COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — From an early age, Marek Tzagournis had a family assist when it came to lacrosse.  

“My dad played in college, so, basically from a young age I was introduced,” he explained. “In kindergarten, I played up with my brother. He’s a year older than me.” 

“His dad has been coaching him forever,” added Dublin Jerome head coach Andy Asmo, who was also Marek’s eighth grade teacher. “He just came and it and it was just like okay, don’t get in his way and let him do his thing.” 

For a long time, he was following in his brother Chase’s footsteps: playing for Dublin Jerome, then signing with the University of Denver.  

“I didn’t think about any records when I was coming in. I just wanted to win and play with my friends,” Marek said with a smile. 

He’s done a lot of winning during his high school career. After missing out on the 2020 season due to the pandemic, Marek, Chase and Celtics came back in 2021 to win the program’s first ever OHSAA Boys Lacrosse State Title. In 2022, Jerome made a return trip to the state title game, but lost to Upper Arlington.  

It was after that season that something besides just wins and playing with friends entered Marek’s mind. He was only 100 points shy from the Ohio high school all-time record.  

“He always had the potential of being this very special player,” Asmo said. “Our assistant coach always says the first time he saw him play he was in seventh grade and he said, ‘Oh that’s the best kid on the eight grade team.’”  

Heading into the Celtics playoff game on May 17, Marek had whittled that 100 point margin down to zero.  

“So I knew coming in all I needed was one point,” he said.  

It only took six seconds for Jerome to take the lead on Marysville in that game. I also only took six seconds for Marek to set a new Ohio high school boys lacrosse points record: 411 points.  

 “What was really special to see was all the players, from alumni that came back for that game, that just came back to see him play,” Asmo said. “The guys from the 2021 state championship team, the guys from last year’s 2022 state runner-up team came. There was about 15 of them that were calling me and texting me like ‘We’re coming back.’” 

Marek hasn’t stopped tallying points since that pivotal moment. Going into the state tournament, he now has 435 career points: 188 of those are goals, and 247 are assists. 

It’s not surprising that Marek’s numbers split that way. Playing what’s called the “X” position, he’s running the show on offense behind the net – a responsibility he relishes.  

“I love just being the quarterback especially from the back and seeing everything in front of me and getting other people the ball,” he explained.  

“He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he was also a second-team all-state wide receiver in football,” said Asmo with a shrug. “He plays like the biggest guy in the room.” 

That quality will be important as Marek prepares to join one of the biggest lacrosse programs in the country at Denver. He’s excited to take his talents to the Pioneer program, as well as bragging rights with his Ohio record. Remember: his brother plays for Denver. So, we had to ask if this record is something little brother will be reminding the older brother about if necessary. 

“Definitely! Definitely, yeah!” Marek said with a laugh.