WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren OhioYSU student from Cortland wins big in sport stacking

YSU student from Cortland wins big in sport stacking

CORTLAND, Ohio - It was Christmas four years ago when 19-year-old Andy Innocenzi received a set of cups for Christmas.

"I look at them, I'm like, what am I going to with 12 cups?" the YSU sophomore remembered. "They have holes in the bottom, you can't even drink out of them!"

Eventually he learned that the cups are used in what's called "sport stacking," created in 2005.

"It is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world," Innocenzi said. "More new people join this sport than any other sport."

Since he discovered it, the Cortland native has earned the top sport stacking spot in the state for his age group and seventh in the country.

"I could do the whole thing with my eyes closed just because it's muscle memory," he explains as his hands fly over the cups. 

Andy stacks and un-stacks 12 cups in three pre-determined sequences, moving as fast as possible.

"It's like a track meet for your hands," he explained. "Whoever can move their hands the fastest wins."

Innocenzi competes four times a year. His record is 9.69 seconds. The world record is just under six.

"What I like about it is you can always improve," he said. "The more you practice the better you get."

And he says anyone can do it. All you need are 12 stacking cups, a flat surface, and a lot of work.

Andy started the first team at YSU, and hopes to get it started at other schools, so the young kids who make up the majority of stackers can earn scholarships.

"The kids that are younger are a lot faster than I am and when they graduate high school they'll have to quit," Innocenzi said. "So they don't have to quit, I'm going to create a program so that when they graduate they can all come to Youngstown."

Where they can build an education one cup at a time.