When Robert Vargo takes a step back, he can hardly believe it.

The former Martins Ferry High School standout played tight end during his prep career for Dave Bruney. He actually played it well enough that Ohio Dominican recruited him to play that position.

After arriving on the Columbus campus, however, Vargo sustained a knee injury that caused him to miss the majority of his freshman season. He used his red-shirt season to his advantage and learned a new position.

Vargo went back to camp the following summer as an offensive tackle and as they say, the rest is history. Vargo moved into a starting job about midway through his red-shirt freshman season and never looked back, capping his brilliant career this season with first-team all-Great Midwest Athletic Conference accolades.

“It’s exciting to be recognized by other coaches in the league,” Vargo said. “It’s nice to know that your hardwork paid off and was recognized throughout the conference. And knowing you’re one of the top guys in the conference is exciting, too.”

Vargo, who is a double major in sports management and business, is slated to graduate from Ohio Dominican in May. He’ll continue working on his MBA. His academic prowess hasn’t gone unnoticed either.

The former multi-sport all-Ohioan with the Riders was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team.

As for the football side, Vargo can’t believe his playing career could be over. He indicated he’s had some interest from a handful of collegiate all-star games, but he’s still weighing his options as to whether or not he’ll take part or not.

“My college career was pretty much what I envisioned,” Vargo said. “Obviously, it got off to a slow start with the knee injury. But, I handled that and switching positions well. That was the right move for me. It was a good ride. It was a long ride, but it actually went a lot quicker than I had expected.”

Vargo – a student of the sport – graded himself much tougher than what the coaches graded. The coaches didn’t have a lot to grade negatively since he didn’t commit a penalty all season.

“I think I graded out at over 95 percent three times,” Vargo recalled. “I actually had a good feeling about what my grade was going to be right after the game a few times. I remember the plays I mess up more than the plays where I don’t.”

Vargo actually opened some recruiting doors to the Ohio Valley for ODU. He was one of the first area football players to opt to attend there. Since he arrived the likes of Matt Barbour (Martins Ferry), Chase Wade (Shadyside), Shyounn Petteway (Steubenville) to name a few, have also become contributors for the Panthers.

“When I went up there as a freshman, there was really no one from the valley,” Vargo said. “It was like Zanesvile and Pittsburgh were the closest. Now, we’re getting a lot of guys from the valley up there.”

Here’s a look at other area products:

FOOTBALL

Division I

COLTON MCKIVITZ, West Virginia – Union Local product started at tackle during the Mountaineers’ gut-wrenching loss to Oklahoma State.

JOSH SILLS, West Virginia – Meadowbrook graduate started once again at guard during the Mountaineers’ loss to Oklahoma State.

BRENDAN FERNS, West Virginia – St. Clairsville product played on special teams in the loss to the Cowboys last week.

AUSTIN DORRIS, Indiana – Shadyside graduate played tight end and on some special teams during the Hoosiers’ loss to Michigan. Indiana needs a win this week against Purdue to become bowl eligible.

MAALIK RICHMOND, Youngstown State – Steubenville product was charted for a quarterback hurry in the Penguins’ loss to Illinois State.

ELIJAH BELL, North Carolina A&T – Wheeling Park grad was impressive in recapturing some of the magic he had a season ago. He caught a team-high 10 passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

ROSS COMIS, UMass – Madonna grad put the finishing touches on a solid collegiate career by throwing for 278 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Georgia.

Division II

CODY RINE, West Liberty – Brooke alumnus was named second-team all-MEC after recording 47 tackles and 2.5 sacks this season.

CLIFFORD CLARK, West Liberty – Cambridge product was recognized as first-team all-Mountain East Conference after a season in which he finished with 120 tackles. It’s the second consecutive season that Clark was recognized.

Division III

TANNER CLARK, Marietta – Caldwell product was named first-team all-Ohio Athletic Conference after a brilliant season in which he led the conference in 10 different categories, including rushing yards with 1,446 and touchdowns with 23.

LUCAS HERRINGTON, Mount Union – Steubenville product was named first-team all-OAC and the Purple Raiders began the NCAA D-III playoffs with a 60-0 victory in which in he caught two passes for 17 yards.

