Iowa hires World bronze medalist Jenna Burkert as assistant coach

The Iowa women’s wrestling program has filled its vacant assistant coaching position – and with an incredibly promising candidate to boot.

On Friday afternoon, it was announced that Jenna Burkert had been hired onto the Hawkeye staff.

Welcome to Hawkeye Nation, @TheJokerJB! ✨ pic.twitter.com/QSMdNnlsjo

— Iowa Women's Wrestling (@IowaW_Wrestling) May 15, 2026

The news comes exactly two weeks after former assistant Tonya Verbeek departed for a job with USA Wrestling.

And while it’d be difficult for just about any candidate to match the credentials of their predecessor, Burkert (pronounced BUR-ket) joins the Hawkeyes with an opportunity to make her own unique impact on the Iowa program.

(And there’s plenty of reason to believe she’ll do exactly that.)

“I am grateful for the opportunity to welcome Jenna and her family to the program,” said Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun.

“Jenna will bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and energy to our team. Jenna is all-in to everything she does. She’s committed, has great discipline and finds enjoyment through it all as she pursues and helps others pursue excellence in life.”

So, for those unfamiliar, who is Jenna Burkert?

A Senior-level staple

Having turned 33 years old a week ago, Iowa’s newest assistant coach only recently wrapped up her competitive career.

That career was defined by both longevity and consistency, with Burkert making four Senior World teams along the way (2014, 2018-19, 2021). And she was arguably never better than during her final few years on the mat.

At the 2021 US Olympic Team Trials, Burkert bonus’d her way to the best-of-three final at 57kg, pinning two-time World silver medalist (and recently hired Iowa State women’s head coach) Alli Ragan along the way.

Once there, she faced the daunting task of Helen Maroulis – arguably the greatest American women’s wrestler of all time.

Burkert not only wrestled Maroulis tough, but took a match from the living legend (6-5) in the best-of-three final – setting up a winner-take-all bout for the Olympic spot.

And while Maroulis won the deciding match via early fall, Burkert drew equal attention/admiration – both for the challenge she’d posed and for the fact that she’d done so just 10 days after the passing of her mother due to heart complications.

A few months later at World Team Trials, she faced another American star in reigning World champion Jacarra Winchester.

In a thrilling best-of-three series, Burkert prevailed in the rubber match thanks to a last-second takedown:

That October, she took home a bronze medal from the World Championships in Oslo, Norway.

In 2022, Burkert was on the verge of another World team after winning match one against Winchester at Final X. But an injury suffered during a go-ahead takedown midway through match two resulted in a medical forfeit.

Later that year, Burkert wrestled the final competitive matches of her career at the 2022 World Cup hosted in Coralville – just down the road from her soon-to-be home in Iowa City.

An Army officer and a burgeoning coach

The seeds of Burkert’s eventual coaching career may’ve been sown during the preceding decade – much of which she spent as a non-commissioned officer and soldier athlete in the United States Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).

Per Iowa’s press release, she achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant in 2022.

“During her time in the Army, Burkert was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for leadership, service and performance. She also earned the Army Commendation Medal for performance at the 2021 Wrestling World Championships.”

“Burkert assisted in coaching WCAP’s women’s freestyle program, helping develop multiple Senior National Team athletes and a World Team member. She also mentored junior soldiers in leadership, accountability and professional development.”

After leaving WCAP in 2024, Burkert accepted a position as associate head coach at Bixby (Oklahoma) High School. A year later, she was elevated into the head coaching role – leading one of the top high school girls programs in the country.

While coaching the Spartans – including six individual state champions – Burkert also taught a leadership course at the high school.

Now, she’ll take those lessons learned/taught – both on and off the mat – to a new destination.

Future fit

It’s too early to make any grand proclamations about how Burkert will fare in this new role.

That said, there appears to be all the makings of another home run hire for Coach Chun and the Hawkeyes.

Competitive credentials? Check.

Charisma? Check.

Even before adding her burgeoning coaching/leadership portfolio into the mix, the hints are there that Burkert possesses the type of personality/communication skills to help guide future Hawkeyes to their own big goals at the NCAA, World and Olympic levels.

In fact, this post-bronze medal interview from the 2021 World Championships encapsulates a bunch of what I’m referring to:

She also has some familiarity with the staff she’s about to join.

Burkert overlapped with Clarissa Chun as both athlete and coach at USA Wrestling – which you can see in this Flo video of the two on the mat together back in 2021.

And in joining Chun and associate head coach Gary Mayabb at Iowa, there’s a strong foundation already in place to which she can both learn from and add her own flavor – all the while not being overly burdened with some of the nuances inherent to a first-time coach at the NCAA level.

Granted, it’s early days still.

But it won’t surprise me in the least if in a few years, we’re looking back on this hire and saying, “Man, the Hawkeyes have struck (black and) gold once again.”