The Mid-State Mustangs ice hockey organization is enjoying a renaissance.

Founded in 2004 and boasting such accomplished alumni as future NHL veteran Sam Lafferty, the Mustangs enjoyed a heyday in the early and middle part of the last decade, when they won multiple USA Hockey Tier 2 state championships, as well as national titles in 2014 and 2015.

After facing some internal management challenges at its Galactic Ice home, and some lean years in competition, the Mustangs organization — which offers hockey for players in divisions ages 16U, 14U, 12U and 10U — has stormed back with a vengeance this past fall and early winter.

For what is believed to be the first time in the organization’s history, all four teams in the four age divisions earned berths in International Qualifying Silver Sticks Regional Tournament competition, and all four teams reached the championship finals in their divisions.

The 16U team, whose head coach is former Altoona high school player Derek Mathews, and the 10U team, whose head coach is former Hollidaysburg player Ben Batzel, have advanced to the international finals, which will be held in the Canadian province of Ontario in mid-January.

The 16U team will compete in the 12-team international event Jan. 15-18 in New Market, Ontario, and the 10U team will compete in the 16-team international competition Jan. 16-18 in Sarnia, Ontario.

“It’s exciting having the chance to compete against not only top teams from the United States, but also, against teams from Canada,” said Mathews, whose coaching staff on the 16U team includes his father, Tom –who is also the Mustangs’ organization president — and his good friend and former hockey teammate with the Mustangs, Jamesy Rossi. “I think that a good start would be advancing out of group (pool) play in the event.”

Derek Mathews said that his team may possess extra incentive in the international event after actually finishing second to a Philadelphia team at the eight-team International Qualifying Silver Sticks regional tournament for the age division that was held in West Chester Sept. 5-7.

After winning four straight games to reach the championship game in the Silver Sticks event, the Mustangs dropped a 4-1 decision to the Philadelphia squad in the title game. Only the regional champions were guaranteed an automatic berth in the international competition, but when the Philadelphia team declined the opportunity, the Mustangs accepted the chance to go as an at-large entry.

“We did get in under different circumstances, but we want to make the most of our opportunity,” Derek Mathews said. “I think that if we go there and win the whole thing, nobody will remember how we got there, and if we can keep our consistency going, I think we can win the whole thing.

“It’s special to be able to compete across the border, and special for all of our kids,” Derek Mathews added. “They’ve put in so much hard work throughout this season.”

Batzel said that his very young 10U team has also worked very hard and the players have made tremendous developmental strides in their sport this season.

“I think that, (considering) where we were at the beginning of this season to where we are all now, the way that all of our kids have grown in the sport to get to this point already in their young hockey careers is pretty special,” said Batzel, whose assistant coaches on the 10U team are Dave Mueller and Luke Sackandy. “The growth that I’ve seen in our team from this past August until now is the most impressive that I’ve seen a team grow in that short amount of time.

“About half of the players on our team moved up from playing cross-ice hockey competition for players ages 8 and under to full-ice competition this year,” Batzel said. “That’s a big jump that I’ve seen these kids take.”

Batzel’s 10U team went 5-0 at the Silver Sticks event that was held in West Chester Nov. 28-30, winning all three round-robin games and its semifinal game before capturing its championship game to earn a trip to Ontario for the international event.

“Our kids are very young, and they had never played in a tournament of this caliber, and I don’t think it set in with them right away after they had won the regional that they would be going to Canada for the international competition,” Batzel said. “While the players in the 16U and 14U divisions get to compete in the USA Hockey organization for a chance to win the state and national tournaments, for our 10U players these events are kind of like our state and national tournaments.”

Batzel also served as an assistant coach on the 12U team on which Jake Lydon is the head coach. Lydon, a Pittsburgh native and 1987 graduate of Sewickley Academy who made the trips to Altoona to play for the Mustangs and help them win state championships and a national title during his youth hockey days, took over as the general manager at Galactic Ice in October of 2024, and hired the facility’s current hockey director, Danny Moscone, who is also the head coach of the 14U Mustangs team.

Lydon and Moscone have teamed up to provide solid management at the Galactic Ice facility, as well as helping to build back the Mustangs’ organization with which they’ve both had such a strong bond.

Moscone, a State College native, had formerly been the hockey director at Penn State University’s Pegula Ice Center, and, since joining Lyons at Galactic Ice, he has been a catalyst in bringing several players and coaches from State College to Altoona.

“Last year, the Mustangs organization was really struggling,” Lydon said. “Even when I came in as the manager of the rink, the organization had only one legitimate, really good Tier 2 team. A lot has changed over the last year. All four of our teams are very competitive nationally now — which is crazy, to go from one (competitive) team to four in a year.

“My coming in helped, but a bigger factor is that I hired a new hockey director in Danny Moscone, who is also my assistant manager at Galactic Ice,” Lydon said. “And it’s not just him and me — it’s all the coaches and players in this organization who believe in what we’re doing that have made the organization successful again.”

Moscone pointed out that all four of the head coaches on the Mustangs’ teams are former players with the organization.

“The thing about the Mustangs is that you can pull (players) from a little bit more of a wider area — Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Martinsburg Central, Johnstown,” Moscone said. “State College, on the other hand, is just one central area. Our players here come from so many nooks and crannies.”

And the Mustangs organization is one that is enjoying a spectacular rebirth.

“People are remembering the name the Mid-State Mustangs again,” Lydon said. “It’s great for the rink, it’s great for the community, and it’s great for the players and their families. It’s also a very good sign of what is to come.”