Firelands Conference Explained

The Firelands Conference is an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) athletic league located in north-central Ohio. The league was formed in the 1960 - 61 school year and is named for the Firelands area of the old Western Reserve, where most of the member schools reside.^[1] High schools in this conference are located in Ashland, Huron, and Richland counties. Some of the schools' district boundaries extend into the neighboring counties of Crawford, Erie, and Lorain. Most of the founding schools came from the defunct Huron-Erie League.

Conference membership

Current members

School	Nickname	Location	Enrollment (CB/FB 2020)	State FB Region (2020)	Colors^[2]	Type	Middle school	Joined League
Crestview	Cougars	Weller Township	152	6:22	Red, White, Black	Public	Crestview Middle School	1982^[3]
Mapleton	Mounties	Orange Township	119	7:25	Royal Blue, Red	Public	Mapleton Middle School (part of the HS)	1963
Monroeville	Eagles	Monroeville	100	7:25	Black, Gold	Public	Monroeville Junior High (part of the HS)	1960
New London	Wildcats	New London	124	6:22	Red, Black,	Public	New London Middle School	1970^[4]
Plymouth	Big Red	Plymouth	96	7:25	Red, White	Public	Shiloh Middle School	1982^[5]
St. Paul	Flyers	Norwalk	95	7:25	Red, Black	Parochial-Catholic	Norwalk Catholic Junior High	1968
South Central	Trojans	Greenwich	99	7:26	Old Gold, White, & Black	Public	South Central Middle School	1960
Western Reserve	Roughriders	Collins	137	6:22	Blue, White	Public	Western Reserve Middle School (part of the HS)	1960

Former members

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Type	Tenure	Notes
Black River	Pirates	Sullivan	Black, Gold	Public	1964-1993	Left for the MAC, currently in the PAC
Edison	Chargers	Milan	Blue, Orange	Public	1968-1986^[6]	Left for the SBC
Berlin Heights	Tigers	Berlin Heights	Orange, Black	Public	1960-1968	Consolidated into Edison HS in 1968
Milan	Indians	Milan	Red, ?	Public	1960-1968	Consolidated into Edison HS in 1968
Hillsdale	Falcons	Jeromesville	Columbia Blue, Gold	Public	1963-1970	Left for the WCAL
Hayesville	Panthers	Hayesville	Orange, Black	Public	spring 1963	Consolidated into Hillsdale HS in 1963
Jeromesville	Blue Jays	Jeromesville	Blue, White	Public	spring 1963	Consolidated into Hillsdale HS in 1963
Perkins	Pirates	Sandusky	Black, White, Red	Public	1960-1963	Currently in the SBC

• Berlin Heights and Milan competed separately until consolidating into Edison High School in 1968.
• Hayesville and Jeromesville competed separately in the FC only for the spring of 1963 before consolidating into Hillsdale for 1963-64.

League history

Source:^[7]

1960s

• 1960: The Firelands Conference was formed with the inaugural members of Berlin Heights, Milan, Monroeville, South Central, Perkins, and Western Reserve.
• 1963: Perkins withdrew after the 1962-63 winter sports season. Hayesville, Jeromesville, and Mapleton join the league in the spring of 1963. Hillsdale becomes a member for the 1963-64 school year when Hayesville and Jeromesville consolidate.
• 1964: Black River joins.
• 1965: Berlin Heights and Milan join their districts into the Berlin-Milan School District, but continue to compete separately.
• 1968: Berlin Heights and Milan consolidate to form Edison, which remains in the conference.
• 1968: St. Paul joins the conference.

1970s

• 1970: Hillsdale leaves to join the Wayne County Athletic League after the 1969-70 school year. New London takes their place for the 1970-71 school year after leaving the Lakeland Conference.

1980s

• 1982: Crestview and Plymouth both join after leaving the Black Fork Valley Conference. Both had also previously been in the Johnny Appleseed Conference until 1978. The league would split into two divisions: North (Edison, Monroeville, New London, St. Paul, Western Reserve) and South (Black River, Crestview, Mapleton, Plymouth, South Central).
• 1986: Edison leaves to join the Sandusky Bay Conference. The divisions dissolve.

