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Peyton Hall closed out his collegiate wrestling career with a third All-American at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships in front of US President Donald Trump. He shared a candid moment with Trump afterward, donning the President's famous MAGA hat.
Hall made the semifinals in the 165 lbs category, becoming the first West Virginia semifinalist in any weight class since 2015. He lost 10-14 to Iowa's Mike Caliendo but bounced back in the consolation round to set up a bronze medal bout against Christopher Minto of Nebraska.
He earned a 13-5 major decision win against Minto to become the only third West Virginia wrestler to become an All-American three times. Hall donned a dark MAGA hat after his win and went straight to Trump, who was elated to see the cap. The President warmly greeted the wrestler and posed for a selfie with him.
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Hall finished his collegiate career with 17 NCAA Tournament victories and is the WVU's all-time leader. He qualified for the NCAA Championships five times and secured three All-American honors, while also the 2025 Big 12 champion.
"What I've been trying to put together my whole career" - Peyton Hall on 2024-25 season
Speaking in the post-match interview with USA Wrestling, Peyton Hall confessed that he had been inconsistent in his collegiate career until this season, which saw him earn an NCAA medal as well as a Big 12 title.
"This season has been honestly what I've been trying to put together my whole career...I feel like I've been at this level for a long time and the consistency just wasn't there," he said.
Hall further added that he was finally able to put things together this season and just went for the kill in the semifinals against Christopher Minto with his multiple takedown attempts.
"This year I finally put it together and wrestled the full seven minutes, really just decided to do the hard thing in the matches like whenever a lot of guys let him go and risk getting thrown to their back. I just decided I'm going to ride him out it's a hard thing to do but it's the right thing," Peyton Hall added.
Hall went 37-2 this season, with his two losses coming against Terrell Barraclough of Utah Valley and Mike Caliendo in the NCAA semifinals.
