By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Otter Tail Central and Henning’s most decorated wrestler in school and program history will take his seat among the greatest wrestling legends in the state on Saturday, May 17. 

Jacob Volkmann, who was a four-time state entrant and three-time state champion while wrestling for OTC, will be one of 16 people who will be inducted into the David Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony and dinner will be held in Benson on Saturday, May 17.

Volkmann graduated from Henning High School in 1999 and won state titles at 140 lbs. in 1997, 145 lbs. in 1998 and 152 lbs. in 1999. He finished with a career record of 162-18 in high school and was named as the Mr. Minnesota wrestler in 1999.

Despite all his accolades in wrestling, Volkmann said there was a time in school where he wanted to play basketball, instead of wrestle in high school. After all, the Henning-native was the only wrestler in his grade from Henning and almost all of his friends from school opted to play hoops.

“I wanted to play basketball with my friends and my dad said no you are going to wrestle,” said Volkmann. “I really started liking (wrestling) in ninth grade.”

He went on to wrestle for the University of Minnesota Gophers under coach J Robinson where he was a four-time national qualifier and three-time NCAA Division 1 All-American. During his time as a Gopher, Volkmann placed fourth in 2001 at 174 lbs., third in 2003 at 165 lbs., and was fourth in 2004 at 165 lbs. 

Volkmann was a Big 10 champion in 2004 and was an integral part of the 2001 and 2002 Minnesota National Champion wrestling teams. His record in college was an astounding 127-36 and in 2008 he won the FILA World Wrestle title at 74 kilos. He finished in second place in 2009, losing to Ben Askren in the finals. 

Following his college wrestling career, Volkmann began a career in Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Fighting Championship. He ended his MMA and UFC career with an impressive 19-7 record overall. 

The Henning-native was nominated for the hall of fame by Tom Nygaard, who shared the news with him at Volkmann’s mom’s home a while back.

“You have to get nominated. Tom Nygaard nominated me so that’s the guy who I am going to have give me the award at the ceremony,” said Volkmann. “Tom came to my mom’s house when I came to visit and he told me.”

Among his favorite memories as a wrestler for OTC and in high school was when he won his first state championship. Volkmann trailed late in the match by a score of 6-5, before he hit a switch from his stomach to win by a score of 7-6. That was the year Luke Becker was also going for his third state championship as well, something Volkmann did just a few years later. 

As far as the induction ceremony, Volkmann said he is looking forward to the opportunity to be inducted into the hall of fame and has appreciated all of the messages of support he has received since the news of the honor has been released. 

“It’s exciting. I am getting texts and calls and posts about it on Facebook,” he said.

Volkmann currently lives in Hugo, Minn. and operates a tree trimming service. He has three children: Sophia, Francis and Harper. 

The David Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner will be held on Saturday, May 17 at McKinney’s on Southside in Benson, Minn. The cost to attend the dinner and banquet is $40 for adults and $30 for children (18 and under). 

To reserve a spot at the banquet send the name of the attendee, address, home phone number, email address, number of tickets needed and amount due, with a check, to Make checks Payable to:  MWCA; Steve Ricard,  405 15th St. North Benson, MN 56215 (320) 444-0569 (cell) or email slricard200@gmail.com

The 2025 inductees include: Todd Bergeron, Coach; Tom Gruhlke, Coach; Larry Herm, Coach/Contributor, Patrick Johannes, Athlete; Steve King, Athlete; Tom Kuisle, Coach/Official; Brian Loeffler, Athlete; Brad Loeffler, Athlete;  Efrem Novacek, Coach/Contributor; Bruce Olson, Coach; Lynn Plumley Coach/Contributor; Les Plumley, Coach/Contributor; Jacob Volkmann, Athlete; Bruce Wilson, Contributor/Official; Al Doty, Pioneer and Jim Zimmerman, Pioneer.