an even greater mission to fulfill that has nothing to do with wrestling.
“I hope when they think back, they know they had a coach they can call if anything ever happens, whether good or bad,” Burkert said. “That doesn’t expire when they graduate.
“I hope they think back on their crazy coach and remember how much I love them and who they are off the mat. I want them to say, ‘Coach Jenna loved the heck out of me, and it had nothing to do with if I got my hand raised or not.’”