Fort Hays State junior Brandon Ball was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Team for At-Large Sports as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday (June 20). Earning Second Team honors, Ball is one of just 45 student-athletes nationally in NCAA Division II recognized on the At-Large Team, chosen from several sports that are part of the at-large category. Men's sports included in the at-large category include wrestling, fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and water polo.
 
Ball is a Technology Studies major at Fort Hays State. He carries a 3.80 cumulative GPA (3.77 at the time of the nomination as noted below). CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America programs are voted on based off both a student-athlete's athletic and academic accomplishments.
 
Recently, Ball was a men's finalist for the MIAA Ken B. Jones Award. The annual award recognizes the conference's male and female student-athletes of the year, combining athletic and academic accomplishments along with campus/community service.
 
Ball is one of the top wrestlers in NCAA Division II. He held the No. 1 ranking at 141 pounds from February 4 all the way through to the NCAA Championships at the end of the 2018-19 season. He entered the NCAA Championships undefeated at 24-0 and won his first three matches before dropping an overtime decision in the semifinals. He went on to earn All-America honors with a fourth-place finish, completing the year at 28-2 overall. In the process, Ball ran his career record at FHSU to 114-21. Ball is a two-time All-America performer for FHSU and a three-time national qualifier. He finished sixth in the nation at 141 pounds in 2017.
 
Though this award is for Ball's accomplishments as a member of the wrestling team, he also competes as a pole vaulter for the FHSU Track and Field team. His top mark this season was 14-feet, 11.5 inches.
 
This is Ball's first Academic All-America honor from CoSIDA. He is also a three-time member of the NWCA Division II All-Academic Team. Ball is the 49th CoSIDA Academic All-America selection in FHSU history and joins Connor Shedeed of football as Fort Hays State's two Academic All-America selections by CoSIDA in 2018-19. He is the first Tiger wrestler to receive the honor since Jon Inman in 2016.

Below is the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-America Team for At-Large Sports.

2019 CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large Team

FIRST TEAM
Sport	Name	School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Lacrosse	Charlie Bertrand (2)	Merrimack College	Jr.	3.92	Mechanical Engineering
Lacrosse	Zach Bodeau (2)	Rockhurst University	Jr.	4.00	Criminal Justice
Volleyball	Evan Cory	Lincoln Memorial University	Jr.	3.98	Accounting & Finance
Swimming	Paden Duke (3)	Carson-Newman University	Jr.	4.00	Biology
Wrestling	Kolton Eischens	St. Cloud State University	Jr.	3.87	Technology Management
Tennis	Tiago Fernandes (2)	Southern New Hampshire University	Gr.	3.96/4.00	Business Administration / MBA
Golf	Anthony Marcinelli (1)	Carson-Newman University	Sr.	4.00	Business
Swimming	Niklas Martin (3)	Wingate University	Sr.	3.97	Marketing
Wrestling	Josh Portillo	University of Nebraska at Kearney	Jr.	3.97	Health & P.E. K-12 / Interscholastic Coaching
Volleyball	Michael Simmons	Lewis University	Gr.	3.95/3.95	Business Administration
Swimming	Payton Staman	University of Indianapolis	Jr.	3.91	Mechanical Engineering
Golf	Cody Troutman	University of Central Oklahoma	Sr.	4.00	Business
Wrestling	Brett Velasquez (1, #)	St. Cloud State University	Sr.	3.91	Biomedical Sciences
Swimming	Giacomo Viazzo (1)	Wingate University	Jr.	3.95	Chemistry / Mathematics
Swimming	Justin Winnett (1)	Lindenwood University	Sr.	4.00	Biological Sciences
SECOND TEAM
Sport	Name	School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Wrestling	Brandon Ball	Fort Hays State University	Jr.	3.77	Technology Studies
Golf	Nicholas Barney	Le Moyne College	Jr.	3.99	Physics
Tennis	Timo Christen	University of Alabama in Huntsville	Jr.	4.00	Chemistry
Tennis	Sam Clarke	University of Illinois Springfield	Sr.	3.91	Business Administration
Golf	Brad Currier (2)	Lindenwood University	Sr.	4.00	Exercise Science / Chemistry
Golf	Joshua Hickling	Embry-Riddle University (Fla.)	Sr.	4.00	Business Administration
Tennis	Nils Hoffacker (1)	University of Indianapolis	Gr.	3.96/4.00	Business Administration & Management / MBA
Swimming	Ryan Katulski	Wayne State University	Jr.	3.85	Accounting
Lacrosse	Brendan McDougal (3)	Adelphi University	Sr.	3.74	Physics
Lacrosse	Conrad Rhein	Lynn University	Gr.	3.97/4.00	MBA Entrepreneurial Management
Swimming	Harry Sale	Florida Tech	Sr.	3.96	Chemical Engineering
Lacrosse	Lucas Shafer	Maryville University	Gr.	3.75/3.75	MBA
Lacrosse	Kyle Souza (2)	Dominican College	Sr.	3.98	Criminal Justice
Volleyball	Nick Stevenson	Lindenwood University	Sr.	4.00	Biological Sciences
Swimming	Johnathan Stewart (2)	Oklahoma Baptist University	Sr.	4.00	Business Management
THIRD TEAM
Sport	Name	School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Wrestling	Brody Conner	University of Indianapolis	Sr.	3.94	Finance
Tennis	Blake Crawford	Newman University	So.	4.00	Accounting
Wrestling	Jared Donahue	Wheeling Jesuit University	Jr.	3.90	Biology
Tennis	Alex Fedorov	Merrimack College	Jr.	3.97	Accounting / Finance
Swimming	Markus Furst	Wingate University	Jr.	3.95	Exercise Science
Wrestling	Tyler Kreith	Maryville University	So.	3.94	Financial Services
Wrestling	Matt Malcom	University of Nebraska at Kearney	So.	3.76	Elementary Education K-6
Golf	Colt Martin	Anderson University	So.	4.00	Business / Accounting
Wrestling	Tyler Mies (3)	Newman University	Sr.	3.86	Occupational Therapy Assistant
Tennis	Robin Möller	Georgia College	Sr.	3.94	Exercise Science
Tennis	Martin Moser	University of Mount Olive	Sr.	3.94	Business Analytics
Swimming	Dylan North	West Chester University	Jr.	3.91	Political Science
Wrestling	Noah Ottum	Colorado School of Mines	Jr.	3.96	Engineering Physics
Wrestling	Brandon Supernaw	Western Colorado University	Sr.	3.48	Chemistry / Secondary Education
Lacrosse	Logan Sweeney	Florida Tech	Sr.	3.91	Chemical Engineering