Mars boys' WPIAL soccer title takes 2nd spot

By JOHN ENRIETTO Eagle Sports Editor

December 27, 2008 Last Updated: December 27, 2008 01:47 PM Special Sections

Ryan McKenzie of Mars is tripped by Thomas Jefferson's Christian Angotti in the Planets' WPIAL Class AA championship victory Nov. 1, which was picked as the No. 2 Butler County area sports story for 2008.

Brian Minto fighting at Pullman Park was just one of numerous memorable Butler County area sports happenings in 2008.

By vote of the Eagle sports staff, here is a look at the remainder of our top 15 as we prepare to turn the calendar:

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No. 2: Mars boys win WPIALsoccer championship — A year removed from their Cinderella run to the state finals, the Planets won the WPIALcrown — the program's first — with a 3-2 victory over Thomas Jefferson.Michael Page scored the winning goal with 28 minutes and 7 seconds left. Tanner Panza and Alex Perri also scored for Mars.•

No. 3: The Randy Armagost saga at Moniteau — The Warriors boys basketball coach saw his position opened by the school board amid complaints from parents that he was not a proper role model for the players.Armagost reapplied for the position and was hired during the summer. His story brought to the forefront the gray area of what a coach can and cannot say to a team or player in the privacy of a locker room.•

No. 4: Butler BlueSox, Slippery Rock Sliders baseball — The newly formed Prospect League, a collegiate wooden bat circuit, announced it will have a strong presence in Butler County with two teams.The BlueSox will play at Pullman Park, the Sliders at Critchfield Park. Both teams will play 27 home games, beginning in June.

• No. 5: Moniteau football wins first KSACtitle — The Warriors finished with a perfect record in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference and won their first football title as a member of the league.A 12-7 loss at Riverside in the 10th week ended their hopes of a perfect regular season.• No. 6: Karns City wins District 9 title, first PIAAfootball playoff game — The Gremlins' longtime football success story added a chapter in 2008 with a 32-14 victory over North Star in the first round of the PIAAplayoffs.After defeating Moniteau 42-9 to win the D-9 championship, Karns City scored three touchdowns in a seven-minute span of the third quarter to break the North Star game open.• No. 7: Grove City's Kristy Woods wins discus, shot put state titles — It was two days and two state crowns for the Eagles senior.Woods defended her state title in the discus with a toss of 143 feet, 8 inches on a Friday, then won the shot-put crown with a heave of 144-11 the next day.• No. 8: Slippery Rock's Jono Powell wins Eagle Scoring Trophy — No quarterback had won this award until Powell took the honor this fall.Leading his team to the District 10 championship game, Powell threw for 1,116 yards and nine touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,225 yards and 18 scores.• No. 9: Moniteau defeats Karns City in 35-34 thriller — These two football rivals combined to produce the game of the season. The Gremlins saw their 27-game regular season KSACwin streak come to an end.Moniteau recovered a fumble at the Karns City 5-yard line and Tyler Armagost tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to Tony Campbell with six minutes left. Andrew Miller's PATwas the game-deciding point.• No. 10: Tyrell Sales starts for Big Ten champion Penn State — The Butler graduate is wrapping up his Penn State football career in the Rose Bowl game against USCon New Year's Day.Sales ranks third on the team in tackles and has an interception and forced fumble this season.

• No. 11: Lily Grenci, Steve Cress break Mars basketball scoring records — Both Planets marks fell in 2008. Cress broke the boys record last winter and scored 1,208 points in his career. Tim Frye held the former record of 1,162. Cress is now at Edinboro.Grenci, headed to Siena, scored 23 points in a recent 48-26 win over Kittanning and has 1,178 points in her career. Becky Best set the former record of 1,176 in 1983.• No. 12: Mars hockey reaches Penguins Cup finals — The Planets suffered a frustrating 3-1 loss to Quaker Valley, failing to score on seven power plays, a penalty shot and a pair of two-man advantages.The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for Mars, which ended the season 22-2-1.• No. 13: Celeste Hortert wins national horse show — The Butler resident and Butler County Community College student repeated her national title in the Paso Fino Horse Association's Grand National Championship in Perry, Ga.Hortert rode Ricardo IA, an 11-year-old paso fino show horse, to the championship.• No. 14: Butler baseball team ends 12-year playoff drought — The Golden Tornado reached the WPIALClass AAAA playoffs for the first time in 12 years, but dropped a 4-3 decision to Plum in the quarterfinals.Tim Geibel and Dustin Uhlman had three hits each for Butler, which finished the year at 13-7.• No. 15: Butler football wins 500th game — The Golden Tornado posted an 18-0 win over Canon McMillan at Art Bernardi Stadium Sept. 19 for the program's 500th all-time victory.Butler, which has been playing football for 102 years, became the 15th WPIAL football program to reach 500 wins.• Best of the Rest: Seneca Valley graduate Zach Jackson moved to bullpen by Milwaukee Brewers, then dealt to Cleveland Indians where he became a starter again. ... Slippery Rock University men's basketball team off to 7-0 start, set school record with 128 points in a game. ... Mars I ends Saxonburg's four-year run as Eagle County League baseball champion. ... Longtime American Legion baseball manager Dess Schnur named first director of Stadium Authority at Pullman Park. ... Cranberry Township's Samantha Scholl breaks national long jump record at U.S. Transplant Games.

Butler's Ryan Geibel celebrates the winning run against Franklin Regional during the first round of the WPIAL AAAA baseball playoffs. The Golden Tornado made the postseason for the first time in 12 years.