The Butler County Sports Hall of Fame inducted its newest members into the Class of 2023.
The new members are Matt Arminio, Carlos Brooks, Tim Burns, John Conner, Keri Connor Sennett, Megan McKnight Mahle, Jared Miller, Brady Nori, Darin Rieman, Ron Sutton and Dean Wright.
Below are the bios of each of the new members:
Matt Arminio (Fairfield) — Matt Arminio played fast-pitch softball for 20 years beginning in 1979 with the Hundley Hawks of Hamilton. His career included playing in 16 A.S.A. state tournaments, 4 regional tournaments, 3 national qualifiers and 18 national tournaments. He was a two-time state Most Valuable Player, a regional MVP and a three-time national qualifier MVP. He also played in 5 I.S.C. state tournaments and 9 I.S.C. world tournaments and was a two-time I.S.C. state Player of the Year. He also was the MVP of 19 other A.S.A. tournaments. He also played for the Dayton Merchants, West Liberty, Hamilton Merchants and the Ashland E.S.S. Merchants and finished his career with a .338 batting average. Matt also was a reserve and varsity softball coach at Hamilton High from 1984 until 1990. He was assistant coach in 1985 when Big Blue won the state title and as head coach in 1987 Hamilton reached the final four. As head coach, Matt compiled an 85-20 record and won 3 Greater Miami Conference titles, 2 district titles, 1 regional title and 1 state berth. Matt was a three-sport athlete at Fairfield graduating in 1977. He played football, basketball and baseball for the Indians. He continued playing baseball for two years at Columbia State Community College and two years at Austin Peay State University. He is a member of several other halls of fame including the Fairfield Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2010), the Butler County Fast-pitch Softball Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor (2010) and the Ohio A.S.A. Fast-pitch Softball Hall of Fame (2004).
Carlos Brooks (Middletown) — Carlos Brooks was a two-sport standout at Middletown High School playing football and basketball. The 1989 graduate was a three-year letterman in football where he was named a team captain his senior year and led the Greater Miami Conference in interceptions that year as well as in his junior season. He earned first team recognition his senior year in the GMC, the Southwest District and in the state. He also was named the Street and Smith Magazine Defensive Back of the Year as a senior. On the basketball court, Carlos was a member of the Middies’ GMC championship team his senior year. They also were district champions and a regional semifinalist. He went onto play football at Bowling Green State University where he is the Falcons all-time leader in interceptions with 12, including one for a touchdown. BGSU was the Mid-American Conference champions in 1992 and 1993. They won the Las Vegas Bowl in 1992 and won the California Raisin Bowl in 1993. Brooks earned All-MAC first team honors in 1993. Over the next several years, Carlos played professional football for several Arena, WLAF, NFLE and NFL teams including the Arizona Rattlers, Arizona Cardinals, Barcelona Dragons, L.A. Revengers, Buffalo Destroyers, California Cobras and N.Y. Dragons. He played in the World Championship game with Barcelona Dragons in 1997-98 and he played in the Arena Football Championship with the Arizona Rattlers in 1993-94.
Tim Burns (Ross) — Tim Burns was a key member of the 1980 Ross state championship boys basketball team. He led the Rams with 26 points in a state semifinal victory and received multiple accolades his senior year including being named to the state’s All-Tournament team. In addition, he was selected to the District 15 All-Stars, the Cincinnati Post All-Stars as a senior and he was am All-Butler County and All-League selection in both his junior and senior seasons. The Rams also captured district championships his junior and senior season and was a regional runner-up his junior year in 1979. Then Ross coach Ron Chasteen called him a “pure shooter.” Tim also played football and baseball at Ross. He was the starting quarterback all four years helping lead the team to a league title as a senior. He earned All-League honors as a junior and a senior. He was named the league Player of the Year his senior season and also was selected All-Butler County his senior season. He started for the baseball team for three years. Tim went onto play basketball for two years at Eastern Wyoming College.
