Hall to retire from coaching at WPI
Steve Hall will be stepping down from his position as head coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute after eight years at the helm. He will remain in the athletic department working on alumni relations and special projects. Hall had his best season this past year as the Engineers went 18-4 and he was named Northeast Region Coach of the Year. He is a member of the WPI Athletics Hall of Fame and compiled a 54-4-2 record while becoming a four time New England placewinner during his own competitive career. He was an assistan coach at WPI for four seasons after his 1987 graduation and returned to the school as head coach in 2010.
Hall to Retire as WPI Wrestling Coach
WORCESTER — WPI head wrestling coach Steve Hall has announced that he will be retiring from his coaching responsibilities but will remain with the department to focus on alumni relations and special projects. A national search for a new wrestling head coach will begin immediately.
“Steve has been an impactful leader for not only the WPI Wrestling Program but also for all of WPI Athletics,” commented WPI Director of Athletics Dana L. Harmon. “He has been a tireless champion of the WPI educational experience helping many of his student-athletes achieve not only in competition but also more importantly academically and in the community. Our wrestling program has thrived under his leadership and he has made many great contributions to our entire athletic program. I cannot thank him enough for all that he has done to help us “Engineer Excellence” in all that we do every day.”
Hall, a Hall of Fame wrestler for the Engineers, returned to the program for the 2010-2011 season. He has amassed 83 victories in his eight years as head coach, including double digit win totals in each of his last five season at the helm.
“WPI and WPI wrestling had an immeasurable effect on my career and my life,” remarked Hall. “I have been unbelievably fortunate to have been able to spend the last eight years on the WPI campus working with the student-athletes in the wrestling program to hopefully provide them with the same type of experience that I had when I was here as a student. I am looking forward to the new chapter for the program and I am excited for our athletes to have the opportunity to achieve even higher levels of success for many years to come under new leadership.”
The 2017-2018 campaign was his most successful one as was named the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) and the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Northeast Region Coach of the Year. The Crimson and Gray posted an 18-4 dual meet record, the third most wins in a season in program history, and the most since the 1993-94 season. Bolstered by seven regional place winners, Hall’s wrestlers collected a second place finish at the 17-team NCAA regional tournament in March and a program-best third place showing in the NEWA Dual Meet Championships in January.
Sophomore Tyler Marsh represented the team this year at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, joining Zach Hartzell (2013) and Brian Amato (2015 All-American) as national tournament participants during the Hall era. During his eight seasons as head coach, WPI boasted 30 regional tournament place-winners at the national qualifying tournament.
Hall’s wrestlers also enjoyed success in the classroom during his tenure as his squads were consistently in the top three in NEWA and top 20 nationally in team GPA. Over the past four years, the WPI Wrestling program has earned sixty All-NEWA Academic honors and sixteen Scholar All-Americans by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.