‘Ready to move on.’ Former Penn State wrestler Mark Hall to retire from competition
When a wrestler takes off their shoes in the middle of the wrestling mat and leaves them there, it’s a sign that they’ve decided to end their competition career.
On Friday evening, wrestling fans attending the U.S. Wrestling Olympics Team Trials saw former Missouri wrestler J’Den Cox do that inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
On Saturday morning, former Penn State wrestler Mark Hall took an unconventional route. He took his shoes off on the side of the mat after suffering a 9-4 loss to Trent Hidlay to end his tournament. Fans may or may not have noticed the symbolic move, but Hall told the Centre Daily Times that it did signal the end of retirement from the sport.
“I’m cashed out. I just don’t really have that fire. Don’t get me wrong, I love wrestling,” Hall said, “but that extra little bit to want to go and compete, making weight isn’t even hard for me. ... It was just things like that, that I started noticing. I thought it was just a good time for it.
“I really have no aspiration to keep wrestling, but I know that I’m young and if I do want to, that door could still be open, but right now I’m content with the way my career has been. I’ve been wrestling since I was 4 years old, so I’m happy with it.”
After his loss to Hidlay, Hall was full of emotion, with tears rolling down his face. But he said it wasn’t because he lost — he hardly ever gets upset about loses.
“I was just excited to be done,” Hall said. “It’s the emotions of having a decades long career. I’m just ready to move on.”
During his time at Penn State, Hall was a three-time NCAA finalist, winning it all in 2017. He was the No. 1 seed going into the 2020 NCAA Championships, which were ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He finished with a 116-6 while being a four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion.
After graduating, Hall became a volunteer assistant coach with Penn, and worked his way up to his current role of assistant coach with the Quakers.
As for his future plans, Hall said that’s still to be determined.
“I’m sure if I talk to (Penn) Coach (Roger) Reina or (Penn Regional Training Center) Coach (Brandon) Slay and there was a place for me to stay there, I’m sure I’ll always have a place in Philly,” Hall said. “I love the team there. I really don’t have anything on my mind. This is just so fresh and new, and again, it was only the past couple of days, I really felt this urge. I’m just kind of running with it, so we’ll see where it goes.”