John Conner (Lakota West) — John Conner is a 2005 Lakota West graduate who spent six season playing fullback in the National Football League. In 2010, he was drafted 139th overall in the fifth round by the New York Jets, where he played from until 2012. He also played for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012, then with the New York Giants in 2013, back to the Jets in 2014 and with the Buffalo Bills practice squad in 2015. At Lakota West, John played two years and had a senior season with 1,098 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was named to the Greater Miami Conference first team as a senior and also was an honorable mention player for the Southwest District team. John continued his football career at the University of Kentucky where he played in 54 career games rushing for 247 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught 25 passes for 193 yards and four touchdowns. In 2009, Conner was named to the College Football All-America team. In his NFL career, John played in 62 games, rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 12 receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Keri Connor Sennett (Middletown) — A 1987 graduate of Middletown, Keri Connor Sennett was a multi-sport athlete participating in golf, swimming and diving. As a junior, Keri was named second team in the Greater Miami Conference and finished seventh place overall at the state meet. In her senior season, Keri broke all of Middletown’s diving records and was named to the GMC first team and finished as runner-up at the state meet. Keri also was selected to the Cincinnati All-Metro squad and was named a high school All-American as a senior. Keri went onto compete in college at the University of Kentucky. In 1988, she competed in the Southeaster Conference Championships and qualified for the NCAA Zone Meet. In the 1989 SEC Championships, Keri placed seventh in the 3-meter dive, eighth on the 1-meter dive and ninth on the platform dive. She also qualified for the NCAA Zone Meet and was named Most Valuable Diver for UK. In 1990, she competed in the SEC Championships and qualified to the NCAA Zone Meet. Keri has also been a diving coach for many years including stints at Wildwood Golf Club (1986-92 and 2000-05), Hy-Crest Swim Club (2006-18), Middletown High School (2007-18), Princeton High School (2011-14), Talawanda High School (2014-18), Badin High School (2018) and Ross High School (2018).
Megan McKnight Mahle (Badin) — Megan McKnight Mahle has been part of multiple championships in basketball and soccer at Badin High School and the University of Dayton. On the basketball court, Megan helped lead the Rams to three straight Girls Greater Catholic League titles from 1996 to 1998 culminating with a Division II state championship her senior year (1998). Megan was named the GGCL Player of the Year in 1998 and also was selected to the All-Butler County first team, the Southwest District first team and to the All-Ohio second team. One the soccer field, Megan was a four-year starter for Badin and a member of the three-time state runner-up teams in 1995, ’96 and ’97. She came onto the high school scene in 1994 and was named Freshman Rookie of the Year and as a senior was second team All-Ohio and first team GGCL. Additionally, Megan was a nominee for the LaRosa’s Athlete of the Year in 1997 and 1998. She continued her soccer career at UD where she helped the Flyers win four straight Atlantic 10 conference championships from 1998-2001. Her team also won the A-10 tournament and was an NCAA tournament participant in 1999 and 2001. Among her accolades, Megan was the 2001 A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year, All-American honorable mention, A-10 All-Conference first team, A-10 All-Championship team, All-Region first team and All-Ohio first team. Megan joined the Badin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008 and the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
Jared Miller (Lakota East) — In 2006 as a junior, Jared Miller became the first-ever state champion in swimming for the Lakota School District when he won the Division I 200-yard individual medley event. He also placed fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke, third with his teammates in the 200-yard medley relay and seventh in the 400-yard free relay. Lakota East finished third as a team that year, its highest finish to date. Also in his junior season, Jared was the 200-yard individual medley champion and the 100-yard breaststroke champion at the district meet. As a senior, Jared placed third at state in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. He also was the 100-yard breaststroke district champion that year. Outside of his high school achievements, Jared earned All-American in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. He was a three-time recipient of the Swimmer of the Meet award at the Milford Invitational and he also won multiple events at the Southwest District Classic meet, Ohio’s largest high school meet. Jared went onto swim at the University of Michigan where he helped the Wolverines win three Big Ten championships. He also qualified for and competed in the NCAA Championships his junior year. Jared qualified and competed in the Olympic Trials in 2008 and 2012 finishing 19th in the country in the 400-meter individual medley. He also held the Junior National long course 200-meter breaststroke record until recently.
