KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its postseason awards for wrestling on Monday. Brandon Ball earned MIAA Freshman of the Year and Chas Thompson earned MIAA Coach of the Year honors.
Thompson earns his first Coach of the Year honor in the MIAA after guiding the Tigers to a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. It matched the best performance at nationals for the program under Thompson’s guidance as his 2010 national qualifiers generated the same result in the standings. It was the best performance at the championships for the program since the MIAA added wrestling a championship sport in 2012-13.
Along with the great finish at nationals, coaches took notice of Fort Hays State’s impressive youth movement this season with three freshmen qualifying for the national championships. That group included Ball, Greg Tooley, and Christian Lance. But the rock in the middle of it all providing leadership to the young Tigers was senior Jon Inman, who closed out his storied career with the top win percentage in program history. Inman finished his collegiate career at 141-28 and had an impressive 28-4 record this year to finish as the national runner-up at 197 pounds. Inman became the third two-time All-America performer at FHSU under Thompson’s guidance.
By the end of the MIAA Tournament in February, eight of the 10 weight classes saw freshmen experience varsity time in the Tiger lineup. Thompson looks to have the program in position for a bright future with all the freshmen that contributed this season.
Ball was one of Fort Hays State’s three standout freshmen. He grabs the MIAA Freshman of the Year distinction with his tremendous performances at the NCAA Super Regional and NCAA Championship. Ball finished the year at 38-8 overall after taking a redshirt last season, winning the Super Regional at 141 pounds and placing sixth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America status. Ball is the first Tiger to earn MIAA Freshman of the Year honors since Inman earned the distinction in 2013-14.
Ball had the best win percentage (.826) of Fort Hays State’s three freshmen that qualified for nationals. Tooley finished 27-6 (.818) in the 157-pound weight class and Lance finished 44-10 (.815) in the 285-pound weight class. Tooley was the MIAA Tournament Champion this year at 157 pounds.
Here is a link to all of the MIAA Postseason Honors for the 2016-17 season…
MIAA Postseason Honors Release
FHSU Sports Information