YSU’s Joy looking for a conference crown

The longtime Penguins golf coach believes they can challenge Wright State for title

BEAVER TOWNSHIP -- As Youngstown State's longest-ever tenured head coach, Tony Joy has witnessed a myriad of changes during his 39 years at the helm of the school's golf program.

He has also adapted and been proactive when it comes to recruitment, all the while embracing the game's new technology and cutting-edge approach.

Of the 10 student-athletes dotting this year's roster, nine represent the Mahoning Valley - six are from Mahoning County while three hail from Trumbull County - with the lone outsider, so to speak, a Geneva High freshman.

"It's not like this is intentional," Joy explained to the Curbstone Coaches during Monday's weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center. "Like many college programs nationwide, we, too, are limited with our recruiting budgets but these young men are all outstanding players. Four played on a very talented Boardman Spartans team, they have all come in, gotten better, and can definitely compete at the Division I level.

"Cole Christman finished fourth at the Horizon League championship last year, had a very nice tournament showing and I am looking forward to him getting back to where he played last year. One of the crazier things happened last October when we played in the Cleveland State Invitational. There were 12 or so teams and I played five kids from that Boardman team, which has probably never happened at a golf event in any division. Those five kids were competitive, finished better than half the field, and produced one of the lower rounds the last day.

"Former YSU president, Jim Tressel, picked up on that and asked me if that had ever been done before, to which I replied probably not. It wasn't something I did for the attention, basically, all five players that qualified, were capable of playing and competed quite well."

The spring portion of YSU's schedule begins March 6-7.

The Penguins are taking part in the Daytona Beach (FL) Spring Invitational, hosted by Eastern Kentucky University.

Joy will take eight players to the event, including Bryan Kordupel, (Boardman), Cade Kreps (Boardman), Ryan Sam (Canfield), Cole Christman (Boardman), Dean Austalosh (Campbell Memorial), Brian Terlesky (Boardman), Connor Stevens (Brookfield) and Jake Sylak (Mineral Ridge), the latter three set to play individually.

Michael Porter (McDonald) and Ayden Richmond (Geneva) round out this year's roster.

"This is our spring trip and the competition will be very challenging," Joy added.

The Penguins finished second overall to Wright State last season and the team's mantra this year is to dethrone the Raiders when the Horizon League championship rolls around April 23-25 at Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.

"Wright State is the strongest team in the conference," Joy stated. "While we graduated three very talented fifth-year seniors in Ken Keller, Kevin Scherr and Zack Ford, the Raiders have pretty much stayed intact. They only lost one player from a season ago and for a Horizon League team are ranked rather high. They won nine of 12 tournaments a year ago, including the conference championship, and will be difficult to beat once again. I feel like we match up with some of our younger players and I'm looking forward to the competition."

Change is constant in all sports and Joy has seen a myriad of changes at the collegiate level over his five-decade coaching career.

"The biggest change is the technology with golf clubs, balls and just the opportunities kids have with swing coaches, teachers and even swing monitors," noted Joy. "All the new technology out there enables a player to compete at a higher level so that has been very different. Several years ago I did a lot more coaching and teaching but now, most of them come in and say they have their own swing coach or they have been working with their fathers and that is different.

"I kind of stay neutral but if they need help, I'm obviously there to help them. I am more than qualified to teach and give them some advice but kind of sit back, let them do their thing and it has kind of paid off."

Since the '20 season when COVID wreaked havoc on teams nationwide, Joy feels his players have stepped up while taking advantage of the NCAA's allotted extra year of eligibility.

"In 2021 we had an awful tournament," Joy said.

"They moved the tournament to a course at Purdue University, we played in fivesomes with our own teammates and it just didn't set up with our chemistry. Last spring, however, even with three, fifth-year seniors, we played well enough to probably win the conference championship almost any other year but Wright State was just that talented."

Next Monday, John Cullen, Canfield High School head boys' basketball coach will serve as guest speaker.