Brady Nori (Middletown) — Brady Nori was a four-year starter for the Middletown baseball team from 1994-97 leading the team by batting over .400 all four years. He was a three-time All-Greater Miami Conference selection and was twice named the team’s Most Valuable Player. Brady was a pre-season All-American selection his senior year and led the Middies with a .458 batting average and 37 stolen bases. He also was named Academic All-Conference his senior year. Brady received a scholarship to Miami University where he’d batted over .300 his last three seasons including .374 his senior season. He was twice selected as the RedHawk Award winner by his teammates. Brady hit two doubles versus Kent State to help Miami advance to the Mid-American Conference championship game his sophomore year. As a junior, he held a 16-game hitting streak that began with a game-winning home run in Miami’s upset win over nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic. Miami won the MAC tournament his junior year. Brady hit safely in all four games. Also his junior year, he had a base hit and scored two runs in three at-bats versus Arizona State and also had a hit, a run and an RBI in Miami’s NCAA Regional win over Creighton. Brady hit safely in 44 of 57 games his junior year. He also collected 96 hits his senior year which is still a school record for most hits in a single season.
Darin Rieman (Badin) — Darin Riemen was a four-year varsity starter for the Badin baseball team from 1983-87 helping lead the Rams to a state runner-up finish in 1984. His senior year Darin batted .568 for the season which led all of Cincinnati and he was named All-City. Darin helped lead the Midland Redskins to a Connie Mack World Series Championship and runner-up finish in back-to-back years. He also was named the Regional Tournament Most Valuable Player. Darin also played football for three years at Badin earning All-Golden Triangle selections all three years. He also was a second team All-Ohio linebacker his senior season. Darin went onto play baseball at the University of Kentucky where he was named to the All-SEC Tournament team in 1988. In 1990 he was named to the All-SEC second team, UK team captain, UK Defender of the Year and to the SEC Academic honor roll. In his career at Kentucky, Darin was ranked first in several categories in 1990 including Most Games (212), Games Started (208), At-Bats (735) and Walks (128). He still ranks in the top 10 in all four categories. In 1990, he was second in career doubles (51) and Runs Batted In (151). He still ranks top 10 in both of those categories. Darin is also a member of the 200-career hit club with 203 hits at Kentucky. Darin is a member of the Badin Athletics Hall of Fame.
Ron Sutton (Hamilton) — When Ron Sutton graduated from Garfield in 1966, he was the all-time leading scorer with 969 points and rebounder with 832 rebounds. He also graduated with the highest single-season average of 18.7 points per game. Ron was a three-year starter for the Griffins playing for Hall of Fame coach Jack Young. His teams went 55-13 in his three seasons and won three Greater Ohio League championships. They also won two sectional titles. Ron was a first team GOL selection as a junior and a senior. He also was named to the Southwest Ohio first team as a senior and was honorable mention All-Ohio. Ron also played football for three years being selected to the first team GOL, the first team Southwest Ohio and honorable mention All-Ohio his senior year. He was team captain in both football and basketball his senior year. Ron went onto to play three years of basketball at Tennessee Tech University. He was selected All-Conference his junior year and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education. He became a teacher and head basketball coach for more than 20 years in Charleston, S.C. Ron was named to the Hamilton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
Dean Wright (Badin) — Dean Wright played football for Hamilton Catholic High School and also played in college for Defiance College, but it was as a coach where he made his biggest impact. Dean played for legendary coach Terry Malone at Hamilton Catholic and was co-captain for the 1964 team which was the first of three straight undefeated teams. At Defiance, Dean was a four-year letter winner and was on the 1966 undefeated and nationally-ranked team which was the whiniest in school history. Dean then joined the coaching staff at Badin and coached for more than 50 years including being as assistant on the 1990 state championship team. He is still active today with punters and place-kickers. He was inducted into the Badin Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
