Ohio High School Athletic Association

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Ohio High School Athletic Association

Abbreviation	OHSAA
Formation	1907
Legal status	Association
Purpose	Athletic/Educational
Headquarters	4080 Roselea Pl. Columbus, Ohio U.S.
Region served	Ohio
Official language	English
Executive Director	Doug Ute
Affiliations	National Federation of State High School Associations
Staff	22
Website	ohsaa.org
Remarks	(614) 267-2502

The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of competition by divisional separation of schools according to attendance population, and conducts state championship competitions in all the OHSAA-sanctioned sports.

There are approximately 820 member high schools and 850 more schools in the 7th-8th grade division of the OHSAA. Most public and private high schools in Ohio belong to the OHSAA.^[1]

The Association is divided into six districts, each with its own District Athletic Board, including the Central District, East District, Northeast District, Northwest District, Southeast District, and Southwest District.

The District boards conduct Sectional and District tournaments. The main OHSAA board conducts Regional and State tournaments.^[2]

Member high schools are divided into three classifications (A, AA, AAA). Prior to 1989 many sports held tournaments based on these classifications. Since then, each sport individually divides into numbered divisions based on enrollment, taking into account the total number of schools offering that varsity sport and placing an equal number of schools in each division.

The classifications (A being the smallest schools, AAA the largest) are still used to fill spots on the six District Athletic Boards (two representatives from each class).

The number of divisions varies based on how many schools offer that sport. Football has the most, with seven divisions (Division I being the largest schools). Three sports have a single division: Boys' Ice Hockey, Girls' Field Hockey, and Gymnastics.^[2] Beginning with the 2024-25 School year Baseball, boys and girls basketball, softball and girls volleyball will grow from four to seven postseason divisions and boys and girls soccer will go from three to five.^[3]

The OHSAA is an unincorporated, non-profit organization founded in 1907. Members of the Western Ohio Superintendents' Round Table had frequently discussed the need of a central organization for high school athletics. In 1906 they passed a resolution to appoint a committee, headed by George R. Eastman, the first President of the Board of Control.

The first OHSAA-sponsored state tournament, Track and Field, was held on May 23, 1908, at Denison University. Columbus North became the first state champions, finishing ahead of Dayton Steele.^[1]

The OHSAA is currently headed by a commissioner.^[4] Prior to 1925, the Board of Control officers handled duties now associated with the Commissioner.

In 1979, OHSAA adopted a bylaw prohibiting out-of-state students from competing in OHSAA-sponsored activities. This rule was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1985 case Alerding v. Ohio High School Athletic Association, regarding St. Xavier High School students from Northern Kentucky.

• H.R. Townsend (1925–1944)
• Harold Emswiler (1944–1958)
• W.J. McConnell (1958–1963)
• Paul E. Landis (1963–1969)
• Harold A. Meyer (1969–1977)
• George D. Bates (1977–1980)
• Richard L. Armstrong (1980–1989)
• Clair Muscaro (1990–2004)
• Daniel B. Ross, Ph.D. (2004–2018)
• Jerry Snodgrass (2018–2020)
• Doug Ute (2020–present)

^[4]

Season	Sport	Tournament Structure	# of Divisions	1st Tournament	2024-25 State Tournament Location
Fall	Cross Country	District, Regional, & State	3	1928	Fortress Obetz, Obetz Memorial Park, Obetz
Fall	Football	Regional & State	7	1972	Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton
Fall	Golf	Sectional, District & State	3	1927 (Spring sport 1927–1974)	NCR Country Club, Dayton (Div I) Firestone Country Club, Akron (Div II) North Star Golf Resort, Sunbury (Div III)
Fall	Soccer	Sectional, District, Regional & State	5	1976	Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus
Winter	Basketball	Sectional, District, Regional, & State	7	1923	UD Arena, University of Dayton, Dayton
Winter	Bowling	Sectional, District, & State	2	2007	HP Lanes, Columbus
Winter	Ice Hockey	District & State	1	1978	Nationwide Arena, Columbus
Winter	Swimming and Diving	Sectional, District, & State	2	1928	C. T. Branin Natatorium, Canton
Winter	Wrestling	Sectional, District, & State	3	1938	Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, Ohio State University, Columbus
Winter	Wrestling-Dual Meet	Regional & State	3	2013–2020 (discontinued)
Winter	Gymnastics	Sectional, District, & State	1	1926–1937; 1965–1993 (discontinued)
Spring	Baseball	Sectional, District, Regional, & State	7	1928	Canal Park, Akron
Spring	Track and Field	District, Regional, & State	3	1908	Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Ohio State University, Columbus
Spring	Tennis	Sectional, District, & State	2**	1922	College of Wooster, Wooster
Spring	Lacrosse	State	2	2017	Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus
Spring	Volleyball	State	2	2023	Wittenberg University, Springfield

