Mark John Hall II (born January 11, 1997) is an

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former

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competed at 86 kilograms. As a folkstyle wrestler, Hall was an NCAA Division I National champion (three-time finalist) and a three-time

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champion (four-time finalist) out of the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. As a freestyle wrestler, Hall was the 2021 US Open National champion, 2018 Pan American Continental champion, a two–time Junior World Champion and a Cadet World Champion.

Early life and school career

Middle and high school

Hall was born and grew up in

Goodrich, Michigan Goodrich is a village in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,022 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Atlas Township and is part of the Flint metropolitan area. Geography According to the United ...

, where he started wrestling at age six at Goodrich Middle School. He played

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since he was 4 years old until he was 10 years old and attributes his quickness on the mat to his background. He started seventh grade at Goodrich Middle School where he excelled in Football and Wrestling, but ended up moving to

Union, Kentucky Union is a List of cities in Kentucky, home-rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 7,416 . The area was rural until residential growth in the 1990s and 2000s. Union is located south ...

, to wrestle for Ryle High School. The move was originated because the MHSAA does not allow middle schoolers to compete in the varsity high school level, while the

KHSAA The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) has been the governing body of the U.S. state of Kentucky's List of high schools in Kentucky, high school athletics since 1917. It is located in Lexington, Kentucky, Lexington. Sports The o ...

does. In that year (2010), Hall compiled a 42–3 record and made it to the finals of the state championships at 119, where he finally lost to the defending state champion Myron Bradbury. In 2011, Hall moved once again to wrestle at Apple Valley High School in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and decided to repeat 7th grade. He posted a 46–3 record as a seventh-grader and won a state title at 130 pounds. As an 8th-grader, he was unbeaten with a record of 43–0 and won his second state title now at 145 pounds. In his

freshman year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, he moved up another weight class and went on to win his third state title, this time at 152 pounds. As a

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, he moved up a weight class for the final time and went on to win his fourth state championship at 165 pounds, he also became a Cadet World Champion in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

. In his two remaining years (

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and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

) he won two more state titles at 165-pounds, making him a six-time Minnesota state champion and receiving the 2016 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award. He also won the Junior World Championships and reached quarterfinals in the Olympic Team Trials in 2016 as a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

senior. He was named the Junior Hodge Trophy winner the same year. Hall posted a 278–5 record overall and is often considered the best

high school wrestler in history due to his accomplishments.

College career

He enrolled with the

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2016–17

At the beginning of the season, Hall was having a good

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

season as he was 13–1 with seven

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, but he surpassed the expectations so much by comfortably winning the Southern Scuffle that PSUs Head Coach

Cael Sanderson Cael Norman Sanderson ( ; born June 20, 1979) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler who is the current head coach of Penn State's wrestling team. As a wrestler, he won an Olympic gold medal and was undefeated in four years of ...

pulled his redshirt. As a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

, Hall went on to compete at the Big Ten Championships, where he posted a 2–1 record, making him the tournament's

runner-up {{Short pages monitor