Alumni Sports Reporters Reflect

YSU Women’s basketball compete in the WNIT. Photo courtesy of YSU Sports Information

By Jordan Boitnott 

With January marking The Jambar’s 90th anniversary, we sat down with some past sports editors and looked at some of the more exciting events the sports section of The Jambar has covered over the past 90 years.

Former sports writer and columnist Andrew Zuhosky worked at The Jambar from 2013-2017. He said during his time at The Jambar, he wrote many enjoyable stories.

“My favorite stories and events were anytime I got to cover a home football game at Stambaugh Stadium. I enjoyed that tremendously and got to witness a playoff run firsthand,” he said. “I even got to interview ESPN’s Heather Dinich regarding the College Football Playoff after its first staging in 2015.”

Zuhosky’s favorite story he covered was about mixed martial arts, which helped him obtain the job he has today. 

“I defended MMA as being a sport and not sports entertainment, like AEW or WWE. My editor, Dan Hiner, pushed me to take a stance for or against, with me taking the ‘for’ stance,” he said. “That story in particular helped me because I was able to parlay that into my current job as MMA writer for Armchair Media Network, where I supply event previews and reviews after MMA fights in addition to opinion pieces about the sport.”

Brian Yauger, a former sports editor who graduated in 2019, said his favorite part of working at The Jambar was writing stories that required him to travel. 

“I got to watch women’s basketball the year they went to the WNIT [Women’s National Invitation Tournament]. That’s probably the biggest event I covered with YSU women’s basketball at Cincinnati. It was awesome,” he said. “Being down on the floor at a major Division I school, same with when I went to Louisville for YSU basketball, men’s.  It’s really cool being down on the floor seeing a different side of things.” 

Yauger said he wanted to make sure he gave credit to the people who helped him along the way at The Jambar.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere near what I am now without the people here. I need to say that quite a few times,” he said. “Mary Beth [Earnheardt], and Dave [Davis] and pretty much everybody that was ever here, kind of molded me into who I am,” he said.