Istvan Szunyogh '25 Recruiting Profile

I started playing hockey at the age of 5 in my home town, College Station, TX. I have always dreamed of playing the highest level of hockey for college and juniors. I was invited to try out for the 10U A team of the Houston Wild at the age of 8 by a coach who saw me playing in a house league tournament. I made the team and started playing travel hockey with players who were one or two years older than me. Except for the first year, when I played up with an age  waiver from the Dallas Stars Travel Hockey League, I always played on the AA team of the Houston Wild, which included 4 more seasons with players who were one year older than me. (The Houston Wild has no AAA teams.) Most importantly, I was the only 2007 birth year player of the 14AA team that made it to the quarterfinals at the Nationals of the 2020 seasons in 2021. I was the starting goalie of the team all year and I started all games at the Nationals. I was also the starting goalie of the 14AA team in the 2021 season, which made it to the States. In the 2022 season, I will play for the AAA 15U Atlantic Coast Academy team. I feel more than ready to prove myself at the Tier 1 level. My combination of size and speed  is my biggest strength,  but I can also read plays well and I am always aware of threats.

Academics is equally important for me to sports. Because I am  good at working with numbers, I hope to be a scientist, engineer, or accountant. I started taking pre-AP high-school math classes in 7th grade and  completed 4 such classes by the end of 8th grade with a combined GPA of 3.8. Balancing school and high-level athletics is challenging, but I already have a lot of experience with that. Because the ice rinks where the Houston Wild practiced were 1-2 hours drives from my house and school, I had to learn to manage my time very carefully.  I also managed to squeeze time into my schedule for school athletics. I was a member of the cross-country team in 7th grade, and the cross-country and track-and-field team in 8th grade. As the fastest sprinter of the team, I ran the anchor leg of the 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m relays. In 9th grade, I played center midfield in the JV soccer team of  College Station High School.