Season	Sport	Tournament Structure	# of Divisions	1st Tournament	2024-25 State Tournament Location
Fall	Cross Country	District, Regional, & State	3	1978	Fortress Obetz, Obetz Memorial Park, Obetz
Fall	Field Hockey	State Qualifying & State	1	1979	Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington
Fall	Golf	Sectional, District & State	2	1993	NCR Country Club, Dayton (Div I) Firestone Country Club, Akron (Div II)
Fall	Soccer	Sectional, District, Regional & State	5	1985	Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus
Fall	Tennis	Sectional, District, & State	2**	1976	College of Wooster, Wooster
Fall	Volleyball	Sectional, District, Regional, & State	7	1975	Nutter Center, Wright State University, Dayton
Winter	Basketball	Sectional, District, Regional, & State	7	1976	UD Arena, University of Dayton, Dayton
Winter	Bowling	Sectional, District, & State	2	2007	HP Lanes, Columbus
Winter	Gymnastics	Sectional, District, & State	1	1977	Hilliard Bradley High School, Hilliard
Winter	Swimming and Diving	Sectional, District, & State	2	1977	C.T. Branin Natatorium, Canton
Winter	Wrestling	Sectional, District, & State	3	2023	Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, Ohio State University, Columbus
Spring	Softball	Sectional, District, Regional, & State	7	1978	Firestone Stadium, Akron
Spring	Track and Field	District, Regional, & State	3	1975	Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Ohio State University, Columbus
Spring	Lacrosse	State	2	2017	Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus

**(Individual/Doubles only, no Team championships)

^[4]

Rank	# of Titles	School	City	# of Boys' Titles	# of Girls' Titles	Year of First Title	Year of Last Title
1	67	St. Edward	Lakewood	67	X*	1978	2024
2	64	St. Xavier	Cincinnati	64	X*	1957	2024
3	53	Upper Arlington	Upper Arlington	27	26	1937	2024
4	47	St. Ignatius	Cleveland	47	X*	1988	2024
5	42	Hawken	Gates Mills	7	35	1977	2022
6	41	Minster	Minster	8	33	1976	2023
7	40	Walsh Jesuit	Cuyahoga Falls	22	18	1982	2023
8	35	Columbus Academy	Gahanna	20	15	1977	2024
9t	34	St. Vincent – St. Mary	Akron	23	11	1927	2022
9t	34	Graham	St. Paris	34	0	1930	2024
11	33	St. Francis DeSales	Columbus	25	8	1971	2024
12	32	Thomas Worthington	Worthington	12	20	1938	2023
13	31	Brecksville-Broadview Heights	Broadview Heights	5	26	1981	2024
14	30	Archbishop Alter	Kettering	19	11	1978	2024
15	28	Coldwater	Coldwater	18	10	1983	2021
16t	27	Canton McKinley	Canton	23	4	1937	2010
16t	27	Newark Catholic	Newark	17	10	1978	2016
18	26	Archbishop Moeller	Cincinnati	26	X*	1972	2023
19	25	Marion Local	Maria Stein	19	6	1975	2024
20t	24	Archbishop Hoban	Akron	12	12	1980	2024
20t	24	East Tech	Cleveland	23	1	1920	2002
20t	24	Beaumont School	Cleveland Heights	X*	24	1986	2012
23	22	Elder	Cincinnati	22	X*	1943	2005

* X = single-gender school

^[4]

