Kolter Burton can probably give tours of downtown Fargo by this point, can probably point out every crack along the roads of North Dakota’s most-populated city. The 15-year old wrestler from American Falls would jog around Fargo last week on a nightly basis, trying to burn off whatever weight he gained throughout the day.
Competing at the USA Wrestling National Championships, the 100-pound competitor could have simply competed in the 16U freestyle championships then moved to the Greco-Roman championships right after. Or, if he wanted to bolster his competition against older kids, he could have done the same thing in the Juniors, which is for 17- and 18-year olds.
Nope. Burton wrestled in all four tournaments, an attempt almost unheard of.
“That doesn’t happen a whole lot. He was one of maybe two kids in the entire country that did all four kids bracket,” said Nate Gugelman, who heads American Falls’ wrestling program and was a coach for team Idaho at Nationals. “He wanted to go there and get the most out of it. The most mat time, the most experience.”
Perhaps the hardest part of entering into four brackets is what comes off the mat: the constant weight monitoring. Because Burton into every event, he was required to be at every weight in, which meant he stepped on the official scale a half-dozen times throughout the eight-day event.
In between those weigh-ins was near-constant exercise for Burton. He would jump rope in his sweats, hit the hotel sauna, ride a bike and, after almost every session concluded, Burton would hit the hotel and prepare for a three-to-four-mile run around Fargo.
“Usually I just use a treadmill, but they didn’t have one at that hotel,” Burton said with a chuckle.
Perhaps he’ll need to start running around every city he wrestles in because his trip to North Dakota ended with a gold.
He lost in the blood rounds of both 16U tournaments but, against the older competition, Burton finished fifth in Juniors freestyle and pinned his way through the Junior Greco-Roman tournament to earn the title of a national champion.
“It’s less pressure knowing you’re going up an age division,” Burton said.
The Juniors victory only enhances an already-stellar resume for Burton. In February, Burton capped off a stellar freshman year with a 98-pound title at the 3A State Championships, becoming one of two American Falls wrestlers to win a title in 2021.
“I definitely think it’s a statement. Idaho doesn’t get a whole lot of love – whether you’re 2A, 3A or even 5A,” Gugelman said. “We started this journey six or seven years ago traveling with the kids to nationals every year. We went to Atlanta once and Wisconsin twice and we’ve taken them to those tournaments to start mentally preparing for like, ‘This is what we do. These are the steps we take. This is how we will perform.”
Gugelman has been coaching Burton since the latter was in the fourth grade.
Back then, Gugelman was an assistant coach at Aberdeen, coaching the Tigers’ wrestlers and training some of the area’s best youngsters, like Burton.
Three years ago, Gugelman took the job at American Falls. For a second, it looked like he and Burton may never work together again. Then …
“They sold their house and moved to American Falls,” Gugelman said.
Added Burton: “It was hard at first to go to a new school and meet new people but I learned to overcome that and now I love it here.”
And now he’s a state and national champion who has higher goals.
“Next year I want to go to Fargo and get the triple crown (winning a national championship in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco).” Burton said.
“He’s one we hope is a four-time state champion,” Gugelman added. “I know he has goals of wrestling in Division I and then, I would say, one day hopefully at an RTC (USA Wrestling Regional Training Center) and wrestle on the senior level. He’s got the work ethic and he’s got the drive.”