Mark Hall turns 14 years old in January, but you would never know it from talking to him or watching him wrestle. He's mature beyond his years both on and off the wrestling mat.
Mark Hall (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)
Hall grew up Michigan, spent part of last year in Kentucky, and moved with his father to Minnesota this past November. He is a seventh-grader at Falcon Ridge Middle School, but wrestles varsity at 130 pounds for the nation's No. 1 high school wrestling program, Apple Valley.

Minnesota got its first look at the seventh grade phenom at this year's annual Minnesota Christmas Tournament, which took place Dec. 17-18 at the UCR Regional Sports Center in Rochester.

Hall, who is ranked as the No. 1 junior high school wrestler in the country by InterMat, stole the show at an event filled with Division I prospects, state champions, and state placewinners.

Hall dominated the competition en route to winning the title at 130 pounds. His most notable victory, the one that that had state and national wrestling forums buzzing, came in the semifinals when he crushed Forest Lake junior Ben Morgan, a state champion, Junior National freestyle All-American, and nationally-ranked wrestler. After a scoreless first period, Hall put Morgan on his back early in the second period to go up 5-0 before cruising to a 10-0 shutout victory.
Mark Hall (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)
"When I say this I mean no disrespect to Ben Morgan because he's a cool kid," prefaced Hall. "But when I put Ben on his back, the whole crowd went silent. When it went silent, I knew that I had him beat because he's not used to being down 5-0 and eventually 8-0 going into the third period. After winning, I was like, yeah, I won, but I'm going to have to keep working hard because I know he's going to be working hard to beat me."

Apple Valley coach Jim Jackson believes that it's an intangible quality that has allowed Hall to be so successful at the high school level at such a young age.

"I think his demeanor has really helped him," said Jackson. "It's a calm confidence. Nothing rattles him. His demeanor blows me away."

Growing up in Michigan

Mark Hall grew up in Davison, Michigan, a suburb of Flint and located 50 miles north of Detroit. Davison High School became a wrestling powerhouse in Michigan under the direction of head coach Roy Hall (no relation to Mark Hall), a Davison alum and former Michigan State wrestler who took over the program in 1997. The Davison wrestling program has produced NCAA Division I champions and All-Americans, including Brent Metcalf (Iowa), Paul Donahoe (Nebraska/Edinboro), and Jon Reader (Iowa State).

"Roy (Hall) is a great coach," said Mark Hall's father, who is also named Mark. "You don't produce the people that he has without being a great coach and a great person. He'll do anything for you."

Mark Hall's love for wrestling was fostered at a young age by one of his first coaches in the Davison youth program, Chase Metcalf, older brother of two-time NCAA champion and U.S. World Team member Brent Metcalf.
Mark Hall with Chase Metcalf and Brent Metcalf
Chase was a two-time state champion, NHSCA Nationals champion, and Junior Nationals champion. Many believe Chase was a more talented wrestler than Brent, but didn't have the drive of his younger brother at the college level. After spending two years at the University of Michigan where he wrestled for the Wolverines, Chase Metcalf returned home and began coaching wrestling in Davison.

Chase Metcalf became much more than a youth wrestling coach to Mark Hall.

"We had practice at my house and then afterwards we would just hang out and play Xbox," said Hall. "He always took me out to eat with his family. Chase was a brother to me, or even like a second father to me. I was always hanging around him. I just loved him."

On Sept. 8, 2005, Mark Hall's world was shaken when Chase Metcalf, who had just turned 21 years old, died in an automobile accident. Some of Chase's wrestling belongings were passed onto Hall, including his Fargo (Junior Nationals) stop sign, and wrestling bag, which Hall uses to this day.

Hall, who was 8 years old at the time, took a month and a half off from wrestling. According to his father, "That was a hard time for Mark. He just couldn't get over it for a little bit."
Mark Hall
When Hall did return to the mat, his attitude toward training had changed.