1990s

• 1993: Black River leaves to eventually join the Mohican Area Conference.

DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25Period = from:1960 till:2023TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:black id:bg value:white

PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m

bar:1 color:orange from:1960 till:1968 text:Berlin Heights (1960-1968) bar:2 color:red from:1960 textcolor:white till:1968 text:Milan (1960-1968) bar:3 color:yellow from:1960 till:end text:Monroeville (1960-) bar:4 color:black from:1960 till:end textcolor:yellow text:South Central (1960-) bar:5 color:red from:1960 till:1963 text:Perkins (1960-1963) bar:6 color:blue from:1960 till:end textcolor:white text:Western Reserve (1960-) bar:7 color:skyblue from:1963 till:1970 text:Hillsdale (1963-1970) (Hayesville & Jeromesville for spring 1963) bar:8 color:red from:1963 till:end textcolor:blue text:Mapleton (1963-) bar:9 color:yellow from:1964 till:1993 text:Black River (1964-1993) bar:2 color:orange from:1968 till:1986 textcolor:brightblue text:Edison (cons. of B.H. & Milan) (1968-1986) bar:10 color:black from:1968 till:end textcolor:white text:St. Paul (1968-) bar:11 color:red from:1970 till:end text:New London (1970-) bar:12 color:black from:1982 till:end textcolor:white text:Crestview (1982-) bar:13 color:red from:1982 till:end textcolor:white text:Plymouth (1982-)ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1960

TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(370,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"Firelands Conference Membership History"

Divisional Setup 1982-1986

Firelands Conference Divisions 1982-1986
North	South
Edison	Black River
Monroeville	Crestview
New London	Mapleton
St. Paul	Plymouth
Western Reserve	South Central

Conference Football Championship Game

Firelands Conference Football Championship Game 1982-85^[8]
Year	North Champion	Score	South Champion	Score	Notes
1982	Edison	12	Crestview	0	Played at Whitney Field in Norwalk, OH
1983	Edison	6	Plymouth	13	Played at Whitney Field in Norwalk, OH
1984	Western Reserve		Black River		Game not played, Western Reserve qualified for OHSAA playoffs
1985	Monroeville		Black River		Game not played, Black River qualified for OHSAA playoffs

