Engineering a future

BOB ETTINGER
Star Beacon

July 05, 2009 11:50 pm

— Shane Styzej was looking for a school that offered a degree in one of the two fields he wanted to major in. It just so happened that the coaching staff at Westminster College saw his application and decided to contact him.
So, next fall, the Edgewood graduate will be begin his pursuit of a degree in engineering while playing football for the Griffins.
“I applied there and they called me up,” Styzej said. “They told me to visit and I just had a connection with the coach, I guess. I just decided to go there.
“I applied to colleges that had my major and were close to home but far away at the same time. (Westminster) was one I applied to that ended up calling me for football.”
Styzej, the son of Ted Styzej and Jeanne Welch, graduated with a 3.6 grade-point average and had showed an aptitude for his chosen career path.
“I haven’t really decided what kind (of engineering) yet,” Styzej said. “It’s between chemical and civil. They have us go through these tests in high school that test our skills and they tell us what career would be best for us with those skills. Architecture was my first option, but engineering was in there with that. I decided on engineering for my major based on the colleges I got accepted into.”
The field fits Styzej well, since he has a little understand of it already. It certainly helps that he has an interest in how things are built, as well.
“My family’s in the construction business,” Styzej said. “I’ve always had kind of a strong feeling toward construction. That was input into me watching my family enjoy doing it.
“I like to look at the design of things. I like to figure things out and figure out how they were built.”
But having helped when needed in the family business, Styzej won’t be happy just design things. He thinks he’d also like to have a hand in building what he’s planned.
“I think I’ll have to watch and help them build it after I design it,” Styzej said.
That doesn’t mean Styzej will be back in the area helping the family business once he has his degree.
“I look forward to getting out of Ohio,” Styzej said. “I’m going to try and go somewhere else and try to start something in a different part of the country.”
Styzej played, listed at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, played linebacker for the Warriors. But for him to continue playing the position, the staff at Westminster asked that he bulk up a little bit.
“I’ve reached my goal already,” Styzej said. “They wanted me to focus on getting bigger for college. “They handed me a workout and told me to get a little bigger. I’ve been working on doing that.
“I always thought I was a little small,” Styzej said. “I’ve wanted to get bigger so I don’t get run over.”
That disadvantage has hindered Styzej a little when it comes to reading the offense prior to the snap of the ball.
“It’s hard when the linemen are standing up to read (the offense) over them,” Styzej said. “I always have a sense of where the ball is. It’s easier for me to sneak around and get to the ball, too, because I’m smaller.”
But instinct has helped him to overcome his size.
“I’ve always had a feel for the game,” Styzej said. “It always came naturally. It’s pretty much all instinct, but there are some things you can be taught.”
As it stands right now, Styzej will enter college at the position he’s most comforting playing.
“I’ll go into training camp as a linebacker, but they might move me somewhere else after that. I could also stay at linebacker. I’ll go in and play hard and try to be a linebacker. If they move me, I’m not going to complain, it’s for the betterment of the team and for me (if they move me).”
The jump to college ball has Styzej a little anxious, but he will make sure that he enters camp ready to go.
“I’m a little nervous,” Styzej said. “But I’m going to be ready for it. I’m not looking at it in a bad way. I’ve got to go in being confident.”
Playing for former Edgewood coach Lance Hostetler and current coach Joe Kearney has readied Styzej for what he will encounter at the next level.
“One of those guys was all practice and the other focused on schemes,” Styzej said. “They were both trying to get me ready for college. A lot of coaches in college scheme a lot, they look at film then they go out and practice a lot.”

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