"Chase pushed me one hundred and ten percent every single practice," said Hall. "Once he died, I started pushing myself even harder every single practice. It hurt to know that he wasn't there to push me anymore, so I had to it myself. It was sort of like a maturity thing. I can't have people watching out for me. I have to do things myself sometimes."

Hall continued to progress as a wrestler in Michigan. His father took him to wrestling events and wrestling camps all over the country. He was getting 250-plus matches a year. Often times he would compete in older age groups, in addition to his own age group, just for more competition. He won virtually everything there was to win as a youth wrestler, including Tulsa Nationals, Tulsa Kickoff Classic, Reno Worlds, Liberty Nationals, Border War Nationals, and Ohio Tournament of Champions.

"We always tried to get him the toughest kids to wrestle," said his father. "It doesn't matter if you win or lose. If you lose, that's a good learning tool. It makes you work harder because it shows that you're not the best out there."

Moving to Kentucky and wrestling varsity

Last year, Hall began his seventh-grade year at Davison Middle School, where he played football. In the winter, Hall moved to Union, Kentucky, located near Cincinnati, to wrestle for Ryle High School.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) prohibits seventh and eighth-graders from competing at the high school varsity level, but the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) allows it.

"Going to junior high tournaments wouldn't have benefited him," said Hall's father.

The Halls chose Ryle not only for the opportunity to compete at the high school varsity level, but also because of the workout partners and wrestling schedule.
Mark Hall wrestling Myron Bradbury
"He had great workout partners there at the time, plus eighty percent of Ryle's matches were in Ohio," said Mark's father. "They went to tough tournaments. They went to two tournaments that had 48 teams and saw teams like Graham."

Hall finished last season with a 42-3 varsity record at Ryle. He was a Kentucky state runner-up at 119 pounds, losing in the state finals to Myron Bradbury, a senior. Hall had split matches with Bradbury, an NHSCA Nationals runner-up, during the regular season, but lost the final meeting.

The Halls returned to Michigan after the wrestling season.

Last spring and summer, Hall continued to raise eyebrows with his performances. He defeated two-time California state champion and nationally-ranked Alex Cisneros at America's Cup last June.

Moving to Minnesota and wrestling for Apple Valley

In November, the Halls made another move, this time from Michigan to Minnesota to allow Mark Hall the opportunity to wrestle for the nation's No. 1 high school wrestling program, Apple Valley.
Mark Hall (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)
The primary reason for coming to Apple Valley, according to Mark Hall's father, was the workout partners. Apple Valley has several nationally-ranked wrestlers who are close to Hall in weight.

"After I got a job in Minnesota and we decided to come to Apple Valley, we didn't even know if he would be in the lineup," said Hall's father, a former wrestler himself who finished as a state runner-up in Michigan. "But we knew that he would have all these great workout partners to practice with all year. If he didn't ever step on the mat as a varsity wrestler, he would still be so much better."

Hall's first live-go when he arrived at Apple Valley was with Destin McCauley, the nation's No. 1 recruit by InterMat.

"That was a real eye-opener for me," Hall said of wrestling McCauley. "It showed me that I have a lot of things that I need to work on."

Hall admits that he took some poundings in the Apple Valley wrestling room when he first arrived, battling nationally-ranked wrestlers like McCauley, Dakota Trom, Matt Kelliher, and Brandon Kingsley. But he knew immediately that Apple Valley is where he needs to be to accomplish his wrestling goals.

"I knew right from the get-go that as soon as I stepped on the mat with all these ranked wrestlers that I had to be here to get to where I want to be," said Hall.

Initially, the plan was for Hall to wrestle at Davison High School in Michigan when he reached ninth grade. But that plan, at least for now, has changed.

"I'm almost one hundred percent sure that we're going to stay here at Apple Valley," said his father. "You can't get better competition. You can't get better workout partners. There are so many great coaches on staff working with the kids. Plus, all the Apple Valley wrestlers and coaches are great people."

