WINTER SPOTLIGHT
Wrestling with the Family Legacy By Diane Gasper-O’Brien, Harold Bechard & Conor Nicholl High school wrestling is often a family affair. Fathers and sons - and now daughters - can carry a family legacy of success on the mat across generations. Here’s a few stories of some of the state’s prominent wrestling families and their recent success. Hoisington’s Ball brothers excel together They have been competing with and against each other their entire lives. Their dad used to clear out the family living room for fierce wrestling matches during their younger days. But Brandon, Jonathan and Christopher Ball didn’t have to wrestle with the decision about where to attend college. Brandon followed in the footsteps of his high school coach, a Fort Hays State University graduate. And once older brother donned the black and gold of the Tigers, there was little question that Jonathan and Christopher would follow close behind. Even as college roommates, everything is still a competition for the brothers, who grew up in a close knit family in the tiny Barton County town of Heizer. But they are quick to add that if anyone has a problem with one brother, they have to deal with all three. They treasure their companionship so much that they all live together and split nearly every bill – whether household or recreational toys – three ways. The set-up is really no different for the brothers than when they grew up as best friends and shared bedrooms at home. They attribute their solid work ethic and Christian faith to lessons learned while being homeschooled by their mother. The Balls packed those values in their suitcases when they came to college and now are making a name for themselves in both the athletic and academic arenas at Fort Hays State. For the past two years, Brandon, Jonathan and Christopher all wrestled for the Tigers, and last year all three pole vaulted during the track and field season as well. All are model stu-
From left: Brothers Christopher, Brandon and Jonathan Ball enjoyed spectacular wrestling careers as Hoisington High School before moving on to Fort Hays State. Now, younger brother Joshua carries on the Ball legacy of wrestling success at Hoisington. (Photo by Kelsey Stremel)
dents academically, each maintaining a GPA of at least 3.8. But make no mistake. The Balls, the epitome of student-athletes, are not clones. Brandon is on track to graduate in May with a degree in applied technology. Jonathan is a finance major, and Christopher is majoring in information networking and telecommunications. “We are walking down the same path, but we each have our own direction,” said Jonathan, the middle brother and the most talkative of the trio. However, Brandon, normally a quiet sort, has come out of his shell in college and now feels ready to pursue his dream of becoming a high school teacher and coach. The family tradition at Fort Hays State for the Balls began back in 2015 when Brandon was a senior at Hoisington and his high school coach, Dan Schmidt, offered to take Brandon to visit the campus of his alma mater. Schmidt coaches wrestling and track in Hoisington and steered Brandon into both of those sports his freshman year at HHS, and they began to form a strong bond. After watching him excel as a multi-sport athlete in high school, Schmidt thought Brandon could add a lot to the athletic and applied technology programs at Fort Hays State. He knew FHSU would be a good fit for Brandon as well. “I told Brandon he needed to know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life,” Schmidt said. “Wrestling and track are going to end, so I said he should go where he would get the best education.” So the coach and his student-athlete scheduled a campus visit to FHSU. “I really like working with my hands, and I thought I could impact students as a teacher,” Brandon said as he jumped up to stir a pot of soup he was making the gang for dinner. He liked what he saw at FHSU, both with the wrestling and the applied technology studies programs. Because of
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their shared values, his younger brothers followed him to Hays in 2017 and ’18. For the past two years, the Balls have been doing virtually everything together, much like they did while growing up as the oldest of five boys. This past summer, Brandon and Christopher even worked together on a roofing crew in Colorado. Life skills gained in college are not lost on Bruce and Christina Ball, who are pleased their sons all chose Fort Hays State and are proud of their accomplishments. At the top of that list are earning college educations. All three brothers will graduate debt free after combining athletic and academic scholarships, along with money earned from summer jobs, to pay for college. “From the time they were young, we told them that if you can’t pay for it, don’t buy it,” Christina Ball said. The brothers are set on enjoying their last year living together in college and anticipate successful wrestling seasons for Brandon and Jonathan. Christopher decided to concentrate on his academics this year and forego wrestling and track and field because of nagging injuries. His older brothers respect Christopher’s decision and are proud that he made what had to be a difficult choice. It all goes back to their upbringing, when they were taught to carefully weigh their options before making a final decision. “Core values we were taught like respect for others are part of our moral ground,” Jonathan said. “They are a big part of our accountability. We took that same mentality into athletics.” While they were all three-sport standouts in high school – the Balls all played football, too, and earned multiple all-state honors in wrestling – they say the most memorable moment for them together athletically probably came in the spring of 2015. They all finished in the top six in pole vault at the Class
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