HERSHEY, PA – Donovan Ball had lost to Max Shaw twice before, but that wasn’t about to change his mindset going into their 3A State Quarterfinals Match on Friday.

The Cedar Cliff senior had a game plan, and he stuck with it for all six minutes of their match. He needed almost all of that time.

Ball scored a takedown with three seconds remaining to hand No. 2 Shaw his first loss of the season.
“From losing to him last year and losing to him at POWERade, I knew what he likes to do,” Ball said. “I know his offense. I know what he likes to use on me. And he got me with it there early, a pretty nasty blast double. I didn’t change anything, really, just did what me and my coaches planned to do. It worked out for me. I’ve got the best coaches in the world, so listening to them, I should be pretty good.”

 

‘Just Going For It’

Shaw took the lead with a first-period takedown, but Ball – who is ranked sixth – quickly escaped. Another escape in the second tied it, but Ball knew entering the third he’d probably need a takedown to win, so he cut the Thomas Jefferson wrestler.

“Can’t stop wrestling the whole match,” Ball said. “You’ve got to just go, go, go, no matter what’s happening. That’s what I tried to do. He got me early with the takedown. I never stopped wrestling, kept going, came back at the end.”

At the very end.

Ball shot off a restart with seven seconds left, and by the time he finished it there were just three remaining.

“I was just going to go for it,” he said. “I was going to get that shot off the whistle. I knew I didn’t have any caution warnings, so I just went for it. Sometimes in this sport, you just have to go for it, so I did.”

 

Bracket Busters

Ball will return on Saturday looking to win a state championship in a bracket that looks much different after quarterfinal losses by No. 1 Cole Urbas and Shaw.

“I’ll enjoy this one with my family and friends, teammates and coaches for the next three minutes I guess, get changed, watch my teammates win in the blood round, then go home, get some rest and get ready for tomorrow morning,” Ball said.