STRUTHERS, Ohio (WYTV) – It’s not every day you see a football player catching touchdowns on Fridays and then teeing off on Mondays.
“It’s tough, especially because football and golf to play different mindsets,” Chaz Ekoniak. “So, especially going from football practice to golf, you have to deploy, switch your mindset.”
But for the past four years, Struthers senior Chaz Ekoniak has done more than just juggle the two sports. On the golf course, he’s a three-time first-team all-conference, two-time First Team All-Northeast Ohio, won the 17U Greatest Golfer crown over the summer, then fired a school record 32 at Knoll Run, breaking his own record.
“Everything is really strategic. Everything I do in football is, you know, I watch film and in golf, it’s a little different. You know, I’m on the driving range trying to affect everything,” Eknoiak said.
And with a 3.92 GPA and being part of the National Honor Society, he’s making his parents proud in the classroom, too.
“My mom is always hard on me with academics,” Ekoniak said. “I always make sure that I get good grades and always she helps me with everything. And yeah, academics is always before anything athletically, so it’s very important.”
While searching for the next step, Ekoniak hopes to continue swinging the sticks at the next level but is locked into the final stretch of his senior season with the Wildcats.
“So last year, I missed state by one stroke, so that’s obviously, exactly, where I want to be this year, and I feel like I’ve prepared myself for that, so I plan on being there,” Ekoniak said.
Struthers senior Chaz Ekoniak is our WYTV Student Athlete of the Week.
