On a tear

AMES - Earl Hall isn't one who will say much in the locker room. His soft-spoken nature is apparent among the Iowa State wrestling team, but what's also easy to see is he's letting his actions on the mat do all the talking.

Since the beginning of January, Hall is a 9-0, including a championship at 133 pounds at the Southern Scuffle and a first-period pin over Oklahoma's second-ranked Cody Brewer on Saturday.

Hall, 21-4 overall, said it was a switch inside him that flipped on after he got back to Ames from winter break.

'I just thought to myself ‘I've got to make something happen,'” Hall said. 'I don't want to be remembered as the kid who had a whole lot of talent and didn't do anything with it.”

After earning All-American honors at 125 pounds a year ago, Hall moved up a weight class and has been one of the Cyclones' most consistent performers in the new year. His last loss came nearly two months ago at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and, in ISU Coach Kevin Jackson's mind, Hall has approached his matches with a technique that has propelled him past his opponents.

In his nine-match winning streak, Hall has two pints - including one at the Southern Scuffle - and has recorded seven decisions, with the largest margin of victory being five points. Jackson feels the next step is for Hall to 'dominate” matches to boost the team's chance in duals, just like he saw him do in high school.

'He just used to go out there and try to pick guys up and throw them down,” Jackson said. 'He has the same ability to do it to the majority of guys here in college, and if you have that mentality when you run into that high-caliber kid, you're still going to think about dominating and you'll win those matches as well.”

Hall compiled a 208-2 record as high school wrestler in Homestead, Fla., and was a four-time state champion. It's that sense of domination he's been looking for during his streak.

'I feel like I think entirely too much in the match,” Hall said. 'One thing I definitely do now is watch my old high school tapes. I used to dominate. I used to just go out there and do whatever to people.”

Through talking with his mom and cutting out the outside noise, Hall's confidence hasn't been the issue. In his win against Gary Wayne Harding of Oklahoma State on Jan. 25, Hall jumped out to a 5-0 lead, before holding on for a 9-5 win. He knows it's his folk style technique that needs tightened up as Iowa State goes on the road for two Big 12 duals.

And while getting bonus points for the team is now the objective, Hall said he's in a place mentally to take that step.

'I'm not going to back down to anybody,” Hall said. 'I'm just going to go out there, get on my offense and stay on it for seven minutes, 10 minutes, whatever I've got to do.”

The Cyclones (7-2) wrestle at West Virginia on Saturday.