AREA ATHLETES (from left) Mari Iarocci of Conneaut; Megan Dragon of Edgewood; Brittany Morrison of Lakeside; Cody Chabola of Edgewood; Tayler Pugliese of Lakeside; Mallory Zappitelli of Lakeside and Lauren Childs of Edgewood received scholarships from WFUN and Dr. William A. Seeds on Monday evening at Los Compadres Restaurant in Ashtabula. WARREN DILLAWAY / Star Beacon
Published June 30, 2009 12:37 am - ASHTABULA — Through each person’s life, there are a number of people that have opened doors along the way, allowing them to reach heights they didn’t know possible.
Stars come out for ESPN 970 Radio station, William Seeds dish out big bucks, add 3 to Hall of Fame
BOB ETTINGER Star Beacon
ASHTABULA — Through each person’s life, there are a number of people that have opened doors along the way, allowing them to reach heights they didn’t know possible.
ESPN Radio 970 WFUN and Dr. William A. Seeds opened some of those doors for Ashtabula County’s finest student-athletes on Monday at the ESPN Radio 970 WFUN Scholarship and Hall of Fame Induction Banquet as part of a special four-hour edition of The Sports Report on Monday at Los Compadres Mexican Restaurant.
“There were people that gave me opportunities in life,” Seeds told host Joe Pete. “I don’t forget they opened doors for me. There’s always a mentor along the way in life. They give you opportunities even you don’t know about.
“You keep hearing a lot of wild, bad stories. There is so much good. We’ve a tremendous pool of talent in this community. We’re no different here than anywhere else. We have people that can have success. We have to do the best we can to give them opportunities.”
Seeds gave a $1,000 scholarship to Mallory Zappitelli. ESPN Radio 970 WFUN gave $750 scholarships to Cody Chabola, Lauren Childs and Megan Dragon of Edgewood, Brittany Morrison and Tayler Pugliese of Lakeside and Mari Iarocci of Conneaut.
Inducted into the second class of the ESPN Radio 970 WFUN were Ashtabula’s Wash Lyons, Geneva’s Mark Debevc and St. John’s Denny Allan.
The scholarship winners were chosen from a pool of more than 45 applicants. They had to have at least a 3.0 grade-point average, have lettered in a sports, been involved in the community and written an essay stating why the scholarship was important to them and why they deserved to win.
Zappitelli impressed Seeds with a passage from her essay.
“Making my way through this complicated journey some call high school, I have discovered the importance of a team,” Zappitelli wrote. “Ever since I started school as a freshman, I have surrounded myself with athletes and learned the disciplines that come with being one. You learn to put others in front of yourself and find yourself committing selfless acts for your peers. Once you have developed this relationship with your fellow teammates, you have created a bond like no other.”
That passage was recited twice throughout the proceedings. Both Pete and Seeds took the opportunity to commend Zappitelli for learning that lesson.
A common theme among the young student-athletes soon to be heading off to college and the athletes of yesteryear was the ability and will to keep fighting. They all seemed to agree that never giving up, especially when times get tough, is of the utmost importance, not only in sports but in life, as well.
Allan related the story of how he was recruited to play at the University of Notre Dame as a lesson in that very subject.
“It was unbelievable,” Allan said. “John Agnone, who was the chief scout for Youngstown area and had played at Notre Dame, was there to scout two players from Howland.
“He told me he knew I could run fast, but I made a play on defense that impressed him. I was blitzing the quarterback and got knocked down. My glasses went flying. I couldn’t see, but I got up, went full speed and scooped up my glasses on a full sprint. I chased the quarterback and got him.
“(Agnone) said it was that second effort that impressed him. I always tell young people to make that second effort.”
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