By Pat Welter

Chalk fills the air as William Ball claps his hands together.

“That was sick,” The Holly Springs High School senior said. “I’ve never clapped with this on before.”

It’s hard to get a grip on everything the 18 year old powerlifter has accomplished, especially given where he began.

“It feels nostalgic every time I walk in here,” Ball said. “It’s reminding me of how things started.”

This September Ball will be a part of team U.S.A. at the Powerlifting World Championships in Malta, an island country in the Mediterranean sea. As he sets up some warm up squat and bench work in the Holly Springs High School gym the memories of how he got started lifting come back.

“William can probably teach me more than I ever taught him,” Holly Springs weightlifting and physical education teacher Jeff Fishback said as he spotted Ball on a rep.

It was Fishback’s Weightlifting I class that helped begin Ball’s transformation from a skinny high school sophomore to the strongest powerlifter for his age and weight in the world.

“I tell them all the time your body is only going to adjust and adapt to stress,” Fishback said.

As a sophomore William weighed around 120 pounds. He remembered his first bench being about 135, now he’s doing almost four times that.

At the sub junior nationals in Austin, Texas in May Ball benched 414 lbs, squatted 651 lbs and dead lifted 684 lbs. His total beat everyone there regardless of age and weight and he said he’s got more in the tank.

“I didn’t put my best foot forward and show everything that I can do,” Ball said. “I didn’t max out anything, I still have to do that at worlds.”

Maxing out at worlds will require dedication and training. Eating, sleeping, working out…everything he does revolves around the gym. He just graduated high school and is about to take the world stage. As he and his lifting friends joke, it’s time to lock in.

“Taking everything super seriously and not messing up any of my factors,” Ball said. “Essentially going to do my best there because I know I have a pretty good confidence I’ll win worlds as well.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com