COLLEGE GOLF Senior golfers Zarlenga, Komsa believe success on YSU's Horizon

They'll try to turn around YSU's fortunes in the league championship.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Josh Zarlenga and Nate Komsa are in their fourth and final seasons with the Youngstown State men's golf team.
The two senior members of head coach Tony Joy's squad haven't had much success as a team in the last three Horizon League championships, but the duo are hoping that 2006 will be the year for the Penguins.
YSU will begin competition in the league championships starting Monday at Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. The event concludes Tuesday.
The Penguins have finished sixth in the seven-team tournament each of the past three seasons. Their best finish in the event came in their first season in 2002 when they finished fifth.
Both Zarlenga and Komsa feel that things will be different this year.
"We feel our chances are much better this season," said Komsa, a native of Lakeshore, Ontario. "We've got a couple of freshmen and a junior who have really stepped up the season."
Zarlengo, a graduate of Boardman High, says that the Penguins have played and defeated most of the teams in the Horizon League this season.
"It should come down to three teams: us, Cleveland State and Detroit," Zarlenga said.
Komsa, who has played in all 30 rounds for the Penguins this season, has a team-best and career-low average of 75.6 per 18 holes.
He recorded two top-10 finishes, both coming in the team's final two matches of the year. He was sixth at the recent Dayton Springs Invitational and was second at the Loyola Rambler Invitational two weeks ago.
Zarlenga, who also has played in all 30 rounds, has a 77.4 average for 18 holes, with a low round of 69 last fall at the Morehead State invitational.
Komsa was medalist
As individuals, both players have fared well at the Horizon championship. Komsa was individual medalist as a sophomore in 2003-04 when he posted rounds of 72, 70 and 75 to beat Butler's Jonathan Novak by one stroke. He was ninth last season.
Zarlenga finished 10th a year ago in the championships.
YSU does not have any home matches, playing all its meets on the road.
"I guess it's a disadvantage, but not a big one," said Zarlenga. "The only team that has the advantage is the home school and a lot of times they are not the top team entered in the event."
"Over the years we have played a lot of these tournaments over and over and we are pretty much familiar with the golf courses," Komsa added.
"We've played down at Eastern Kentucky and we've got over 20 rounds of golf down there, so it's a pretty familiar layout to us," he added.
This year's course is just outside Indianapolis, Ind., with Butler being the host school.
"We've already beaten Butler is other tournaments and they're not expected to be a contender, so we'll have the same chances as a Cleveland State or Detroit," said Komsa.
Both players feel that they've learned a lot of golf from their coach.
"Coach Joy knows the game and he's taught us an awful lot these past four years," Zarlenga said. "I know that he's really helped me with my game."
Both players know that this is their final match as a college player, but both know that it is not the end of the golfing careers.
mollica@vindy.com