A Hall of Work

A day for any college student is usually pretty stressful, with classes taking up most of the days and some having to workdays can get very hectic. Life can get pretty chaotic if you are a student-athlete in college as well in a sport that dominates most of your life choices. In wrestling, weight is something that consumes most student’s normal choices in eating patterns and can become even more difficult with classes on top of it. One student manages to not only rank 8th in the nation in wrestling but is studying psychology and is in the music program as well. 

Robert Hall is a second-year sophomore here at Iowa Lakes community college and is currently studying psychology. Hall spends most of his time focusing on his studies and wrestling, but also is very well dedicated to his music. He is in concert choir which requires him to perform at the Iowa Lakes coffee houses that happen about once every month and he also sings the national anthem at sporting events. 

“Singing while in uniform was really cool,” said Hall, “I have never done something like that before where I got to sing and then compete right after. That was just a fun experience.”

Hall is currently ranked 8th in the nation for his weight class and is continuing to compete on top of his studies. Hall talked about how this year’s team is very young and that they are going through some growing pains right now. 

“The team is really young right now,” said Hall, “It’s expected and we are growing and getting better every day. I feel like I’m doing the right things on and off the matt. I am showing the younger ones to stay out of trouble and to take care of business when the time comes.”

Assistant coach Corey Meyer discussed that Hall is a great leader for the team and that he will continue to be of huge importance to the program.

“He brings so much life and energy to the team,” said Meyer, “Rob is very light-hearted and that brings so much positivity to the team and because it is such an intense and serious sport it really helps the team out.”

Hall and Meyer both discussed that Hall went through some rough patches last year with school work and staying out of trouble. This year has been different for him though as he has continued to stay so busy that he will keep this good thing going. 

“Motivation has been a key for his big shift from last year to this year,” said Meyer, “When you are having so much success like Rob is, it’s easy to continue to take these steps. He was constantly behind people and now that he is “the man” he has the motivation to be a leader. He stepped into the leadership role.”

Meyer also talked about how “wonderful” it is to have an athlete who is involved in multiple things.

“If he sang a little less in practice and on the bus that would be a little great,” said Meyer, “Having any student-athlete who is involved in multiple things, we tend to see that they have more success. They know where they need to go and what they need to get done every day, each day.”

The next time you can catch Robert Hall in action at home is on January 16th at home at Spirit Lake High School with a dual against NIACC.