AREA

AREA
Pirates Caravan
YOUNGSTOWN -- Outfielder Jason Bay and pitcher Zack Duke will be among the Pittsburgh Pirates visiting the Butler Institute of American Art on Jan. 31.
Chris Duffy, new Pirates manager Jim Tracy and the Pirate Parrot also will attend the Pirates Caravan noon luncheon. Broadcasters Greg Brown and Bob Walk will serve as emcees.
Tickets cost $15 and includes a ticket to a Pirates game in 2006. Autographs, memorabilia and giveaways are part of the event.
Reservations are required and may be made by calling (330) 743-1107 ext. 122.
Curbstoners
BOARDMAN -- Former Youngstown Bears business manager Robert J. McClaran will be the guest speaker at Monday's noon luncheon at the Lockwood House.
Also, the Curbstone Coaches will holds its annual football all-league recognition banquet at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 29 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel hall. Guest speaker will be YSU assistant Jerry Olsavsky with WYTV sportscaster Bill Castrovince serving as toastmaster. Area coaches and athletic directors are encouraged to return ticket request information as soon as possible.
Harding's Kingon Dean's List
COLUMBUS -- Nate King, a 2003 graduate of Warren G. Harding, has been named to the Dean's List for the fall quarter at the Ohio State University. King is a junior at OSU majoring in Construction Systems Management and a scholar athlete on the school's swimming and diving team. He was a five-time All-American at Harding, where he holds school records in five of the eight swimming events.
King broke two school records at the Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invitational in December. He swam a 3:51.68 in the 400-yard individual medley and a 1:47.31 in the 200 IM to overcome the records. The previous record in the 400 IM was recorded in 1993 by Andy Rolley. King swam 1.23 seconds faster then Rolley's time of 3:52.91. In the 200-yard individual medley, King broke his own record of 1:48.29 set last season at the 2005 Big Ten Championships.
Ohio State is ranked 21st in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll. King is also ranked nationally on the NCAA Division I list compiled by CollegeSwimming.com. King sits in the Top 10 in the nation in three events: the 200 IM (No. 6 at 1:47.31), the 200 backstroke (No. 8 at 1:44.86), and the 400 IM (No. 10 at 3:51.68).
He has qualified for the 2008 Olympic trials in three events: the 200 backstroke (2:04.24), the 200 IM (2:06.73) and the 100 backstroke (56.96).
Youth boxing
TOLEDO -- Three Salinas brothers lost close decisions in the semifinals and finals of the Junior Olympic Silver Gloves single-elimination tournament this weekend in Toledo.
Alejandro "Popo" Salinas lost a decision to Carl Watkins of Columbus in a 70-pound semifinal bout on Friday.
"Popo fought well, but the Columbus kid was very aggressive and piled up points," said Salinas' trainer, Jack Loew of Youngstown's Southside Boxing Club.
Both older brother Juan and younger brother Julian had byes to the finals and the title round on Saturday. Nine-year-old Julian lost a 3-2 split decision to Akron's Paul Ross for the 65-pound title.
"Could have gone either way," Loew said.
Juan, 13, lost a well-boxed three-round decision to Cleveland's Zeedie Adams in the 106-pound championship
"Juan fought hard and so did Adams," said Loew. "These fights are very short and the scoring can be attributed to one rally in the round."
Bowling tournaments
* YOUNGSTOWN -- Entries for the Youngstown Bowling Association's 74th annual city tournament are available at area establishments.
The event, open to all YBA members, runs from Jan. 20-29 at Bell-Wick (team) and Camelot (singles-doubles).
Cost is $17 per event and entering all-events is optional for $2.
Divisions are upper and lower for team (1000-up, 999-under), doubles (400-up, 399-under) and singles (200-up, 199-under). Date for close of entries is Jan. 13.
* AUSTINTOWN -- The Josh Walker Benefit Bowling Tournament will be held today starting at 10 a.m. at Wedgewood Lanes.
The event is open to any sanctioned adult bowler. Registration is at 9:30. Cost is $60.
Correction
HUBBARD -- Hubbard High's boys basketball coach is Rick Fox, not Tom King. Saturday's paper reported the wrong name.
Athletic camp
YOUNGSTOWN -- Former South High graduate and quarterback of last year's Ohio Red Bulls semipro team Ray Marrow will hold an athletic boot camp/leadership program starting Feb. 11 at the Buckeye Elks Youth Center.
The camp for youth ages 7-17 will be every Saturday through April 29. Camp fee is $50 a month. Contact Marrow at 519-3091.
The camp will stress discipline and the need for respect toward coaches and teachers.
Camp aides will include former Youngstown State fullback Tamron Smith and Ray Marrow's brother, Vince, a former NFL player.
Junior Phantoms
BOARDMAN -- Mike Gorgacz had a goal and four assists to lead the Youngstown Jr. Phantoms in a 8-0 rout of visiting Euclid Saturday at the Ice Zone in Cleveland Suburban Hockey League action.
Ryan Demyen and Jared Taylor scored two goals apiece, while Brandon Nightingale, Corey Barnhouse, and Nick Malvasi each had a goal in the contest. Neil Allen chipped in with two assists and Justin Hallapy along with Crawford Warwick added assists. Brennan Allen recorded the shutout in the net for the Jr. Phantoms (6-1-1).
NATION
Ohio State recruitearns MVP honors
SAN ANTONIO -- Ohio State recruit Chris Wells ran for three touchdowns and earned MVP honors in leading the East past the West 27-16 in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl high school all-star game Saturday.
Wells scored on a pair of 5-yard runs and another from 2 yards out. He led all players with 67 yards on 13 carries.
"I think I can be a cutback runner," said Wells, a senior at Akron's Garfield High School in Ohio. "But I think I can do a lot of things. Just like today, you saw I can be a power runner."
Wells, who rushed for 1,930 yards and 22 touchdowns as a junior, had the first score of the game on his 2-yarder in the first quarter.
He provided the go-ahead score 5:31 into the second half when, with the game tied at 7, he scored on a 5-yard run over the left side.
The score was set up by two passes from St. Augustine, Fla., quarterback Tim Tebow, who has orally committed to North Carolina. He connected on a 56-yard pass with Vidal Hazelton and a 19-yarder to Jarrell Miller during the drive.
The West tied the score 7-7 on Jevon Snead's 21-yard touchdown pass to fellow Texan Ken Beasley in the second quarter. Snead, who threw two touchdown passes and is verbally committed to the national champion Texas Longhorns, lofted the pass to the corner of the end zone where Beasley made the grab.
Vindicator staff/wire reports