Aug. 1, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; August 1, 2017 -- Penn State Nittany Lion wrestler Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) rolled through the field at the 2017 Junior World Championships in Tampere, Finland. Hall rolled to a 5-0 record to win the 74kg title. Hall is coming off a 2016-17 NCAA folkstyle season that saw him win the 174 pound individual title in St. Louis, part of Penn State's 5-0 performance in the national finals and team title run.
Hall, who will be a sophomore at Penn State this upcoming season, opened up the tournament with a 10- technical fall over Adlan Bataiev of the Ukraine. He then downed Radik Valiev of Russia 6-2 in the second round. The Apple Valley grad then rolled over Mohammad Mottaghinia of Iran in the quarterfinals, notching a 10- tech fall.
The Nittany Lion national champion then posted a strong 10-3 decision over Muhammet Kucukyildirim of Turkey in the semifinals to earn a spot in the 74kg finals. Hall then got the fall over Isa Shapiev of Uzbekistan in just 0:42 to win the 2017 Junior World Championship. The world title is Hall's second straight Junior World Championship.
Hall closed out his first NCAA season with a 31-3 mark, including 12 pins, three techs and six majors. His 5-0 run through nationals, ending in the 174 pound title, capped off an outstanding season. He joined teammate Vincenzo Joseph in becoming Penn State's first-ever freshmen National Champions. Hall was the third true freshman finalist in Penn State history, joining Cary Kolat (1993) and Nico Megaludis (2012), and the first to win a title.
Penn State won its sixth NCAA national championship in the last seven years in St. Louis earlier this month and Hall played a huge role in that victory. Penn State also won the 2017 Big Ten Regular season crown and the NWCA Dual Championship Series title, going 14-0 overall with a 9-0 mark in conference action. Penn State returns nine of ten starters, eight of nine NCAA qualifiers and all six of its 2017 All-Americans for next the 2017-18 season.
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2016-17 Penn State wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.