KARNS CITY — When it comes to winners, Tom Wagner has been around more than a few.

It's only fitting his own career be officially etched in the books as a success story as well.

Wagner, a retired Karns City High School athletic director who turns 64 next month, was recently inducted into the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Hall of Fame.

Besides serving as KC's athletic director for 22 years, Wagner was a social studies teacher and physical education instructor in that district for 33 years.

“I know how hard it is just to keep up with everything in athletics around our school,” current Karns City athletic director Josh Williams said. “Tom expanded his work to the district and national level. He's still involved there.

“Honestly ... I don't know how he did everything he's done.”

Besides his duties at Karns City, Wagner served on the District 9 committee for 12 years, was Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association (PSADA) president from 2008-10, is chairman of the PSADA Retired Athletic Directors Committee and has been serving on the PSADA Executive Council since 1997.

He was named PSADA Athletic Director of the Year in 2010.

“I was hesitant to serve on the district and state boards because I knew that meant travel away from here (Karns City),” Wagner said. “I was always very conscious about fulfilling my responsibilities to this school district first.

(Karns City Superintendent) Dr. (Larry) Henry always encouraged me to expand to those levels. He said I carried the Karns City name with me when I did. I never looked at it that way.

“The people at Karns City have been great to me. The support I received, I can't begin to describe. I left here on a good note. I worked for three superintendents, two principals and had solid working relationships with all of them,” Wagner added.

Gremlin athletic teams won 40 District 9 championships and one state title — the 2000 girls basketball team — during Wagner's tenure.

“I can't take any credit for that,” he said. “We've had great coaches here, tremendous stability. And kids grow up around here looking forward to wearing that (high school) uniform. That's what we're most proud of.”

Wagner graduated from Thiel College in 1979. He began teaching at KC in 1980 and coached basketball and track there. He was furloughed after two years and taught at Butler Catholic for two years.

“When I was at Butler Catholic, (eventual longtime Moniteau athletic director) Jim Metz and (Butler cross country coach) Rick Davanzati were also there,” Wagner said.

He then accepted a teaching job at Meadville, only to be hired back by Karns City before starting that position.

Wagner's first coaching job was actually at Moniteau. He coached boys basketball there while teaching at Karns City.

“Mike Jewart (current Moniteau basketball coach) was a senior on that Moniteau team,” Wagner recalled. “I enjoyed coaching, but watching the administrative work going on, I figured I'd head in that direction. I wanted to make a difference through whatever I did.

“I actually became an athletic director because I thought the hours would be more steady. My wife still kids me about that one.”

Karns City began boys and girls soccer, baseball and softball programs after Wagner succeeded Paul Lambo as KC athletic director.

He described then Karns City principal Ken Fair as “my mentor and friend, a guy who really made the transition easy for me.”

Once he got involved with PSADA, Wagner never missed a conference. Once he became athletic director, he said he wanted to pattern Karns City athletics after Brookville and Blackhawk, “two highly successful programs at the time.”

As for the Hall of Fame?

“Nobody deserves it more,” Williams said. “Tom had ideas and followed through on them. He built relationships with people and was a pleasure to deal with.”

Wagner said of the Hall of Fame: “I was “uncomfortable about it at first. You get compared to everybody when you reach that point.

“The whole thing was a humbling experience. They had all of the inductees on the field at Heinz Field for a Pitt game last year. I looked up and saw myself on the Jumbrotron. That's when I knew this was really happening.

“I tried to work hard. I tried to do what was best for Karns City. That's what it was about for me,” he added.

Wagner was inducted with Dan Cardone of North Hills, John Bomboy of Marion Center and John Post of Iroquois.