InterMat caught up with Hall and talked to him about Boise State not getting as much national recognition as other top programs, the 157-pound weight class, Greg Randall, Jason Chamberlain, what it's going to take for the Broncos to win the national team title, and much more.
Adam HallHall: It does, but at the same time we keep things in pretty good perspective here. We know being in the West we're not as respected. We're trying to change that and trying to build off that. First of all, we're trying to keep our programs in the West. But also build off of it. Like I said, we keep things in pretty good perspective. We know we have to always be proving ourselves to everybody. We know where we have to do that ... at the NCAA tournament in March.
You and Bubba Jenkins of Arizona State have split two matches. He defeated you at the NWCA All-Star Classic, but you came back to beat him at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Did the fact that the first meeting was an exhibition have anything to do with the way you approached that match?
Hall: No, I approach every match the same, regardless of whether it counts or they use it for this or that. I don't really care. I'm a really competitive person, so I never want to lose. I just didn't have the right game plan when I went out there. I had never wrestled Bubba. Frankly, I didn't prepare like I needed to.
Was it a matter of being overaggressive in that first meeting?
Hall: Yeah, it was. Also having a different mindset. I tried to get him tired and I ended up getting myself tired and just making a bunch of mental mistakes.
You tied Oregon State in a dual earlier this season, 18-18. This past Sunday you won in dominating fashion, 31-6. What was the difference this time around?
Hall: We had a few of our guys back that we didn't have in that first dual. A lot of our guys are really turning it on right now. Coach Randall, Coach Owens, and Coach White are really busting us hard and training us through these duals for the bigger goal. We think it would show on the mat with us being tired, but in fact it is actually the opposite. We have good gas tanks and we're performing. I think the difference this time was our hustle. It looked like a couple of their guys cut their weight wrong ... There were all these factors. But I think we just got the ball rolling. It was big starting at 141 and getting a big win from Levi Jones. That got us going. They had almost four thousand fans there and it was pretty quiet most of the dual.
Photo/Dave Jedlicka, jedicheetah.comHall: It's growing. It continues to grow every year. We have respect for each other, but we definitely know we don't like each other. That's pretty much it. One of our wrestlers made a big axe, so now we have kind of a rivalry axe and we engrave the duals into it. We're trying to start something on the West Coast and build off it. That's the basis of our rivalry right now. It's pretty new.
There has been a lot of interest nationally this season in the 157-pound weight class ... because of the names and dominating performances. How much attention do you pay to what's going on in your weight class nationally?
Hall: Very little, actually. People can talk this and that about the top guys, like David Taylor has been dominant all year and Steve Fittery has been dominant all year. It's my senior year. I'm having fun. I really want to keep things in perspective. The last four years it really helped me do that because my perspective on wrestling and on life changed a lot since my freshman year. People talk about pressure and this and that, but I just take it a day at a time. I enjoy the team I'm on. I enjoy the guys that I'm competing with. I enjoy the fact that our coaches are really pushing us hard and reminding me to leave it all out there with this being my last year.
Adam Hall (Photo/Tony Rotundo, wrestlersarewarriors.com)Hall: Since I was little I had it on my mind to be a four-time All-American and a multiple-time national champion. But when things don't work out the way you want in life, especially in a heart-breaking way for a couple years, you have to make some changes, whether it's in wrestling or mental, or a combination of both. I enjoy my wrestling more now. Like I was saying, I keep things in perspective. People don't just see me as a wrestler. I see most of the guys on my team as good guys before I see them as good wrestlers.
Do you think that change in perspective has taken some pressure off you?
Hall: Oh, yeah. It helps that we have three other guys on the team ranked in the top three that are doing really well this year. Being by yourself and trying to do that, it just adds to the pressure. But when you have other guys that are trying to do the same thing, it works in reverse almost, I think. We're pretty light about things. We don't really think about records or this and that. We have been in the game long enough to know what counts.
If a potential recruit asked you to describe your coach, Greg Randall, how would you describe him?
Greg Randall (Photo/Dave Jedlicka, jedicheetah.com)Some wrestlers watch a lot of video when preparing for matches, while others don't. How much time do you spend looking at film?
Hall: Not as much compared to when I was a freshman. I've worked my way up to where I'm at in college. More or less for me, it's just going out and just wrestling, just flowing. When I have an opponent coming up, I'll see what he has on his feet, on top and bottom. But other than that, I don't necessarily have to break it down tremendously for an upcoming match. My coaches tell me, 'We don't need to coach you. We just need to cheerlead for you and try to get the calls going our way if need be.' That's basically it. They're like, 'You just need to go out and wrestle. Just enjoy it. You know what to do.' If we need to scout a little bit, we will. That's the great thing about my assistant coach Kirk White ... He's on top of the video that next week from the previous weekend. All season he has everything for every wrestler. He really works hard doing that, so I really appreciate that.
Last season you beat Chase Pami the first two times you met, but he came back to beat you in the NCAA quarterfinals. What did that loss do to you?
