On Tuesday, coach Kevin Jackson and Athletic Director Jamie Pollard stood in front of the Iowa State wrestlers in the wrestling room on the second floor of the Lied Recreation Athletic Center.

They were there to inform the wrestlers that Jackson would resign at the end of the season as Iowa State’s wrestling coach.

That sparked a fire under Iowa State wrestler Earl Hall.

“It’s honestly like somebody shot my brother or somebody killed my dad or something like that,” Hall said. “Everybody that steps on the mat with me from here on out, it’s like, ‘You did this. It’s your fault. I have to take it out on you.’ I’m not a serial killer or anything like that, but I’m about to go on a rampage.

“Something has to give, so I have to take it out on other people to send my coach out the right way.”

He said if he doesn’t have to crawl off of the mat due to exhaustion at the end of the match, he did something wrong.

The Cyclones are 1-9 this season, so Hall had a feeling it was coming. But he didn’t know it would happen this early.

“I was just hoping that they would give us a chance to see what we could do at the NCAAs and give them a chance to show the nation that we performed when we needed to,” Hall said. “Once I heard it, I just dropped my head. I couldn’t think of anything. Lelund [Weatherspoon] almost walked out of practice but Angel [Escobedo] told him to stay.”

The season hasn’t gone how Iowa State expected, but Jackson has never “lost the locker room.” All of the athletes in the wrestling room have his back, even after he announced he’s stepping down.

Jackson is Hall’s idol.

“You know how people quote the Bible, and people quote Michael Jordan?” Hall asked. “I noticed in almost every interview I have, I’ll always say, ‘K.J. says.’ He’s one of the greatest inspirations in my life. Everything that he’s accomplished, I look up to him and want to accomplish those same things, including being a dad someday. The way he lives is so proper, the way he meets new people.

“He makes me want to be the way he is.”

On the mat, Jackson brings an intensity that’s difficult to match. His intensity in practice is as if he’s the one wrestling that week, Hall said.

Jackson always makes sure his guys are ready to wrestle.

“‘Energy and intensity’ — those are his favorite words right there,” Hall said. “The one thing that I can always say about him is that he will always try to make sure you’re the best man that you can be. I could never see myself wrestling for anybody but him. Honestly, if it wasn’t K.J., Angel, Trent and Travis, I probably wouldn’t wrestle any more. I never switch up on my gang.”

While Hall is a senior and doesn’t have to worry about wrestling for anybody else in college, the other guys in the room will have to.

The 133-pounder talked to a couple of his teammates Wednesday about Jackson stepping down.

“I’m sorry, I hate that ya’ll feel that,” Hall said he told them. “I’ll stay here to make you feel comfortable and make you feel like nothing has changed. I don’t want anyone to feel like everything fell apart. Our coach might change, but we’ll still be the same kids.”

According to the press release Iowa State sent out on Tuesday, they made the decision now to help quell distractions. Hall doesn’t think it worked.

“I was talking to [freshman wrestler] Gavin DeWitt today and he said they wanted to get rid of [the distractions], but this is the biggest distraction ever,” Hall said. “What do we do now, what do we expect? We have recruits that are decomitting from us, we have athletes wondering what they’re going to do next year.

“We all created this bond of brothers, and what if one of us leaves, then these aren’t my bothers any more.”

Beyond the distractions, it’s Hall’s mission to finish the season strong.

“This whole situation has sparked a flame in me,” Hall said.