Now in his 30th year as a member of the athletic department and 25th season as leading the department, former Penguins student-athlete and Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo has worked diligently to ensure that today's student-athletes have the support system in place to succeed not only at Youngstown State, but also in their future.
Success
Strollo has guided the Penguins to unparalleled success, as evidenced by 62 Horizon League championships during just the last 12 academic years, as well as 11 straight top five finishes in the McCafferty Trophy standings, opening of new facilities, school-record breaking performances, all-time high fundraising levels, and numerous academic honors. His vision for successful broad-based programs and providing student-athletes tools to succeed on and off the playing fields is coming to fruition.
YSU won the Horizon League All-Sports McCafferty Trophy in 2020-21 and 2022-23 while finishing among the top two in the McCafferty Trophy standings in each of the past six seasons. It's also marked the seventh time in the past 12 years that the Guins have been in the top two overall. YSU has won 77 Horizon League titles while winning consecutive Gateway Football Conference (now the Missouri Valley Football Conference) championships in 2005 and 2006 during Strollo’s tenure. The women’s lacrosse program won school’s first Mid-American Conference championship in 2022. The Penguins women’s bowling team won the 2025 National Championship and has been to the final four three times since 2021.
2024-25
The Youngstown State bowling team won the program’s first national championship after reaching the NCAA Final Four for the third time since 2021. The Penguins defeated top-seed and defending national champion Jacksonville State in a thrilling title match in Las Vegas.
Empowered by six Horizon League championships in 2024-25, Youngstown State ranked as one of the top Horizon League programs again.
During the 2024-25 school year, the men's cross country and track and field teams claimed their third consecutive Horizon League triple crown. The women's track and field team won both the indoor and outdoor Horizon League titles. Women's tennis won the postseason championship to reach the NCAAs. Men's Basketball advanced to the Horizon League Championship Game for the first time in school history. Men's tennis added an appearance in the Horizon League tournament semifinals. The women's golf program was second at the Horizon League Championships as well.
2023-24
Youngstown State again proved to be one of the top all-around programs in the Horizon League finishing second in the McCafferty Trophy Standings. The Penguins brought home five Horizon League championships in 2023-24. The YSU men finished second and the women placed third.
During the year, the Guins collected the men's cross country, men's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, softball (regular season) and women's tennis (regular season) titles. Baseball reached the championship round for the first time in 10 years while men's basketball was second, one year after winning the regular-season title. Women's Golf, Women's Indoor track and field and Women's Outdoor track and field earned runner-up finishes as well.
Additionally, the football program advanced to the FCS Playoffs for the first time since 2016 and the women's bowling squad was an NCAA semifinalist after reaching the Final Four.
2022-23
Bolstered by seven Horizon League championships in 2022-23, Youngstown State earned the Horizon League's McCafferty Trophy outright for the first time in school history. The YSU finished first while the women placed second.
Among the seven Horizon League championships was the men’s basketball team earning the first regular-season championship in program history. The men’s cross country team league crown for the first time since 2018
The men’s and women’s track and field programs continued their dominance by sweeping both the indoor and outdoor track and field championships. The women’s program captured their ninth consecutive outdoor league title and 10th in the last 11 years, while also securing program's 15th Horizon League team title, and the men posted its fourth straight outdoor league championship.
For the seventh consecutive indoor season, the Youngtown State track and field programs clinched a pair of indoor titles. The men's team raced to their eighth straight league title and eighth overall, while the women captured their seventh consecutive league title and ninth in the last 10 years as they overcame a 34-point deficit on the final day to beat Milwaukee.
The women’s tennis team won both the regular-season championship and post-season Horizon League titles.
The bowling team advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the third straight year and finished as regional runners-up making it to the Elite Eight.
Addition of Six Sports
Strollo has also built Youngstown State into the second largest Division I athletic department in the State of Ohio with 21 sports and more than 500 student-athletes. In 1996-97, YSU added women's golf, women's soccer and women's swimming and diving. Since the start of 2016, YSU has added women’s bowling, men’s swimming and diving and women’s lacrosse. Women’s Bowling’s first season was in 2016-17, while the men’s swimming and diving program restarted in 2019-20. Women’s lacrosse’s inaugural season started in February of 2021, bringing the total number of new sports programs to six.Â
Facilities
Always a firm believer that state-of-the-art facilities attract quality coaches and student-athletes:
- In 2025, Strollo initiated a $4-million renovation to Beeghly Center, including new chair-back seating, sound system, videoboards, locker room renovations and a VIP lounge
- In the Fall of 2023, the nearly $1-million Korandovich Family Sports Medicine Center opened in Beeghly Center
- In the Spring of 2023, the nearly $1-million Jim & Melissa DiBacco Family Leadership Center in Stambaugh was opened, which includes a 150-seat theater style classroom and state-of-the-art technology
- In 2020, the $4-million indoor tennis facility was opened.
