Tony J. takes new twist in wrestling

September 30, 2018

THOSE who follow wrestling in the slightest bit — and even some who don’t — know one name quite well. He’s the elite of the elite when it comes to northeast Ohio wrestling, reaching levels no one has seen before or since. His style was more than exciting — it was transcendent to a point that kids 10 years later are still trying to mimic his way of winning. There was no one like Tony J. That’s Tony Jameson for those unfamiliar to the sport. He is a former four-time state champion from Austintown Fitch who graduated in 2008. The only four-time champ in Mahoning Valley ...

McDonald’s roads to state never given

September 19, 2018

Freshly-cut grass. Remnants of what was a couple weeks ago in the Canfield Fair. The unmistakable smell of french fries emanating from a vendor, wheeled near the hub of today’s Suburban League Championships at the Canfield Fairgrounds. They are all staples of the yearly run where distance athletes; mainly from Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties gather to compete on a course spanning the grassy parking area of the Fairgrounds. That grouping includes the McDonald Blue Devils. The boys and girls cross country teams have been lurking since the season began in late August, but ...

Saturday’s loss ‘better’ than previous week

September 10, 2018

The outcome was still a loss, but it was much less shocking. The Youngstown State Penguins were embarrassed by what a recent Sports Illustrated article called “one of the biggest upsets of the century” last week. Really, that’s only about 18 years, but still, the story wasn’t a good look for the Penguins, who lost, 23-21, to Butler at home in Week 1. While Week 2 brought a whole different beast and another ugly outcome, the Penguins played better ... though, they couldn’t have played much worse. They expectedly lost by a large margin to No. 14 West Virginia (52-17), but ...

Difficult to explain Penguins’ bad loss

September 2, 2018

Savon Smith looked down at the podium to see if there was something in the statistics that could explain what just happened. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t. Youngstown State, a team with more than 60 scholarship players and one that many expect (or expected) to compete for a playoff berth ...

Thoughts from 2018 Billy Goat Challenge

August 30, 2018

Ted Rupe sat in a van as he always has, parked by the finish line at Woodland Park. He was at the 2018 Billy Goat Challenge — staring at his laptop computer. “I’m playing solitaire,” he joked. Rupe, whose name echoes thoughts of epic distance jaunts at Maplewood High School, Cleveland State University or as one of the Ohio’s best road racers, was the former Maplewood boys cross country coach before retiring in 2011. Today, he and his wife, Michelle, an accomplished road racer in her own right, are official timers for cross country and events on pavement. It’s called ...

YSU football embarking on pivotal year

July 19, 2018

YOUNGSTOWN — There isn’t any hiding it for the Youngstown State football team. Last season was disappointing, on a number of levels. Coming off its first national championship appearance in nearly 20 years, the Penguins, who brought back numerous starters, had a chance to make back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since the 1999-2000 seasons. Instead, they struggled with injuries and narrow losses during a four-game skid midseason and finished 6-5. Now in his fourth season leading YSU, this will be Bo Pelini’s first year with the majority of the team being his ...