Mars captures 2nd PIAA boys lacrosse championship in dramatic battle with Penncrest
UNIVERSITY PARK — Josh Wilburn and his dad were shouting and jumping up and down on their couch when Mars boys lacrosse won its first PIAA title in 2022.
Sometime in the four years since that historic title, Wilburn set an alert on his phone for the four-year anniversary of that moment. It went off two days ago.
He’ll have to set a new notification for June 13, 2026.
Still the only boys team west of the Susquehanna River to win PIAA gold, the Fightin’ Planets captured their second in a dramatic, tense 14-13 win over District 1’s Penncrest on Saturday afternoon at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium.
When Wilburn, a senior face-off specialist now, saw the alert Thursday, he thought: “‘(Heck) yeah, this is gonna be us.’ And look at us now.”
Look at him, too.
Wilburn does not often get the glory of scoring like some of his teammates do. His job is to win a face off, get the ball to a teammate and sprint to the sideline to watch them (hopefully) score.
But with 3:47 left in the game after he won yet another face off, he scooped the ball up and “realized I was 10 yards out, ish, took two steps forward and just let it rip,” he said.
His one and only shot of the game found nylon and gave Mars (19-4) a 12-11 lead and proved effectively the game-winner.
In a game that featured a star-making performance from Grant Weaver, who had a game-high seven goals, Wilburn’s was the most important.
“It was awesome,” Wilburn said.
“That was an absolutely juice goal,” teammate Jack Tirch said. “If it wasn’t for Wilburn, we wouldn’t be anywhere as far as we did this year.”
Mars held the lead the rest of the way.
“I was just shocked, my brain was empty,” Weaver said describing how he felt with the final horn sounded. “It was the best moment of my life so far.”
Twice Mars had to overcome deficits and the growing confidence of Penncrest’s attackers. Twice they responded in uncharacteristically quick fashion.
The Planets scored three straight in 18 seconds in the heart of the second quarter, turning deficits of 3-1 (end of first quarter) and 4-3 into a 6-4 lead it didn’t give up until the final frame.
The outburst started when Nate Caldwell and Jack Tirch played a textbook game of give-and-go on the right side that led to Caldwell’s first goal of the afternoon to even the score.
“We saw that one of the guys slid and hadn’t recovered yet, which left a 2-on-1 on the backside,” Tirch said. “Nate just banged it out to me, I was thinking about shooting, but they recovered well so I just passed it down to him and he had an easy dunk and finish.”
Reed Fuller gave the Planets their first lead nine seconds later. And Weaver added his third goal eight seconds after that to make it 6-4 Mars with 6:20 left before halftime.
It also allowed Renner, a first-year starting goalie who was in a time-share this season before taking over for full games in the postseason, to settle in after he was “starting to lose my mind a little bit there” getting beat by Lions running up the left alley.
The senior came up with arguably his biggest stop in the fourth quarter on a point-blank shot after a pass over his head, dropping to one knee to help Mars cling to a 10-9 lead.
Penncrest (15-8) eventually scored and briefly took the lead later in the frame, but the damage could’ve been far worse.
Then Mars nearly matched the 17-second feat in the fourth quarter.
Down 11-10, Weaver scored his seventh and final goal to tie it back up with 3:54 to play. Wilburn’s heroics came seven seconds later, and Tirch made it 13-11 at 3:26 left.
“Honestly, it’s a little bit uncharacteristic of us,” Mars head coach Bob Marcoux said. “Their game plan was to pressure us. … These guys saw the opportunities and took advantage of them.”
The Planets were the first team from that half of the state to win a state title in 2022. And in their fifth appearance in the final in the past six years Saturday, they are now the only one to win the whole thing twice (and still the only Western Pa. team to do it).
Bishop Shannahan (two) and Marple Newtown (three) are the only other 2A teams with multiple state titles, and Randor (five), Conestoga (three) and La Salle College (three) are the only ones in 3A. Springfield-Delco has won one in each classification.
Renner, long before he’d become a late-blooming starting goaltender, remembered watching the dog pile at the end of that game and thinking about “how good it would feel” to be part of that.
Tirch views that team as “the best team Mars has ever seen.”
Put the 2026 roster in that pantheon. After entering as the third seed in the WPIAL tournament with question marks a year after being bounced in the first week of states, the Planets are back on top of the mountain.
“(The 2022 team) had a little bit of an easier run, they were crazy talented,” Marcoux said. “These guys have had to fight and claw their way here.”
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Mars' Reed Fuller (3) celebrates after scoring in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Grant Weaver (9) shoots a goal in the second quarter of a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' fans celebrate after the team scores a goal in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Reed Fuller (3) shoots a goal in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Blake Cote (20) guards Penncrest's Niklas Backstrom (21) in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Josh Wilburn (15) carries the ball in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' fans cheer after the team's win in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars Boy's Lacrosse Coach Kyle Savage celebrates after the team's win in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Josh Wilburn (15) wins a face-off against Penncrest's Logan Bruette (8) in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler
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Mars' Isiah Dennis (6) guards Penncrest's Steele Persichetti (5) in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Mike Duffy attempts to knock the ball away from Penncrest's Aaron Goldstein (23) in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Reed Fuller (3) celebrates after scoring in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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A Mars fan celebrates after the team scores in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Josh Wilburn (15) passes the ball to Chase Lamm (10) in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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The Mars boys lacrosse team form a dogpile after winning in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler
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Mars Boy's Lacrosse Coach Kyle Savage watches the team play during a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Grant Weaver (9) attempts a shot over a Penncrest player's arm in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Isiah Dennis (6) carries the ball in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Blake Cote (20) circles around the net in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Nate Caldwell (18) moves the ball upfield in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Josh Wilburn (15) carries the ball in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Wyatt Wilson (35) carries the ball in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Josh Wilburn (15) recovers a ground ball in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Josh Wilburn (15) competes with Penncrest's Logan Bruette (8) in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Jack Tirch (22) runs with the ball in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler
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Mars' Reed Fuller (3) hugs a member of the coaching staff after the team's win in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Reed Fuller (3) looks for an opening to take a shot at the net around Penncrest's Jack Martin (15) in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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The Mars boy's lacorsse team celebrate as they run to greet the fans in the stands following their victory in a PIAA Class 2A boys lacrosse championship game against Penncrest, Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
