COLLEGE FOOTBALL Area officials chosen to work bowls

Julius Livas, Rob Luklan, Stan Evans and Jim Visingardi will officiate.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning Valley will once again be represented as four local men will be part of college bowl game officiating crews.
Boardman's Julius Livas and Rob Luklan are part of the officiating crews at the Holiday and Poinsettia Bowls. Also, former Boardman resident and Boardman High alum Stan Evans, a resident of Sydney, Ohio, will serve as the referee on Luklan's crew at the Poinsettia Bowl.
And Jim Visingardi, a Poland resident, has been chosen to work the Emerald Bowl which pits Georgia Tech (7-4) against Utah (6-5) Dec. 29 in San Francisco.
Livas, a veteran Big Ten line judge, will be doing his third bowl game and his first since working the Mobile Bowl in 2001 between Marshall and East Carolina.
Past big games
He also worked the 1999 Independence Bowl between LSU and Notre Dame.
"It's really exciting to just be chosen for a postseason game," Livas said. "It's even more exciting for me this year in that the game will feature Oklahoma and Oregon State with Sooner head coach Bob Stoops, the Cardinal Mooney [graduate] who has done great things during his time as the OU head coach."
A Big Ten official for eight years, Livas, a 1968 South High graduate and Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame inductee, has officiated for 27 seasons with some memorable games this season, including the Michigan State win over Notre Dame, the last-second win by Michigan over Penn State and the Ohio State blowout of Northwestern.
Luklan, a Mid-American Conference official for six seasons and a 13-year veteran of the collegiate ranks (he formerly worked the Ohio Athletic Conference for seven seasons), will be working his second bowl game in the past three seasons. He worked the Fort Worth Bowl in 2003 between Texas Christian and Boise State.
A 1987 graduate of Youngstown State, Luklan earned four letters as a member of the Penguins' baseball team.
Work pays off
"It was an honor to be chosen two years ago, and an even bigger honor to be selected this season," he said. "You work hard all year with the hopes that you might grade out as one of the better officials at your position, so to be selected for the postseason once again is very humbling for me."
Luklan's memorable games this season included the Illinois-San Jose State game early in the year and Navy against Temple.
"I'm just happy that I was chosen for a bowl game and will give it my all to represent both the Mid-American Conference and the area in a first-class manner," said Luklan.
The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl will pit Colorado State (6-5) against Navy (7-4) on Dec. 22nd, while the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl is Dec. 29.