Trent Merrell wins Lou Rotunda Award

ELYRIA — Trent Merrell didn't know Lou Rotunda, but he heard all the stories about the man called "Mr. Elyria Catholic," and his never-ending loyalty to the school. On Friday, at Elyria Catholic's annual distinction awards ceremony, Merrell was presented with the 67th annual Lou Rotunda Award. The award dates back to 1960, when Rotunda presented it to Jon Mitro, the lone senior to stay with a winless Panthers basketball team in 1959-60. Rotunda wanted to reward Mitro's loyalty despite the team's record and it's been presented ever since. Merrell follows his uncle, Ross Rybarczyk, as a Rotunda winner. "It's an amazing honor," Merrell said. "My uncle won it back in 2002, so it's just great to carry that legacy on in the family. It really just shows all the support I've had between coaches, family, teammates and just everyone supporting me throughout this whole process." Rotunda passed away in 2011. He was EC's freshman basketball coach for 40 years, and a huge supporter of the school. "I believe the Lou Rotunda Award embodies what it means to be a strong Elyria Catholic student-athlete on and off the field," Merrell wrote in his application for consideration for the award. "Growing up, I always heard of Mr. Rotunda's legacy and what the Lou Rotunda Award means to the Elyria Catholic community. This award is one of the longest standing traditions at Elyria Catholic and is something every student-athlete strives to honor." There were five EC seniors that applied for the longest running award in the county. Connor Petrus, last year's winner, presented the award. Merrell will attend Bowling Green State University on a full athletic scholarship to play football. Academically, Merrell has maintained a 4.264 GPA. He played football all four years and was named second-team All-Ohio last year, and academic All-Ohio. He was one of EC's captains during his junior and senior seasons and will study business with a concentration on finance and accounting. "I knew I wanted to play football in college," said Merrell. "Ever since I stepped foot on Bowling Green, I knew that was the spot I wanted. Finally, in January, I got a call saying they wanted me. I decided to take it." Merrell, 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, recorded over 100 tackles in his last two seasons at EC, posting 22.5 tackles for loss as a junior and 25.5 tackles for loss as a senior. He forced two fumbles and blocked two field goals last season. He was a defensive end. "Trent embodies everything you want in a student-athlete and leader," said EC football coach Chase Farris. "He consistently earns the respect of his teammates, coaches, classmates and teachers through his toughness, discipline, humility and relentless work ethic." His parents, Dan and Blake, were his biggest supporters during his years at Elyria Catholic. Both are alumni of the school. Dan played collegiately at John Carroll. "My parents taught me everything I know since I was born," said Trent. "Without them, for sure, I couldn't do any of this." "Trent deserves all the credit," said his father. "He's such a hard worker. He's worked from Day 1 to get all the accomplishments and do all he wants to do. We're kind of a sports family and Trent has always run with that. I never really tried to force his hand too much, but we were always there to support him. He loves football." Merrell also played baseball and basketball, as well as being a member of the National Honor Society for two years, Ambassadors for three years, Student Senate for two years, Peer Ministry and Spirit Senate for one year. He also participated as a Eucharistic Minister, EC's Living Stations of the Cross and the Walls of Love Service project. He volunteered at the Save Our Children, EC youth camps and Good Knights organization. "It's a way of life in my opinion," said Merrell, when asked what it means to be a Panther. "My mom's whole side went here, so I kind of knew about it growing up. I totally put it together when I came here, but it's how to live your life and (EC) teaches you that." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Lou Rotunda Award Winners 1960 Jon J. Mitro 1961 Thomas E. Mahl 1962 Gary J. Basinski 1963 Robert F. Monchein 1964 Dennis A. Crozier 1965 James S. Polen 1966 Robert J. Fitzpatrick 1967 William V. Toth 1968 Timothy J. Wagner 1969 Patrick J. Mulholland 1970 Mark A. Straka 1971 Douglas W. Gerber 1972 David C. Weitzel 1973 Paul J. Zemanek 1974 Bruce D. Yeager 1975 William C. Stetson 1976 David J. Diederich 1977 Eric J. Essenmacher 1978 Thomas J. Smelko 1979 Scott L. Miller 1980 John J. Walker 1981 James S. Bainbridge 1982 Chris D. Sito 1983 Daniel Basinski 1984 Brian Wolbers 1985 Alan D. McKinney 1986 Mark A. Kirsch 1987 Jeffrey C. Hoagland 1988 Cory Hodge 1989 Benjamin P. Basinski and Gary L. Hoagland 1990 Adam Reichard 1991 Michael Gandolfo 1992 David McCoy 1993 Joseph V. Desimone 1994 Terrel Dixon and Joel Stuart 1995 Roopen R. Patel 1996 Kevin Fritz 1997 Joseph Conroy 1998 Mike Jonesco 1999 Gerald L. Conroy, Jr. 2000 Kenneth Brown 2001 James Patton IV 2002 Ross Rybarczyk 2003 Michael Clapham 2004 Corey Shepard 2005 John Grega 2006 Jock Taylor 2007 Andrew Kirsch 2008 Joe Fitch 2009 Zachary Poling 2010 Nicholas Ksenich and Spencer Roule 2011 Conor Voreis 2012 Joe Dempsey and Ryan Lutke 2013 Jacob Moore 2014 Jake Hromada 2015 Noah Bland and Zach Sudnick 2016 Jacob Kuchta 2017 Sam Best 2018 Andrew Beck 2019 Leighton Banjoff 2020 Luke Costantino 2021 James Steindl 2022 Alex Carandang 2023 Levi Ellis 2024 Andrew Krupka 2025 Connor Petrus 2026 Trent Merrell