Warsaw, Poland – When the opportunity to coach his teammates in an international tournament presented itself, Senior Athlete Mark Hall jumped at the chance be in the corner for his friends. The volunteer assistant coach for the University of Pennsylvania already has a full season of folkstyle coaching on his resume. Hall is part of a staff that produced 9 NCAA National Qualifiers and an All-American in 2022. This would be Hall’s first time coaching at a senior level international event.

PRTC Executive Director Brandon Slay offered Hall the responsibility to coach his teammates, Joey McKenna and David McFadden, as they recently competed in the Poland Open. The tournament, held in Warsaw, Poland, features several top ranked international competitors. The three senior athletes made the 14 hour trip together and are coming home with two bronze medals.

“I had a lot of fun taking a leadership role on this trip,” says Hall. “I really tried to deepen my friendship with Dave and Joey and truly learn what they believe will make them better wrestlers.”

Joey McKenna earns Bronze at 65kg.

McKenna, competing at 65kg, went 3-1 on his way to winning third place. After dropping a close semi-final match to a talented Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren of Mongolia, McKenna bounced back with a gritty 3-1 win over Krzysztoff Bienkowski in the bronze medal match. This is McKenna’s third international medal of the year. He placed third at the prestigious Yasar Dogu International in February and won the Pan American Championships in May.

David McFadden earns Bronze at 79kg.

At 79kg, McFadden went 3-1 outscoring his opponents 30-6 on the day. After defeating fellow American Alex Marinelli 10-0 in the quarterfinals, he lost to Vasyl Mykhaylov of Ukraine in the semi-finals. A quick 10-0 tech against Csaba Vida of Hungary in the third place match secured the bronze for McFadden who, like Hall, is also a collegiate coach. He is the volunteer assistant coach at Drexel University.

“We had a great trip!” Hall exclaimed. “I can’t wait to get back to competing alongside my teammates again.”

PRTC teammates David McFadden, Mark Hall, and Joey McKenna.

The full Poland Open PRTC Results…

65kg Joey McKenna, Bronze Medal

WIN Vasyl Shuptar, Ukraine, 10-0

WIN Nino Leutert, Switzerland, 9-2

LOSS Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren, 1-2

WIN Krzysztof Bienkowski, Poland 3-1

79kg David McFadden, Bronze Medal

WIN Jose O’Neil, Angola, 10-0

WIN Alex Marinelli, USA, 10-0

LOSS Vasyl Mykhaylov, Ukraine, 6-0

WIN Csaba Vida, Hungary, 10-0

Story by Kevin McGuigan