Tanner Hall of Idaho has his arm raised after winning the 215-pound title in freestyle at the 2010 ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals. John Sachs photo

Tanner Hall of Meridian, Idaho, one of the nation’s most respected high school senior student-athletes, has announced his wrestling plans for after high school.

Hall will become a resident athlete in freestyle wrestling at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. He will continue to live and train there during the next academic year in 2011-12, focusing on training and competition in international freestyle wrestling.

Hall, a 2010 Junior Nationals champion in freestyle, has not yet made a decision about where he will attend college.

“I had heard about it, and I went to the U.S. Olympic Training Center for a training camp a month or so ago. I enjoyed it, and felt it was an amazing opportunity,” said Hall. “There are some of the best coaches in the world there and a never-ending supply of great workout partners. I will get to compete in plenty of tournaments. It is anything you would ever want and a huge honor to be selected for this program.”

He becomes the second 2010 Junior National freestyle champion who is completing high school this year to make this commitment, joining Destin McCauley of Minnesota in the USOTC program.

“I definitely have a goal to win an Olympic gold medal, but I also have a goal to win NCAA titles as well,” said Hall.

The USA Wrestling freestyle coaching staff looks forward to helping Hall to achieve his high goals.

“We are very excited to have Tanner Hall join our program,” said USA Wrestling National Freestyle Developmental Coach Bill Zadick. “He has shown great potential for success in his career. We look forward to helping him on the path to success in his college wrestling career and at the World Championships and Olympic Games. We are pleased to work with somebody with his abilities.”

Hall won the 2009 Junior Nationals freestyle title at 215 pounds, and was second at the Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman in Fargo, N.D. This performance was part of a very successful spring season for Hall in the international wrestling styles.

He was a 2010 FILA Cadet Nationals champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman in Akron, Ohio. Hall was also second at the 2010 Pan American Youth Olympic Games Qualifier in Monterrey, Mexico in freestyle. He was third at the 2010 FILA Junior World Team Trials in both freestyle and Greco-Roman in Colorado Springs, Colo. At the 2010 FILA Junior Nationals in Cleveland, Ohio, Hall was third in Greco-Roman and fourth in freestyle. 

Hall has won two Idaho state high school titles for Meridian High School, heading into his senior season. In 2009, he was also a Cadet Nationals Greco-Roman champion.

Last week, Hall won the 215-pound title at the Walsh Ironman Tournament held in Ohio, one of the most respected high school wrestling events in the nation each year.

Hall is joining a growing trend of talented athletes who have decided to train at the USOTC after finishing high school and before attending college.

This year, Junior National champions Derek Garcia of Washington and Carson Kuhn of Utah, Junior World Team member Tyler Lehman of North Dakota and Junior All-American Evan Knight of Iowa are training full-time at the USOTC in freestyle.

“At the USOTC, we only bring in wrestlers who desire to be Olympic and World champions down the road,” said National Freestyle Resident Coach Brandon Slay. “But our first step for our developmental guys like Tanner Hall and Destin McCauley, as well as those who are currently training here, is to make the Junior World Team and win a Junior World Title. Our goal is to establish an ultra-firm freestyle foundation that will benefit wrestlers for many years to come”

Hall will train on a daily basis with top Senior-level resident athletes in the upper weights, including Wynn Michalak, Marty Usman and Tyler Lehman. He will also be able to train with many other nationally-ranked Senior athletes who come to train at the numerous Freestyle Team USA training camps in Colorado Springs.

Zadick is excited that Hall will have such strong training partners at the USOTC, and that all of the developmental athletes who train there will experience rapid improvement.

“These guys will feed off of each other. We expect great things from them all,” said Zadick.