Jackson has noticed improvements in Hall even in the short time he has been at Apple Valley.
Jim Jackson talks to Mark Hall (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)
"I really believe he has already improved," said Jackson. "I don't know how to say that because people think that I'm trying to take credit. I'm not trying to take any credit. It's his workout partners. That makes a huge difference. You're only as good as the people around you."

If there is one thing that people need to know about Mark Hall's father, it's that he will do whatever he feels is best for his children, regardless of what other people think. He has moved his son all over the country to give him the best opportunities to succeed. He also held his son back in school to help ensure that he's ready for college when the time comes.

"I did that because I don't want my son going to college at 17 years old," said his father. "I even held my daughter back. I don't want my son 600 miles away, being 17 years old, doing stupid stuff, or being led around by older kids. I want him to be mature enough to handle it."

With success comes scrutiny. There are those who question Hall's father's motives for moving his son all over the country to wrestle or holding him back in school. These things happen everywhere. But Mark Hall's situation is magnified even more because it's happening at Apple Valley, a highly-successful program that has benefited from transfers over the years. Jackson understands the animosity toward the Apple Valley program, but it's the animosity toward individuals, like Mark Hall and his father, that really bothers him.

"People are going to do what they think is best for their son or daughter," said Jackson. "To me, there's absolutely no one in a position to judge anybody at all. It's not their right to do that. You don't have to agree with it. And you have a right to your opinion. But to pass judgment on a family is not right. That's one thing that will bother me all the time."
Mark Hall (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)
The truth is ... those who choose to focus on whether Mark Hall should be in seventh grade or eighth grade, or on something negative, are missing a great story about a great kid.

"He's very humble," said Jackson. "Very hard working. Very respectful. The teachers love him. He's just a great kid."

As for his talents on the wrestling mat, they're freakish. "At the Christmas Tournament he really opened people's eyes," said Jackson. "People were like, 'Holy cow. Now what?'"

Mark Hall's story is just getting started. Jackson believes the sky is the limit for what he can accomplish in the sport. The soon-to-be 14-year-old has high goals in the sport.

"I want to be a six-time state champion," said Hall. "I want to win Fargo six or eight times, however many times I can win it. I want to be the next four-time NCAA champion. I want to wrestle in the Olympics too."

About 4 years ago while living in Ohio, my son who was 8 then ended up wrestling this kid (Mark Hall). Of course he was a prodigy back then and pinned my kid in the first period. This was small pre-season tournament in the Cleveland area, I thought it was odd that a kid would drive 4 hours from Davison, Michigan just to wrestle this small tournament. I talked to his dad, he was proud to let me know his son wrestled 50 weeks of the year.

I think this is a little over the top to switch jobs and move your kid to Kentucky and then Minnesota to the number 1 ranked wrestling team in the country. And apparently Minnesota lets 7th graders wrestle at the high school level so his kid is going to have 6 years of high school experience when all done. And on top of that, he's already done a high school red-shirt on his kid. He's 14 in the seventh grade. Ironic, that he says he didn't want to send his kid to college when he's 17. Somethig doesn't add up. If you project it out, he's going to be wrestling half of his senior year at 19.


Question: What does everybody think of the high school red shirt? I know it's different state to state, but should there be a rule that does not allow 19 year olds to compete at the high school level?

Maybe not maybe they will hold him back even another year or two for there must me a learning problem if he did not move on to the eighth grade after last season. I have already seen this article and curious how many time he can be held back. Though sooner or later he might have to some how get out of high school graduate quit am I wrong? Are you kidding me 19 as a senior geez he might just as well start applying for his AARP card.

Haters!!! If this was your kid and you had the money, I am sure you would do everything in your power for your kid to reach his potential. I would!! It is all about practice partners. You have to think outside the box and others may criticize (like the above posters), but you only live once! Dream BIG!!!