- In 2019, construction of the $3-million Don Constantini Multimedia Center was completed on the east side of Stambaugh Stadium.
- Also in 2019, construction was completed to the $3-million outdoor complex (Cafaro Field) including turf field and lights and a new $1-million new parking and tailgate lot serving Beeghly Center, Stambaugh Stadium and the WATTS.
- In 2018, $2-million in renovations were made to the Beeghly Natatorium, which featured a new scoreboard, deck, starting blocks and timing pads.
- In 2016, $1.1-million improvements were made to Stambaugh Stadium including a high-definition videoboard and scoreboards, and Musco Lighting.
- In 2013, the $4.4-million the Covelli Sports Complex located West of Fifth Avenue that included Farmers National Bank Field (Lacrosse, Soccer, and Track and Field) and the YSU Softball Field was completed.
- In 2012, the $12.3-million Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) indoor facility was opened.
Strollo also led efforts to renovate and maintain every locker room, weight room and coaches’ offices, replaced playing surfaces, lights and scoreboards across all the various athletic venues.
Academics
Academically, the Penguins continue to impress in the classroom. Youngstown State’s 500-plus student-athletes combined to post a 3.50 cumulative GPA after the 2025 spring semester. Overall, 383 had a semester GPA above 3.00 (80 percent) and in total, 391 have a cumulative grade-point average above 3.00 (82 percent).
In the spring, 152 student-athletes posted a perfect 4.00 grade-point average while 65 owned a cumulative GPA of 4.00 upon the conclusion of the spring semester. A total of 20 YSU programs posted at least a 3.21 cumulative GPA while the women’s golf program led the way with a 3.88 GPA.
At the conference level in 2024-25, 56 student-athletes were named academic all-conference or honorable mention in the Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Missouri Valley Football Conference and Southland Bowling League.
In the last 27 straight semesters, YSU student-athletes have maintained a 3.00-GPA or better.
YSU student-athletes have captured 22 CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades since 2001 while a total of 185 have been named to Academic All-District teams in the past 21 years, including 43 in 2024-25.
Fundraising
As Executive Director of the Penguin Club, Youngstown State athletics’ fundraising arm, Strollo led the development group to unprecedented growth in membership revenue and endowed scholarships.
During his tenure as Athletics Director, the number of endowed scholarships has risen from 19 to nearly 200, and the value of all endowed scholarships increased from $1 million to nearly $12 million.
Personal
His solid reputation has landed him on prominent regional and national committees. He has served in various capacities with the Horizon League, including chair of the strategic planning committee, chair of the executive council, chair of the finance committee and resource cabinet, chair of the television committee, and liaison for men’s basketball. He served on the NCAA Division I Football Championship Selection Committee; was on the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee; served as the Central Region Chair of the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee and as the president of the FCS Athletic Directors Association. He also served four years on the NCAA Championship and Competition Cabinet as well as four years on the NCAA Football Competition Committee.
Strollo returned to his alma mater in 1996 as athletic business manager. In March 2000, he was named the school's Associate Executive Director of Athletics. In his short time in that capacity, he helped spearhead the transition into the Horizon League. He succeeded former YSU President James P. Tressel as Executive Director of Athletics in July of 2001, which was YSU’s first year of competition in the Horizon League.
He has strong ties to the local community and to the athletic department. He is currently serving as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. He grew up in nearby Austintown, graduated from Fitch High School where he participated in football, basketball, and baseball and was inducted into the Austintown Fitch Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017. He played football for YSU from 1988 through 1991 for Coach Tressel and was named team captain and offensive player of the year of the first National Championship team in 1991. He was selected as the 1991-92 Joseph F. Malmisur YSU Male Student Athlete of the Year. In 2024, he was inducted into the Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame for his contribution to sports. He earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from Youngstown State in June of 1993. He worked for three years at Hill Barth & King in Youngstown where he became a CPA.
Ron and his wife, Dr. Nicole Kent-Strollo, reside in Austintown. They are proud parents of two grown children who are both YSU graduates. Ryan was a member of the men’s basketball team, later earning a JD from Cleveland Marshall College of Law, while Rachel received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from YSU. Nicole, a former YSU student-athlete who competed in track and cross country from 1989 through 1993 also served YSU in several capacities, most recently as the Dean of Students and Ombudsperson. She is currently the inaugural Dean of Students at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED).
