Jenna Burkert (left) poses with her Youth Olympic Games bronze medal for Beach Wrestling, along with Martina Kuenz

SINGAPORE - Jenna Burkert of Middle Island, N.Y. claimed a bronze medal at the Beach Wrestling competition at the Youth Olympic Games on Saturday.

Beach Wrestling was an additional competition provided at the Youth Olympic Games, and was open to all YOG athletes in all sports.

In the Beach Wrestling, Burkert competed in the Above 60 kg/132 lbs. division. Burkert opened the tournament with a loss to a wrestler from Hungary, but came back to beat an opponent from New Zealand for the bronze medal.

"On a high note, I entered the Beach competition," said Burkert. "There was only one girl in my weight, so I decided to take the challenge and go up a weight category. I figured I had nothing to lose. So I went for it, and got the bronze medal."

“In Beach, in the first round I had a wrestler from Hungary, who weighed in at 76 kilos so she had some weight on me and she beat me. Then in the second match, I had a girl from New Zealand. At first, I was down by one point because I hit my knee when I took a shot. But then I came back and threw her for three points on her back. I weighed in at 63 kilos and I was the lightest in the weight class. All in all, it was a fun experience. I've never done beach wrestling. Usually, I score my points by hitting my knee so it was weird to adjust but I got used to it and had some fun,” said Burkert.

Burkert had placed fifth in the YOG women’s freestyle competition at 60 kg/132 lbs. on Monday. 

Another U.S. wrestler, Jordan Rogers of Spokane, Wash., placed fourth in the men’s Beach Wrestling competition at the Above 70 kg/154 lbs. division.

One of Rogers’ U.S. teammates, Luke Sheridan of Concord, Calif., was also in the four-athlete pool with Rogers.

Rogers beat an opponent from American Samoa and defeated Sheridan, but lost to the opponent from Benin by fall. Sheridan beat the opponents from Benin and American Samoa, but lost to Rogers. Three wrestlers finished with a 2-1 record in the pool.

In the tiebreaking procedures for the pool, the athlete from Benin advanced to the finals with two falls. Rogers moved on the bronze-medal match, with a decision and a fall. Sheridan placed third in the pool and did not reach the medal round because he had two decisions.

In the bronze-medal match, Rogers lost to an opponent from Mongolia.

On Tuesday, Rogers had won a silver medal in men’s freestyle at 76 kg/167.5 lbs. during the Youth Olympic Games.

The other U.S. wrestler, Quinton Murphy of Holley, N.Y., lost his only match in the Below 70 kg/154 lbs. division to an opponent from the Dominican Republic.

“Overall, it was a fun experience for our wrestlers. They had a good time. All of the wrestlers in the tournament had some challenges adjusting to the beach wrestling scoring system,” said U.S. coach Mark Halvorson of Brentwood, Calif.

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES
At Singapore, August 21

Beach Wrestling competition

Women’s division

Above 60 kg/132 lbs. - Jenna Burkert, Middle Island, N.Y., 3rd
LOSS Ukraine
WIN New Zealand

Men’s division

Below 70 kg/154 lbs. - Quinton Murphy, Holley, N.Y., dnp
LOSS Dominican Republic

Above 70 kg/154 lbs. - Jordan Rogers, Spokane, Wash., 4th
WIN American Samoa
WIN Luke Sheridan (USA)
LOSS Benin
LOSS Mongolia

Above 70 kg/154 lbs. – Lucas Sheridan, Concord, Calif., dnp
WIN Benin
WIN American Samoa
LOSS Luke Sheridan (USA)