Classification OHSAA Divisions I-IV Sports fielded 19 No. of members 8 | Region Ohio Founded 2003 | |
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The previous Cardinal Conference included: New Philadelphia, Dover, Coshocton, Ashland, Mansfield Malabar & Mansfield Madison.
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The Ohio Cardinal Conference, which began play in 2003, is an OHSAA athletic league whose members are from Ashland, Holmes, Richland, and Wayne counties in Ohio. The conference name stems from the local legacy of the Cardinal Conference.
History
In 2001, local athletic directors met in Mansfield, Ohio to discuss the formation of a new athletic conference; seven schools agreed to form the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Clear Fork, the only non-original member of the conference, joined for the 2004-05 season. Five of the initial member schools came from the disbanding Ohio Heartland Conference: Ashland, Lexington, Mansfield Madison, Mansfield Senior, and Orrville. West Holmes joined from the Mohican-Area Conference, and Wooster from the Federal League.
Bureaucratically, the conference had some early struggles. The first conference commissioner, Jim Glauer, resigned in 2002 before the league even began play. He was replaced by Ron Dessecker from Orrville, who remains the current commissioner.
Lexington High School has dominated the OCC athletically since the conference's inception. It has won nine consecutive all-sports trophies, the award given to the school with the greatest success in all conference athletic competitions. It also has won the girls' tennis conference title every year in the conference's history, and has won three state title in that sport. The Lex boys' tennis team won all but one conference title and two state titles in the same. Other schools have dominated specific sports in much the same way:Madison girls have dominated the league in volleyball, and boys' baseball. Mansfield Senior has been the champion or co-champion in boys' basketball in nine of 11 league seasons, Wooster has won all eleven boys' swimming and nine girls' swimming titles, and Ashland had four running girls' soccer championships.
West Holmes High School revived discussions that had begun in 2007 with the East Central Ohio League to leave the Ohio Cardinal Conference effective the 2009-10 school year, which would leave the conference with an odd number of teams. West Holmes has since decided, at least for the time being, to remain in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
An invitation for membership was extended to Triway High School in 2009, but Triway's administration voted to remain in the PAC-8.
In March 2015, Orrville was invited to join the PAC-8 in 2016 as a replacement for schools that are leaving that league. As a result of the Red Riders' imminent departure, Mount Vernon was invited to replace them in 2016.
In March 2016, the OCC voted to kick out Clear Fork following the 2017-18 school year. The Colts will subsequently join the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference in 2017-18 instead.
Conference rivalries
Non-conference rivalries
State championships
This table only includes state championships won by schools while a member of the Ohio Cardinal Conference: