R-T Photo/Christy Tolson
Trenton’s softball team celebrates in October after clinching the school’s first district title in any sport since 2012.
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If you were at a North Central Missouri College basketball game, you were watching the Pirates or Lady Pirates win. The two North Central squads were undefeated in the month of January, combining for a 14-0 record in the year’s first 31 days.
The Lady Pirates were 8-0 in January and made the most of the run. NCMC won 14 of its final 16 games of the season to take the top seed in the region tournament and win a second-straight Region 16 title. The Lady Pirates would finish the season with a 20-12 record.
The North Central men were 6-0 in January and also claimed the top seed in the Region 16 Tournament. The Pirates would finish the season with a school-record 22 victories, finishing the season with a 22-7 mark.
Though the Pirates and Lady Pirates seasons would end against teams they had defeated twice in the regular season, the memorable start to the year 2015 was one fans won’t forget for years to come.
Trenton High School would make headlines in February, joining the Grand River Conference. The move was made official on Feb. 6 as the Bulldogs, Pattonsburg, North Andrew and St. Joseph Christian were all voted into the expanded conference. The move marked the first time since the late 1980’s that Trenton had a conference to call home.
Milan and Putnam County joined the conference shortly thereafter, making the GRC a 16-team league with two divisions. Trenton will begin competing in the new super-conference in the 2016-2017 school year.
R-T Photo/Seth Herrold
Trenton’s Ayron Osborn won two medals at the state track meet in May. Trenton hadn’t won a state medal in track and field since 2012.
Trenton wrestlers Mason Mounce and Thomas Mack were in the headlines in February as well, as each closed out their wrestling career with runner-up finishes at the state wrestling championships in Columbia. Mounce was second at 160 pounds, finishing the season with a 43-3 record. Mounce collected 170 wins in his career with Trenton and three state medals. Mack, meanwhile, was 40-9 during his senior season, collecting 110 career victories. He was second in the state at 170 pounds.
In March, the Mercer Lady Cardinals basketball team laid claim to district and sectional championships, seeing their season run all the way to the state quarterfinals before losing. Mercer went 29-0 before the quarterfinal loss ended the remarkable season. Mercer, with all of its key pieces back, is at it again at the end of the year. The Lady Cardinals are currently 8-0 this season and laid claim to a record seventh straight HDC Conference Tournament title in December.
In the spring, Trenton sent three golfers to state in Cree Mullenix, Nate Swann and Corbyn Guile. The trio helped lead the Bulldogs to a 7-1 dual record on the season. Trenton’s track and field teams were represented at state as well and the Lady Bulldogs grabbed coveted state medals for the first time since 2012.
Ayron Osborn was fourth in the triple jump at state, earning a medal and also got another, combining with Shayla Woodside, Tenna Roberts and Whitley Richman to place seventh in the 4×400-meter relay.Ally Ockenfels was sixth in the shot put, collecting Trenton’s other state medal.
The Trenton boys track team was represented by two relay teams. Bailey Owen, Jonathan Lamp, Wyatt Whittle and Trey Shields placed 10th in the 4×400-meter relay and Lamp, Owen, Whittle and Travis Leeper finished 13th in the 4×100-meter relay.
Once sports resumed in the fall, Trenton fans had more to cheer about as the Lady Bulldogs softball team grabbed Trenton’s first district championship in any sport since 2012. Trenton won the Class 2, District 16 title, finishing the season with a 22-4 record.
Trenton’s football team also had a successful season, finishing 7-3 just one year after going 2-8. It was Trenton’s first seven-win season since 2008 and the turnaround earned second-year Head Coach Brandon Boswell All-Northwest District Coach of the Year honors.
Speaking of Coach of the Year, Lady Bulldogs Head Basketball Coach Brian Upton received the same honor for girls basketball in March. Upton and the Lady Bulldogs began the 2015-2016 season successfully, winning the Gallatin Tournament championship this December.
R-T Photo/Seth Herrold
Jory Woodson shoots during a Pirates’ win in January. The NCMC men and women combined to go 14-0 in the first month of 2015.
On a national level, a pair of Trenton alums were in the news. Mike Arbuckle helped get the Kansas City Royals back to the World Series and this time around the Boys in Blue came through, winning the World Series over the New York Mets in five games. The title was the second for the Royals’ Senior Advisor to the General Manager. Arbuckle’s other title came with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008.
Andy Hill, also a Trenton alum, survived his second football head coaching change at the University of Missouri. Hill, who was retained after Gary Pinkel took over for Larry Smith, was held over again when Barry Odom took the reigns from Pinkel in November.