Conference Champions

Boys Champions

Year	Football	Cross Country	Golf	Basketball	Wrestling	Baseball	Track & Field
1959-60							Berlin Heights
1960-61	Perkins	No Champion	No Champion	Western Reserve	No Champion	Milan	Perkins
1961-62	Western Reserve	No Champion	No Champion	South Central	No Champion	Milan	Perkins
1962-63	Berlin Heights	No Champion	No Champion	Perkins, Western Reserve	No Champion	Hayesville	South Central
1963-64	Monroeville, South Central	No Champion	No Champion	Monroeville	No Champion	Monroeville	South Central
1964-65	Milan	No Champion	No Champion	Black River, Monroeville	No Champion	Monroeville	Milan
1965-66	Berlin Heights	No Champion	No Champion	Hillsdale	No Champion	Hillsdale	Western Reserve
1966-67	Milan	No Champion	No Champion	Mapleton	No Champion	Monroeville	Hillsdale
1967-68	Milan	No Champion	No Champion	Milan, Monroeville	No Champion	Monroeville	Mapleton
1968-69	St. Paul	No Champion	No Champion	Western Reserve	No Champion	Monroeville	Mapleton
1969-70	St. Paul	No Champion	No Champion	Hillsdale	No Champion	Edison	Hillsdale
1970-71	New London	No Champion	Black River	Western Reserve	Edison	Monroeville	Edison
1971-72	Edison	Black River	Black River	Monroeville	Edison	Monroeville	Edison
1972-73	New London	Black River	Black River	South Central	Edison	Monroeville	Mapleton
1973-74	New London, St. Paul	Black River	New London	South Central	Edison	South Central	New London
1974-75	St. Paul	Black River	St. Paul	Monroeville, St. Paul	Black River	Mapleton	Edison
1975-76	Edison	Mapleton	New London	Monroeville	Mapleton	Edison	Mapleton
1976-77	Edison	New London	New London	Mapleton	Mapleton	Edison	Edison
1977-78	Black River	New London	New London	Western Reserve	Edison	South Central	Edison
1978-79	Monroeville	New London	New London	Mapleton, New London, Western Reserve	Edison	New London	Edison
1979-80	Edison	Edison	New London	Mapleton, St. Paul	Edison	Edison	Edison
1980-81	Edison	South Central	New London	South Central	Edison	Edison	New London
1981-82	Edison	Mapleton	Edison	South Central	Edison	Edison	Edison
1982-83	Edison	Black River	New London	Monroeville	Edison	Edison	Edison
1983-84	Plymouth	Monroeville	New London	Monroeville	Black River	Edison	Edison
1984-85	Black River, Western Reserve	New London	Mapleton	St. Paul	St. Paul	St. Paul	Black River
1985-86	Black River, Monroeville	New London	Black River	Plymouth	Black River	Black River	New London
1986-87	Black River	Plymouth	South Central	New London	Black River	Crestview, New London, Plymouth	New London
1987-88	Monroeville	Black River	Mapleton	New London	Black River	New London	New London
1988-89	Monroeville	Western Reserve	Mapleton	South Central	St. Paul	New London	Mapleton
1989-90	Black River	Western Reserve	New London	New London	Black River	Black River, South Central	Mapleton
1990-91	Black River, Western Reserve	Western Reserve	Mapleton	New London	Black River	Black River, South Central	New London
1991-92	Mapleton	New London	Plymouth	New London	New London	Plymouth	New London
1992-93	Black River, Monroeville, St. Paul	New London	Plymouth	South Central	Black River	Black River	New London
1993-94	St. Paul	New London	St. Paul	South Central	Crestview	New London	New London
1994-95	New London	New London	New London	South Central	Mapleton	Crestview, New London	New London
1995-96	New London, St. Paul	New London	Plymouth	St. Paul	New London	New London	Crestview
1996-97	St. Paul	New London	Plymouth	St. Paul, South Central	Monroeville	South Central	Crestview
1997-98	St. Paul	New London	Plymouth	St. Paul	Monroeville	South Central	Crestview
1998-99	Crestview, Monroeville	Western Reserve	Crestview	Crestview	Crestview	Western Reserve	Crestview
1999-00	St. Paul	New London	Crestview	Crestview	Monroeville	New London	New London
2000-01	St. Paul	New London	Crestview	South Central	Western Reserve	New London, South Central	Crestview
2001-02	Crestview	Mapleton	St. Paul	Plymouth	Western Reserve	Mapleton, New London	Crestview
2002-03	Monroeville	New London	St. Paul	New London	St. Paul	Mapleton	Monroeville
2003-04	St. Paul	Crestview	St. Paul	Western Reserve	Western Reserve	New London, Western Reserve	Monroeville
2004-05	Crestview, Monroeville, St. Paul	Crestview	St. Paul	New London	St. Paul	Western Reserve	New London
2005-06	St. Paul	Crestview	St. Paul	Western Reserve	Western Reserve	New London	New London
2006-07	Crestview, Monroeville	New London	St. Paul	Plymouth, Western Reserve	Crestview	New London	Monroeville
2007-08	St. Paul	New London	St. Paul	Western Reserve	Crestview	Crestview	Monroeville
2008-09	St. Paul	New London	St. Paul	Plymouth	Crestview	Mapleton	Crestview
2009-10	St. Paul	New London	St. Paul	Plymouth	Crestview	New London, Crestview	Western Reserve
2010-11	Western Reserve	New London	St. Paul	Western Reserve	Crestview	Crestview	Western Reserve
2011-12	Crestview	New London	Crestview	New London	St. Paul	Plymouth	New London
2012-13	St. Paul, Western Reserve	New London	Crestview	Western Reserve	Western Reserve	New London	New London
2013-14	St. Paul	New London	Crestview	Plymouth	St. Paul	New London	Crestview
2014-15	St. Paul	New London	Crestview	Plymouth	Mapleton	New London	Crestview
2015-16	St. Paul	Mapleton	New London	South Central	Mapleton	New London	Crestview
2016-17	St. Paul	Mapleton	St. Paul	New London	Crestview^[9]	St. Paul / New London	New London
2017-18	St Paul	Mapleton	New London	South Central, Western Reserve	Crestview^[10]	St. Paul	Crestview
2018-19	St. Paul	New London	New London	Western Reserve	St. Paul^[11]	St. Paul	New London
2019-20	Western Reserve	New London	New London	St. Paul, South Central, Western Reserve	Crestview^[12]	(Covid - No Season)	(Covid - No Season)
2020-21	Crestview, St. Paul, Monroeville	St. Paul	Mapleton	Western Reserve	Crestview, Plymouth	St. Paul	Crestview
2021-22	Crestview^[13]	St. Paul	Mapleton		Monroeville
2022-23	Crestview				Monroeville
2023-24	St. Paul				Monroeville

