ITHACA, N.Y. (WETM) – Athens native AJ Burkhart captured a dream Sunday in college wrestling.
The redshirt sophomore 184 pounder for Lehigh University punched his ticket to the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the EIWA Tournament. Burkhart beat Hofstra’s Charles Small 3-2 for third place at the weight giving him the opportunity to compete on the sports biggest stage.
What’s perhaps more impressive is that Burkhart was seeded seventh and placed four spots higher than expected to get to Detroit, the site of the NCAA Championships. Action begins Thursday and Burkhart will know in the coming days who his first round opponent will be once the brackets are released.
Burkhart battled his way to the podium winning three matches in the consolation round to go to the national tournament.
“It’s still kind of surreal right now,” Burkhart said. “I haven’t really soaked it all in just yet, it will probably soak in the next day or so.”
For the season, Burkhart’s racked up a (14-13) record. After winning a New York State Championship for Waverly and then transferring and excelling for Athens, Burkhart can’t wait to go all out at the NCAA Tournament. It’s something he’s been striving for his whole life.
“It’s awesome all of the hard work is finally paying off.”
