{"id":42565,"date":"2018-12-04T08:16:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T14:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=42565"},"modified":"2018-12-05T10:24:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T16:24:34","slug":"ball-brothers-lead-fhsu-at-home-tourney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=42565","title":{"rendered":"Ball brothers lead FHSU at home tourney"},"content":{"rendered":"

By McKENZIE CUNNINGHAM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fort Hays State University\u2019s Ball brothers made their way to the top of the brackets this past Sunday at the Bob Smith Open in Hays.<\/p>\n

Brandon Ball, junior ranked fourth in the 141-pound weight class, went undefeated and won the title after taking two weeks off to get healthy and down to weight at a good pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really good after coming back to the mat after taking a week plus Thanksgiving break off,\u201d Brandon Ball said. \u201cI\u2019ve already made the weight cut and hit 141, so it should be a lot easier for the upcoming dual next Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonathan Ball, redshirt freshman at the 149-pound weight class, took second in his bracket. Only wrestling four or five opens his true freshman year, wrestling in the elite division this year was a bit of a switch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI beat an Oklahoma State kid today, which is a Division I athlete, which is just crazy,\u201d Jonathan Ball said. \u201cI made some small mistakes kinda similar to other tournaments, and I really need to clean up on those mistakes. But in practice, our room is so incredible with coaches and athletes right now. I think I am doing a lot of things to move in the right direction to fix those mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

With eight individual placers at the home tournament, head coach Chas Thompson was pleased.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always pretty hard to grade your guys. Some do how you expect them too, and some fall a little short,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it is them having a bad day, or stiff competition, it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tigers begin the dual portion of their season at 7 p.m. Friday at the University of Central Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

\u201cUCO is a tough team; they\u2019re actually a lot like us, pretty young. \u2026 We\u2019re just gonna have to work and wrestle a little bit sharper on that day,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

Other wrestlers who placed in the tournament include:<\/p>\n

Second place<\/strong><\/p>\n

157-pound weight class and No. 4 ranked Efe Osaghae; 165-pound weight class, Aryus Jones; 174-pound weight class, Nick Meck.<\/p>\n

Third place<\/strong><\/p>\n

133-pound weight class, Cole Zebley; and 184-pound weight class, Micquille Robinson.<\/p>\n

Fourth place<\/strong><\/p>\n

165-pound weight class, Isaiah Luellen.<\/p>\n