It's been a long, eventful trip for Cory Hall. Wrestling has led the 1996 Rising Sun High School graduate from coast to coast and back home again. Now Hall is in charge of the program which launched his journey. He's coaching the varsity team at his alma mater. From Rising Sun to California to Philadelphia to Chicago to Cecil County, (and an excursion to Switzerland) and now back to Rising Sun. Hall was a standout wrestler in his scholastic career. He was 35-1 in his senior season, losing in the state semifinals, and depriving himself the opportunity to face one of the country's best wrestlers in the finals. He learned something that season that has stayed with him. "I didn't listen to my coach (legendary Rising Sun coach Dean Cox)," Hall recalls. "I thought winning was enough. Looking back it changed my philosophy, how I coach, and how I look at the sport. It's a lot more than winning. I't's about developing and getting better every day." Following graduation from Rising Sun High, Hall attended Cecil Community College for a year. Then he and friends and fellow Tigers Ben Metcalfe and Seth Garvin went west – all the way to the Golden State. They arrived in August with plans to wrestle at a California junior college, staying at a coach's house while they looked for a place to share. The "Maryland Guys", as they were known in California, were shocked to learn that wrestling practice began the next day but still managed to have successful seasons. Hall took off from wrestling for a few years before winding up in Chicago after a detour in Philadelphia. He landed a scholarship to Oakton Community College. While recovering from a shoulder injury he became the de facto coach. Hall battled back to qualify for the national tournament but he "was out of gas" by that point and did not fare well. From Oakton it was on to North Central College. Hall said he was slated to be the starting 197-pounder before being displaced by the arrival of a big new recruit. He served as a volunteer coach and coached in Naperville before returning to Cecil County in 2009. Back home he reunited with Metcalfe and joined his friend's staff at Bohemia Manor. Hall then coached under Cox at Rising Sun after Tigers' assistant Wayne Heffelfinger stepped down. In April, 2011, Hall earned a silver medal in grappling at the World Grand Prix in Switzerland, taking advantage of an opportunity afforded him by former Rising Sun wrestling great Jason Townsend. The past couple years have been busy. Hall and his wife, Rising Sun High graduate Kysha (Lucas) Hall have welcomed two children. Cory Hall spent last winter volunteering with the Rising Sun Junior Wrestling program and now works at Aberdeen Proving Ground. During his journey, Hall has encountered several successful wrestling coaches. He has incorporated those lessons with those learned while wrestling for Cox at Rising Sun. "I think it's one of the most solid systems of coaching you can have," Hall says. Most of all, he will be guided by his own observations and realizations he made after falling short of his ultimate goal of a state championship. "Steady development and improving day in and day out are more important that winning," he said. "That's been my coaching philosophy wherever I've been." Comments are closed.
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