Youngstown State student-athletes Abbie Householder (volleyball) and Beau Brungard (football) were honored as the 2025-26 YSU Joseph F. Malmisur Student-Athletes of the Year last evening at the Scholar-Athlete Banquet at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Other awards presented during the event included the SAAC Leadership Awards - Female Recipient: Taylor Berry (soccer), Male Recipient: Teziah Howard (track and field), the Team Outreach Award - Softball and the Bounce Back Player of the Year Awards (sponsored by NovaCare Rehabilitation) – Dathan Hickey (football) and Marissa Masano (women's soccer)
Student-athletes Kennedy Dean (softball) and Howard (track and field) served as the Masters of Ceremony's for the fun event.
YSU President Bill Johnson spoke highly of the accomplishments of all those in attendance.
Dr. Chet Cooper and Brian Welch, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Academic Services, spoke about the tremendous success of all the student-athletes in the department. Those with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above were invited to be part of the evening.
Paul McFadden, President of the YSU Foundation, thanked the Scholarship Endowment donors who were in attendance at the event.
Brungard's Honors
• 2025 Walter Payton Award presented by Stats Perform
• 2025 Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year presented by Crabtree Lexus of New Haven
• 2025 FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year
• Unanimous first-team 2025 All-American: Walter Camp, FCS ADA, AFCA, Stats Perform, SI.com FCS Football Central, The Associated Press and Phil Steele
• 2025 MVFC Offensive Player of the Year
• 2024 and 2025 MVFC First-team All-Academic
• 2024 and 2025 Academic All-District, selected by College Sports Communicators
• 2024 and 2025 First-team All-MVFC
Householder's Honors
• 2025 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American
• 2025 AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region
• 2025 Horizon League Player of the Year
• 2025 Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year
• 2025 All-Horizon League First Team
• 2025 Horizon League Scholar Athlete of the Season (Fall)
• 2025 Horizon League All-Tournament Team
• 2024 All-Horizon League Second Team
• 2024 and 2025 Horizon League All-Academic Team
• 2023, 2024 and 2025 Academic All-District, selected by College Sports Communicators
• 2022 Horizon League All-Freshman Team