CHRISTIAN WITCHEY, St. Vincent’s College – St. Clairsville graduate was named second-team all-PAC as a punter. He punted 59 times for an average of 38.7 yards. He had two of better than 50 yards and dropped 10 inside the 20.

CROSS COUNTRY

MEGAN BATEMAN, California, Pa. — Union Local alumnus is headed for her second straight NCAA Division II championship meet after she and her Vulcan teammates finished second in the team standings. She was 31st overall and fifth on her team in 26:06.

SHAYE BECKETT, California, Pa. — Bellaire product was the seventh Vulcan runner to cross the line and she’ll compete at the NCAA Division II nationals next weekend. She ran a 27:12.

JACOB BISHOP, Alabama-Huntsville – Martins Ferry product finished 50th overall in the NCAA South regional, running a 33:36.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

CHASE HARLER, West Virginia – Wheeling Central grad started games against Western Kentucky and St. Joseph’s. He averaged less than 8 points to go along with 2 rebounds and an assist as the Mountaineers went 2-1 during an event in Myrtle Beach.

LOGAN ROUTT, West Virginia – Cameron graduate netted less than 4 points a game in a 2-1 weekend at the Myrtle Beach tourney. He’s the top inside sub for WVU.

PHIL BLEDSOE, Glenville State – Wheeling Park product scored 47 points and collected 25 rebounds as the Pioneers won two of their last three entering the Thanksgiving break.

TRENTON TIPTON, Wooster – Union Local grad logged 15 minutes off the bench in a win over Mount St. Joseph.

SHANE JOHNSON, Waynesburg – Shadyside grad started a game last Friday and scored two points. He came off the bench the next night and scored eight.

LUKAS ISALY, Marietta – River product scored 9 points and grabbed three rebounds in a win over Frostburg State this past Tuesday. He scored five against both St. Vincent’s College and LaRoche.

ANTHONY WALLACE, Marietta – Linsly School graduate averaged 11.3 points in wins over LaRoche, St. Vincent’s and Frostburg.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JENSEN CARETTI, Ohio State – River grad and her Buckeye teammates will go some 20 days between games after two last weekend were canceled due to air quality in Northern California.

MORGAN BRUNNER, West Liberty – Linsly product averaged almost 16 points a game in a loss to Glenville and win over Wesleyan.

ALLI DELANEY, Notre Dame College – Union Local grad played in loss to Concord and win over UV-Wise. over

CIERRA DAVIS, Washington & Jefferson – Bellaire product played in two games last week and scored against Dickinson.

HALEY PORTER, Waynesburg – Union Local alumnus averaged 10 points a game in a 1-1 weekend. She scored 13 points in a loss to Mount Union.

KYLIE MCCENNEN, Washington & Jefferson – Wheeling Park product logged 33 minutes and scored six points in a loss to Marietta. In a win over Dickinson, she played 27 minutes and scored six points.

JOSIE DAUGHERTY, Fairmont State – Wheeling Park grad scored two points in a loss last week.

KELSI CHAPMAN, Wheeling Jesuit – Magnolia graduate hit a trey in a loss to Wesleyan.

ALEX WILEY, Wheeling Jesuit – Harrison Central product logged her first action of the season.

WRESTLING

DALTON HOOVER, Wheeling Jesuit – Martins Ferry alumnus placed fifth in the Baldwin-Wallace tournament.

CALEB REA, West Virginia – True freshman from Weir High recorded his first collegiate pin in a dual against nationally ranked Northern Iowa over the weekend.

TARIQ WILSON, N.C. State – Steubenville graduate and returning all-American made his season debut last weekend. He went 5-0 on the weekend and claimed the title at 133 pounds. He outscored his opponents, 62-6 during the event.

DYLAN TAYLOR, Wheeling Jesuit – Wheeling Park graduate went 3-2 in the Findlay Open last week at 157 pounds.

SAWYER LEPPLA, Wheeling Jesuit – Cambridge product finished 4-1 and was tournament runnerup at 197 pounds at Findlay.

TOMMY CURTIN, Wheeling Jesuit – Linsly product was a bronze medalist at Baldwin-Wallace, posting two pins in the event.

TYLER JENKINS, Wheeling Jesuit – Meadowbrook grad was fourth place at Baldwin-Wallace last week.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or at twitter.com/TLSportsSeth