Rank	# of Titles	School	City	Sport	First	Last
1	44	St. Xavier	Cincinnati	Boys' Swimming	1970	2024
2	37	St. Edward	Lakewood	Wrestling	1978	2024
3	32	Hawken	Gates Mills	Girls' Swimming	1984	2022
4	25	Graham	St. Paris	Wrestling	1982	2024
5	24	Brecksville-Broadview Heights	Broadview Heights	Girls' Gymnastics	1994	2024
6	18	Glenville	Cleveland	Boys' Track	1959	2023
7	17	Upper Arlington	Upper Arlington	Boys' Golf	1941	2006
8t	16	Beaumont School	Cleveland Heights	Girls' Track	1986	2008
8t	16	Minster	Minster	Girls' Cross Country	1982	2023
10	14	Marion Local	Maria Stein	Football	2000	2023
11t	13	St. Ignatius	Cleveland	Soccer	2004	2023
11t	13	Upper Arlington	Upper Arlington	Girls' Swimming	2003	2024
11t	13	Canton McKinley	Canton	Boys' Swimming	1937	1961
11t	13	East Technical	Cleveland	Boys' Track	1920	1955
11t	13	Minster	Minster	Girls' Track	1976	2018
16t	12	Columbus Academy	Gahanna	Field Hockey	1994	2019
16t	12	Columbus Academy	Gahanna	Boys' Golf	1983	2021
16t	12	Elder	Cincinnati	Baseball	1943	2005
19t	11	St. Edward	Lakewood	Ice Hockey	1985	2008
19t	11	St. Ignatius	Cleveland	Football	1988	2011
19t	11	Walsh Jesuit	Cuyahoga Falls	Girls' Soccer	2000	2023
22t	10	Strasburg-Franklin	Strasburg	Girls Softball	1987	2024
22t	10	Maple Heights	Maple Heights	Wrestling	1956	1974
22t	10	Magnificat	Rocky River	Girls' Gymnastics	1990	2003
22t	10	Dunbar	Dayton	Boys' Track	1948	2017
22t	10	Woodridge	Peninsula	Boys' Cross Country	2006	2020
22t	10	Mount Notre Dame	Cincinnati	Girls' Volleyball	1995	2020
22t	10	St. Vincent–St. Mary	Akron	Boys' Basketball	1984	2022

^[4]

Season	Sport	School	# of consecutive state titles	Years
Fall	Boys' Cross Country	Caldwell	8	1985–1992
Fall	Girls' Cross Country	Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary	5	2009–2013
Fall	Field Hockey	Gahanna Columbus Academy	3	1999–2001
Fall	Field Hockey	Thomas Worthington	3	2015–2017
Fall	Football	Cleveland St. Ignatius	5	1991–1995
Fall	Boys' Golf	Gahanna Columbus Academy	5	2017–2021
Fall	Girls' Golf	Dublin Jerome	5	2011–2015
Fall	Boys' Soccer	Cleveland St. Ignatius	5	*2019–2023
Fall	Girls' Soccer	Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit	5	2012–2016
Fall	Volleyball	Cincinnati St Ursula Academy	6	1993–1998
Winter	Boys' Basketball	Cincinnati North College Hill	3	2005–2007
Winter	Boys' Basketball	Columbus Wehrle	3	1988–1990
Winter	Boys' Basketball	Richmond Heights	3	*2022-2024
Winter	Boys' Basketball	Dayton Stivers	3	1928–1930
Winter	Girls' Basketball	Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown	5	2009–2013
Winter	Boys' Bowling	Springfield Kenton Ridge	2	2009–2010
Winter	Boys' Bowling	Mechanicsburg	2	2021–2022
Winter	Boys' Bowling	Beavercreek	2	*2023–2024
Winter	Girls' Bowling	Coldwater	2	2012–2013
Winter	Girls' Bowling	Gahanna Lincoln	2	2020–2021
Winter	Boys' Gymnastics	Cleveland East Tech	5	1933–1937
Winter	Girls' Gymnastics	Brecksville-Broadview Heights	21	*2004–2024
Winter	Ice Hockey	Cleveland St. Ignatius	4	2016–2019
Winter	Boys' Swimming and Diving	Cincinnati St. Xavier	13	2009–2021
Winter	Girls' Swimming and Diving	Gates Mills Hawken	24	1999–2022
Winter	Wrestling-Individual	St. Paris Graham	23	*2001–2019, 2021-2024
Winter	Wrestling-Dual Team	St. Paris Graham	7	2013–2019
Spring	Baseball	Newark Catholic	3	2002–2004
Spring	Baseball	Cincinnati Elder	3	1958–1960
Spring	Girls' Lacrosse	Upper Arlington	3	2017–2019
Spring	Softball	North Canton Hoover	4	2011–2014
Spring	Softball	Springfield	4	1992–1995
Spring	Boys' Track and Field	Cleveland East Tech	6	1939–1944
Spring	Girls' Track and Field	Cleveland Heights Beaumont	7	1986–1992

* active streak

• List of high schools in Ohio
• Ohio high school athletic conferences
• Mr. Football Award (Ohio)
• Ohio Christian School Athletic Association
• List of Ohio High School Athletic Association championships

• Ohio High School Athletic Association official website
• Ohio Tennis Coaches' Association website
• Miami Valley Tennis Coaches' Association website