Earl Hall, third from right with bronze medal, poses with the U.S. team on the final day of the Petko Sirakov–Ivan Illiev Junior International in Bulgaria

VARNA, Bulgaria – Earl Hall (Homestead, Fla../OTC) won a bronze medal in freestyle in the final day of the Petko Sirakov–Ivan Illiev Junior International on Sunday.

Hall, who is a developmental resident at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, had a 3-1 record at 60 kg/132 lbs., including a pin over Leon Suhov of Bulgaria in the third period of the bronze-medal match.

Hall won his first two matches, defeating athletes from Hungary and Romania. In the semifinals, he was edged by Raul Donu of Romania in three periods, 5-5, 5-1, 1-1.

“We finished the tournament well today with Earl Hall wrestling to a bronze medal. We had some crazy calls that cost us in the semi's however we can improve to a level where we clean up situations and make them unquestionable. With the Resident Development Team, we are on a course. I'm happy with the progress I see to this point and look forward to continued growth and success,” said Assistant National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick.

The U.S. won three medals during the tournament, with only five athletes entered. All were developmental residents at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

Winning a silver medal at Robbie Mathers (Awatukee, Ariz./OTC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and winning a bronze medal was Willie Miklus (Des Moines, Iowa/OTC) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

This tour was funded by a grant from the USA Wrestling Foundation.

PETKO SIRAKOV – IVAN ILLIEV JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL
At Varna, Bulgaria, March 31

U.S. performances

60 kg/132 lbs. - Earl Hall, Homestead, Fla. (OTC), bronze medal
WIN Adrian Kranitz (Hungary), 4-2, pin
WIN Gabriel Badea (Romania), 2-1, 6-2
LOSS Raul Donu (Romania), 5-5, 5-2, 1-1
WIN Leon Suhov (Bulgaria), 1-0, 0-2, pin