Mitch Hull GARY ABBOTT’S MATSIDE CHAT WITH...
A Junior National double champion from Wisconsin, Mitch
Hull went on to be a two-time All-American for the Badgers and pursue his Olympic dream. One of the few to make a U.S. Senior World Team in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, Hull was second at the 1984 Olympic Trials in freestyle. He turned to coaching, serving assistant stints at Wisconsin and Purdue, before leading Purdue to two top-12 finishes at the NCAA Championships as its head coach. He became USA Wrestling’s National Teams Director in 1992,
and led the international program through six Olympic Games. The USA won its first World Team title ever in all three styles during his tenure, and won numerous individual World and Olympic titles and medals. This fall, Hall left USA Wrestling after two decades to return to his home state, where he is heading up the Wisconsin Regional Training Center and helping the Badger program. We spoke with Mitch just weeks before they were going to host the 2014 U.S. World Team Trials in Madison.
USA Wrestler: How did you get involved in wrestling? Hull: I got started in sixth grade, an in-school tournament we
had in our small town. Through middle school and high school, I did a lot of sports. I remember the first match I had against another school, in seventh grade, against a conference rival Milton. I walked out and shake hands, and the guy said, “You die now, buddy.” Holy smokes! I actually won the match but that was my introduction to wrestling. I played basketball, and wres- tled as a freshman. I didn’t know if I’d keep wrestling or play basketball. I literally shot a free throw to decide if I’d play bas- ketball or wrestle. I hit the free throw, so I went to the basketball coach to ask if I could have the Teachers’ Convention weekend off. That’s when my dad and my brothers and I went bow-hunt- ing deer. He said he couldn’t do that. So, I went out for wrestling and have been there ever since. My high school coach, Paul Schwinn, never wrestled but he was a good coach. He related well to the wrestlers. I had two brothers and a cousin on the team with me - four Hulls on this small town team.
USA Wrestler: What is most memorable part of your high
school career? Hull: It all comes back to winning the state tournament. Literally, I scored with two seconds left in the match to win 2-0. I thought I would be calm and cool, but when you win that way with no time left, it was pretty exciting. It is what your world is at that time. As a high school kid, you want to be a state champi- on. It’s my most enjoyable memory from high school wrestling.
USA Wrestler: How did you get into the international styles? Hull: In the summer, you’d wrestle the international, not in the
spring. After the wrestling season, you’d go right into track. In the summer, you did freestyle and Greco. I got to be pretty good friends with some guys, Andy Rein, Mike Terry, my brother Mark, Dave Goodspeed. Every weekend, we would go around and wrestle freestyle and ultimately wrestle for the Wisconsin team. It was taking the opportunity to wrestle in the offseason. The coach for the Wisconsin team was Russ Hellickson, who was really advanced with the freestyle skills and that helped a
24 USA Wrestler
Past World Team member Mitch Hull served as USA Wrestling’s National Teams Director from 1992-2013 before returning home to Wisconsin. Larry Slater photo.
lot as well.
USA Wrestler: What was the key to your success at Junior Nationals, where you were a double champion? Hull: It is different than it is today. To win both styles, one of
the most important things is to stay healthy with all the matches. I probably had 14 matches, which is a lot, but it is nowhere near what they do now. We had a great coaching staff. Russ was the head of freestyle. We had some Greco coaches who were really committed. Some are still working with the state program today. We had a great training camp. We had an exceptional group of guys. We were right up there with the best states in the number of All-Americans. For me, having a twin brother Mark, you had a built-in workout partner. You could drill. We took a mat section home in the summertime and drilled in our basement. The biggest influence was my dad had a butcher shop, which was a lot of work. If I wanted to work out, lift weights or run, that was OK. If I wasn’t doing that, I had to be down there working.
USA Wrestler: You went to Kansas State to play football, but ultimately ended up at Wisconsin for wrestling. What led to you focusing on the mat rather than the gridiron? Hull: I had a good high school football coach. He ended up
being the first coach to take UW-Whitewater to the champi- onship game. He got me opportunity. The other thing is I was
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