Girls Champions

Year	Volleyball	Cross Country	Basketball	Softball	Track & Field
1974-75	Mapleton	No Champion	Western Reserve	No Champion	No Champion
1975-76	Edison, Mapleton	No Champion	Edison	No Champion	Edison
1976-77	Black River	No Champion	Edison	No Champion	Edison
1977-78	St. Paul	No Champion	Western Reserve	No Champion	Edison
1978-79	Black River, St. Paul	No Champion	Monroeville	No Champion	Edison
1979-80	New London	No Champion	Mapleton	No Champion	New London
1980-81	Western Reserve	No Champion	Mapleton	No Champion	New London
1981-82	Western Reserve	No Champion	Western Reserve	No Champion	Edison
1982-83	Crestview	No Champion	Western Reserve	No Champion	Crestview
1983-84	Western Reserve	No Champion	Mapleton	No Champion	Edison
1984-85	Crestview	No Champion	Mapleton	No Champion	Edison
1985-86	Crestview	St. Paul	Edison	Crestview	Mapleton, New London
1986-87	Monroeville, St. Paul	St. Paul	Plymouth	Black River, Crestview	New London
1987-88	St. Paul	Plymouth	St. Paul, Western Reserve	Black River, Crestview	New London
1988-89	Monroeville	Plymouth	New London	Crestview	New London
1989-90	Monroeville, Western Reserve		New London, St. Paul	Crestview	Black River
1990-91	New London		Western Reserve	Mapleton	New London
1991-92	Western Reserve	Western Reserve	Mapleton	Crestview, Mapleton	Western Reserve
1992-93	Western Reserve	Western Reserve	St. Paul	Mapleton	Crestview
1993-94	St. Paul	Western Reserve	Mapleton	Mapleton	Crestview
1994-95	South Central	New London	Crestview, South Central	Plymouth	Western Reserve
1995-96	Crestview	New London	Crestview	Plymouth	New London
1996-97	Crestview	New London	Crestview	Plymouth	New London
1997-98	St. Paul	Mapleton	South Central	Mapleton	St. Paul
1998-99	St. Paul	Mapleton	Mapleton	Crestview	St. Paul
1999-00	South Central	Mapleton	St. Paul	Mapleton	St. Paul
2000-01	St. Paul	Mapleton	New London	Crestview	Western Reserve
2001-02	St. Paul	Mapleton	New London, St. Paul	Plymouth	Western Reserve
2002-03	St. Paul	Mapleton	St. Paul	Plymouth	Western Reserve
2003-04	St. Paul	New London	Plymouth	Crestview	Western Reserve
2004-05	St. Paul	New London	Western Reserve	Crestview	Western Reserve
2005-06	St. Paul	New London	Plymouth	Mapleton	Western Reserve
2006-07	St. Paul	New London	Western Reserve	New London	Western Reserve
2007-08	St. Paul	New London	Crestview	Crestview, New London	New London
2008-09	St. Paul	Crestview	Western Reserve	New London	New London
2009-10	St. Paul	Crestview	Western Reserve	New London	Western Reserve
2010-11	St. Paul	Crestview	Western Reserve	New London	Western Reserve
2011-12	Monroeville, St. Paul	Crestview	Western Reserve	New London	Western Reserve
2012-13	St. Paul	Plymouth	Western Reserve	New London	Western Reserve
2013-14	St. Paul	New London	South Central	Monroeville, New London	New London
2014-15	Monroeville	New London	South Central	Mapleton, New London	Western Reserve
2015-16	Monroeville	New London	Crestview	Plymouth	New London
2016-17	St. Paul	New London	St. Paul, Western Reserve	Crestview	St. Paul
2017-18	St. Paul	Western Reserve	Western Reserve	Crestview	St. Paul
2018-19	Crestview, St. Paul	St. Paul	Western Reserve	Crestview	New London
2019-20	Monroeville, St. Paul	New London	Crestview	(Covid - No Season)	(Covid - No Season)
2020-21	Monroeville	Crestview	Crestview, St. Paul	Crestview	Crestview
2021-22	St. Paul	Crestview		Monroeville

