Brotherly Love

Ball brothers excel together in and out of the classroom

by DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN photographyby KELSEY STREMEL

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 students 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 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. Most importantly, Schmidt was well aware of the quality of education FHSU has to offer.

“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.”

From left: Brothers Christopher, Brandon and Jonathan Ball are making the most of their time together as student-athletes at FHSU.

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 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. “We are very happy, in every way, about the great education they are getting at Fort Hays State. Where else can you go and get a great education for such a reasonable price, live in such a great community and be this close to home?” 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 3A state track and field meet and were honored on the awards stand together.

Just as he had from the time they were youngsters, Brandon set the bar high at the collegiate level, too. A twotime wrestling All-American in the 141-pound class, Brandon won his first 27 matches last season before finishing fourth at nationals. He is the No. 2 ranked wrestler in NCAA Division II in his weight class this season and is looking forward to one more shot at a national championship before switching gears to coaching.

Jonathan will wrestle at 149 pounds this year. Meanwhile, Christopher will continue to support his older brothers from the sidelines, and all three will attend as many of their two younger brothers’ activities as possible. Joshua is a junior in high school at Hoisington, while Josiah is an eighth-grader.

FHSU Coach Chas Thompson said he will miss Brandon next year but will never forget the time he got to coach three brothers simultaneously.

“They are all great wrestlers, but better yet, they are well-rounded human beings,” he said. “They have a great work ethic and try hard in everything, whether it be in school or wrestling or working. They are a lot alike in those ways, but each of them is different, too. Each of their stories is still being written.”

The Ball family legacy continues

Bruce Ball chuckles when he talks about his oldest son’s start in wrestling. The first year that Brandon Ball went out for Kids Federation Wrestling as a 10-year-old, he qualified for the state tournament. “Shows how arrogant I am,” his dad said. “I had some T-shirts made with a wrestler and the saying, ‘The Ball Legacy Begins.’ ”

While it might have seemed like a bold statement at the time, it turned out to be prophetic.

Anyone who knew this family of seven in the small Barton County town of Heizer could tell you that more Ball brothers would follow Brandon to greatness: in kids’ wrestling, in high school and now at Fort Hays State.

Brandon, Jonathan and Christopher Ball – all student-athletes for the Tigers – won numerous state medals in track and field in high school, too, and were successful on the football field as well.

But their most impressive showing at Hoisington High School came in wrestling, where they combined for eight state championships, three other all-state performances and an incredible .960 winning percentage (452-19 combined overall record).

Brandon led the way as a four-time state champ, and Christopher won three straight state titles after finishing second as a freshman. Jonathan rebounded from a serious labrum injury his junior year to go 42-0 as a senior en route to a state title.

There are still two younger Ball brothers about an hour away from FHSU who are continuing the family wrestling legacy. Joshua is a junior in high school at Hoisington, while Josiah is an eighth-grader. So stay tuned.