REPORT: Penn State wrestling great Mark Hall interviews for staff job at Oklahoma

Another Penn State wrestling icon may soon be heading for the Sooner State. A report from Seth Duckworth of Oklahoma Wrestle this week indicated that 2017 NCAA Champion Mark Hall recently interviewed for an open staff role with the Oklahoma wrestling program. The former Nittany Lion wrestler retired from competition during Olympic Team Trials in April and currently serves as an assistant coach at Penn.

Mark Hall interviews for Oklahoma Director of Operations role, per reports

Wednesday morning, Oklahoma Wrestle’s Seth Duckworth posted on social media that the Oklahoma Sooners had opened the Director of Operations position for its wrestling program. Within five minutes, Duckworth had followed up on that tweet, noting that the Sooners recently brought Mark Hall to Norman to interview for the role.

I'm told former NCAA Champion Mark Hall visited Norman and interviewed for it recently

— MatBoy (@Seth_Duckworth) May 8, 2024

Hall is one of the most dominant wrestlers in recent memory for Cael Sanderson, finishing his Penn State wrestling career with a 116-6 record. A four-time All-American and three-time NCAA finalist, Hall won three Big Ten titles and the 2017 National Championship at 174 pounds.

On the international stage, Mark Hall is a two-time U.S. Wrestling UWW Junior National Champion. He also won the Gold Medal at the 2018 Pan American Championships. He could never add the title of Olympian to his resume though, retiring from competitive wrestling at U.S. Olympic Team Trials in State College in April.

However, Hall’s true calling has long been coaching. In 2021, he joined the Penn staff as an assistant coach. “Becoming a coach has been a dream of mine since my freshman year of college,” Hall says in his Penn biography. “Prior to that, I was going to school to become a teacher. It is in my blood to provide others with life and athletic advice, and I could not be prouder to join the Penn wrestling staff so I can do just that.”

Could the former Nittany Lion join the Penn State wrestling staff?

Of course, the report comes in light of the major news this week: David Taylor leaving Happy Valley to become the next head coach at Oklahoma State. Taylor has already plucked one coach from Cael Sanderson’s staff, bringing his brother-in-law and Penn State wrestling assistant Jimmy Kennedy along to Stillwater.

That means Sanderson now has an opening to fill. With Mark Hall now pursuing coaching full-time, it may be worth considering bringing him back to State College. Another obvious candidate to replace Kennedy would be two-time National Champion Vincenzo Joseph, who also recently retired from competition. Joseph was an assistant coach at Stanford and is currently the Recruiting Coordinator for Arizona State.

While Hall and Joseph may not be perfect matches in terms of weight class, that’s an adjustment that can be made. What they do have, however, is an inside track on how Sanderson runs his program and culture. Ultimately, that could go a long way in Sanderson’s eyes.

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