• Note: Track & Field champions provided by the 2012 Firelands Conference Track & Field Championships program.

State Champions

Current Firelands Conference member schools have won a total of 11 team state championships,^[14] dating back to the beginning of Ohio High School Athletic Association sponsored tournaments.

• Crestivew
  • Boys Golf - 2012
• Monroeville
  • Boys Basketball - 1984
  • Boys Wrestling - 2010
• New London
  • Boys Track and Field – 1946 *

Boys (Football) 1951 Class "B" State Champs as voted on by First and Ten magazine.

• • Boys Cross Country – 1993
• Plymouth
  • Boys Cross Country – 1971 *
  • Boys Cross Country – 1974 *
• St. Paul
  • Girls Volleyball - 2002
  • Girls Volleyball - 2006
  • Boys Football - 1969
  • Boys Football - 2009

• State championship won before the school was affiliated with the Firelands Conference.

See also

• Ohio High School Athletic Association
• Ohio High School Athletic Conferences

External links

• Firelands Conference History
• Fit for a Pirate? Ashland Times-Gazette, Dec 26, 2009
• Monroeville Athletics (provided MHS FC league titles)
• FlyerFootball.com
• High School Wrestling Firelands Conference Championships Endicott, Oney get big win, Feb 15, 2010

Notes and References

1. Web site: Firelands Conference Index. 2008-07-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20081120141446/http://www.crawfordcountybasketball.com/firelandsconferenceindex.html. 2008-11-20. dead.
2. http://www.cdab.org/members.asp OHSAA Member Schools
3. Web site: Crestview Win Loss Records.
4. Web site: Conference by Conference Listing 2004-2005. OHSAA. 2008-07-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20080608152932/http://www.ohsaa.org/members/conference.asp. 2008-06-08. dead.
5. Web site: Plymouth Win Loss Records.
6. http://www.sbcfootball.org/ History of the Sandusky Bay Conference
7. Web site: Firelands Conference Standings. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110708201301/http://www.crawfordcountybasketball.com/firelandsconference.html. 2011-07-08.
8. Web site: Indiana University School of Journalism . APSE . Apsportseditors.org . 2010-03-02 . 2013-04-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130630183935/http://apsportseditors.org/newsletter/football-pages-final-installment/ . 2013-06-30 .
9. Web site: Champs crowned at FC Championships. 2020-10-03. norwalkreflector.com. en.
10. Web site: St. Paul third at FC championships. 2020-10-03. norwalkreflector.com. en.
11. Web site: Baumspage Results. 2020-10-03. www.baumspage.com.
12. Web site: Baumspage Results. 2020-10-03. www.baumspage.com.
13. Web site: Source. Ashland. Crestview topples Mapleton to claim undisputed Firelands Conference title. 2021-12-17. Ashland Source. en.
14. Web site: Ohio High School Athletic Association State Champion Database. 2010-01-09. OHSAA.