Hall: That was really the gut check in my career. I've had similar times in my career. One time was at Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman. In fact, I didn't want to wrestle anymore after that because it was a poor performance. Chris Owens, my assistant coach who was and still is the Idaho National Team coach, basically didn't give me a choice of not wrestling anymore. It worked out in my favor because I ended up taking second in freestyle in Juniors that year and it really got the ball rolling for me. But it was the same kind of deal when I lost last year. He got on my case pretty hard. I had gotten choked a little bit in the match. I was pretty out of it after the match. Basically I just went back to the hotel and I wrote down all the things I had done differently this year to have a different result and to not lose in the round of 12 again. I just wrote down that I'm going to be an All-American that year. I just decided that. I had like three or four hours to prepare. I had a tough opponent, a two-time returning All-American who was a senior. They don't call it the blood round for nothing. Everybody is out for blood to try to get in.
It really turned the corner as far as college wrestling for me. The two previous years I lost in the round of 12. I never had known what it felt like to make it in. It was good. The funny thing is ... right after my match, Coach Owens was like, 'Hey, now that you made it in, they really respect a guy that comes back and takes third after a tough loss like you had. I was like, 'Fine, I'll come back and take third.' I just rolled off a string of victories. I look back and that was some of the best wrestling that I've had in college. I beat some tough guys pretty soundly. The other thing he was telling me was, 'Now that you've taken third, you don't really care do you?' I was like, 'To tell you the truth, I don't. I've put so much pressure on myself.' He's like, 'Once you get there, all you want to do is take first.' I said, 'That's right.' Since that point, I've just had that goal in mind and set my sights on it.
Adam Hall (Photo/Tony Rotundo, wrestlersarewarriors.com)Hall: I would say in my leg defense. I have more confidence at being able to scramble, wrestle, and defend my legs a little better. I'm not saying I don't get taken down because I obviously do. I have always been such an offensive-minded wrestler. I've really learned better counter offense this year and stopping guys with my hips better. I look back, when Ben Cherrington won the NCAAs, that's all he worked on when he was hurt the first half of his senior year. He would hand fight with Kirk White and work on his defense. It really showed when he went to the NCAA tournament. He didn't have anybody score on him until the finals. His counter offense was really good. You look at a lot of the guys that are winning titles, they're not flashy, but they're solid wrestlers. They're hard to score on. They score when they need to.
Have you thought about what it's going to take at the NCAAs for the team to be in a position to win the NCAA team title in Philadelphia?
Hall: Yeah. Coach Owens talks about it a little bit. I kind of have it in my mind too. Punching four guys into the finals is a big step. Not just that, but having another guy make it into the All-American round and have a couple other contributors that are in the hunt to be All-Americans. We have that. Our 174-pounder, Jake Swartz, has beaten a returning All-American this year. He knows what it takes to win those tough matches come March. Our 197-pounder is turning it on too. He has beaten three ranked kids the last eight or nine days. He's really looking great. Those are the guys that we need to win matches at NCAAs and put is in a position to make a run for the title. And just keep doing what we have been doing ... just staying offensive and just getting after it. That's the one thing that I learned from the two years when I was at NCAAs and didn't place and last year ... I just watched the guys that were making it in and becoming All-Americans. They get after it. They don't wait. They trust their offense. That's another change I've seen in my style. Just knowing, 'What are you waiting for?'
Adam Hall (Photo/Tony Rotundo, wrestlersarewarriors.com)Hall: It's great because he has a very good offense as well and good hips. He's good on his feet. It's just another guy that is hard to score on. I love it. Every day I try to grab a tough guy and learn from their style because I never know when I'm going to be wrestling someone who has his style ... or I need to learn something that they're doing really well. I'll even drill with our 133-pounder Andrew Hochstrasser. He's a lot smaller than me, but he's one of the toughest riders in college. He's really good on top. Not only that, but he's able to turn guys. That's one thing I've been trying to work on as well ... not just riding, but also being able to turn guys. I just kind of feed off everyone I wrestle. Jason is a really good one because he's really, really technically sound. That's one area that I try to definitely improve on because I'm a little bit more of a bruiser than him and kind of just grind out points a little bit more than him. He's very smooth, very fluent. It definitely helps not only drilling, but also wrestling with him.
You have done a lot of freestyle wrestling over your career. You competed on the senior level this past summer and even spent time at the Olympic Training Center. Do you plan to continue wrestling freestyle after your collegiate wrestling career?
Hall: I've been debating both. I'm not exactly sure yet. I'm just going to enjoy the end of my college career. I'm going to help contribute back to the program here and make that decision when the time comes. The hardest thing for me is the weight. I was talking with the coaches (at the Olympic Training Center) because I was an intern for them this summer. They all say the best weight for me is at 145.5. I'm kind of caught in between weights. I really am. Even when you're a decent-sized 157-pounder, you're still going to be a small 163-pounder. I'm so lean year round. Out of season when I lift, my body really responds and I really put on a lot of muscle. They tell me it would be a lifestyle change, obviously, and I would have to do some things different. I know that. I just want to make sure my heart is in it. Without a doubt, I would love to. But I think after the season I would need a little bit of a break. I was contemplating wrestling in the Open, obviously at 163, but it's like a week after our spring break. I think I'll wait to try to wrestle in the qualifiers and try to get into the Trials ... and just enjoy wrestling and see where I'm at from there.
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