Northwest Conference (OHSAA) explained

Northwest Conference
Classification:	OHSAA Division III-IV, Football Divisions V-VII
Sports:	7 Boys, 5 Girls
Founded:	1947
Members:	9

The Northwest Conference is an OHSAA athletic league located in northwest Ohio and includes schools in Allen, Hardin, Putnam, Shelby and Van Wert counties. The NWC originally formed in 1947. The Northwest Conference currently awards championships in 10 Varsity sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf (boys), softball, soccer (girls), track, volleyball, and wrestling.

Current members

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Notes
Allen East	Mustangs	Lafayette	Royal Blue, White
Bluffton	Pirates		Red, White
Columbus Grove	Bulldogs	Columbus Grove	Scarlet, Gray
Crestview	Knights		Blue, Red
Fort Loramie	Redskins	Fort Loramie	Red, Black	Football-only member
Jefferson	Wildcats		Red, White
Lincolnview	Lancers	Van Wert	Blue, Gold	Non-football member
Lima Central Catholic	Thunderbirds	Lima	Scarlet, Columbia
Spencerville	Bearcats	Spencerville	Black, White

Former members

High School	Location	Joined NWC	Tenure of Membership	Charter Member	Current League(s)
Ada High School	Ada	1964	1964-2024	No	Blanchard Valley Conference
Bath High School		1964	1964-1966	No	Western Buckeye League
Elida High School		1947	1947-1972	Yes	Western Buckeye League
Forest High School		1947	1947-1962	Yes	Blanchard Valley Conference (as part of Riverdale HS)
Leipsic High School	Leipsic	1962, 2021	1962-1964, 2021-2024	No	Blanchard Valley Conference
North Baltimore High School		1967	1967-1969	No	Northwest Central Conference
Ottawa-Glandorf High School		1964	1964-1967	No	Western Buckeye League
Pandora-Gilboa High School		1947	1947-1966	Yes	Blanchard Valley Conference, Putnam County League
Paulding High School		1967	1967-2021	No	Green Meadows Conference
Perry High School		1966	1966-2004	No	Northwest Central Conference
Shawnee High School		1947	1947-1953	Yes	Western Buckeye League
Upper Scioto Valley High School		1966	1966-2001	No	Northwest Central Conference

Membership Timeline

DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25Period = from:1947 till:2050TimeAxis = 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:powderblue from:1947 till:end text:Columbus Grove (1947-) bar:2 color:powderblue from:1947 till:end text:Delphos Jefferson (1947-) bar:3 color:powderblue from:1947 till:1965 text:Lafayette-Jackson (1947-1965) bar:4 color:powderblue from:1947 till:end text:Spencerville (1947-) bar:5 color:powderblue from:1947 till:1972 text:Elida (1947-1972) bar:6 color:powderblue from:1947 till:1966 text:Pandora-Gilboa (1947-1966) bar:7 color:powderblue from:1947 till:1961 text:Forest (1947-1961) bar:8 color:powderblue from:1947 till:1952 text:Lima Shawnee (1947-1952) bar:9 color:powderblue from:1952 till:endtext:Bluffton (1952-) bar:10 color:powderblue from:1962 till:1964 text:Leipsic (1962-1964) bar:10 color:powderblue from:2022 till:2024 text:Leipsic (2021-2024) bar:11 color:powderblue from:1964 till:2024 text:Ada (1964-2024) bar:12 color:powderblue from:1964 till:1966 text:Lima Bath (1964-1966) bar:13 color:powderblue from:1964 till:1967 text:Ottawa-Glandorf (1964-1967) bar:3 color:powderblue from:1965 till:endtext:Allen East (cons. of Lafayette-Jackson and Auglaize-Local) (1965-) bar:14 color:powderblue from:1966 till:2004 text:Lima Perry (1966-2004) bar:15 color:powderblue from:1966 till:2001 text:Upper Scioto Valley (1966-2001) bar:16 color:powderblue from:1967 till:1969 text:North Baltimore (1967-1969) bar:17 color:powderblue from:1967 till:2021 text:Paulding (1967-2021) bar:18 color:powderblue from:1969 till:endtext:Lincolnview (1969-) bar:19 color:powderblue from:1970 till:endtext:Crestview (1970-) bar:20 color:powderblue from:2006 till:2013 text:Lima Central Catholic (2006-2013, 2024-) bar:20 color:powderblue from:2024 till:end bar:21 color:powderblue from:2024 till:end text:Fort Loramie (football only, 2024-)ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1947

History

1947-1949

• The Northwest Conference begins its inaugural season of competition in the fall of 1947 with the eight charter members: Columbus Grove, Delphos Jefferson, Elida, Forest, Lafayette-Jackson, Pandora-Gilboa, Lima Shawnee, and Spencerville.

1950-1959

• 1953: Shawnee leaves after the 1952–53 school year.
• 1953: Bluffton becomes a conference member beginning with the 1953–1954 school year.

1960-1969

• 1962: Forest is consolidated into Riverdale Local Schools who maintains membership in a different conference.
• 1962: Leipsic, in Putnam County, joins starting with the 1962–1963 school year.
• 1963: Ada, Lima Bath, and Ottawa-Glandorf join the conference.
• 1964: Leipsic leaves the conference in May.
• 1965: Lafayette-Jackson consolidates with Harrod Auglaize Local to create Allen East.
• 1966: Bath and Pandora-Gilboa leave at the conclusion of the 1965–1966 school year.
• 1966: Lima Perry and Upper Scioto Valley join.
• 1967: Ottawa-Glandorf leaves at the conclusion of 1966–1967. North Baltimore and Paulding enter the conference at the beginning of the 1967–1968 school year.
• 1969: North Baltimore leaves in May. Lincolnview begins conference play in September.

Lincolnview entered conference for the 1965–66 season, basketball only. Lincolnview never fielded a football program.

1970-1979

• 1970: Crestview joins at the beginning of the 1970–1971 school year.
• 1972: Elida votes to leave the league. They subsequently begin play in the WBL in 1973.

1980-1989

• 1981: Crestview votes to no longer sponsor football at the conclusion of the 1981 season. They remain a conference member in all other sports.

2000-2009

• 2000: Crestview, having restarted their football program as an independent in 1999, officially starts play as a conference member again.
• 2002: Upper Scioto Valley, facing possible removal because of their failure to reliably field a football team during the 2001 season, opts to leave the conference at the conclusion of the 2001–2002 school year. They join the Northwest Central Conference beginning in 2003–2004.
• 2004: Lima Perry finishes its final year as a conference member after announcing their move to join USV in the NWCC in 2003.
• 2006: Lima Central Catholic begins play as a conference member after several years of petitioning.

2010-Present

• 2011: On December 1, the Lima Central Catholic administration announced that due to the results of being voted out of the NWC, they would leave the conference at the conclusion of 2012–2013. The move is made in part due to concerns from other conference members over fairness and competitive balance. A scheduling agreement agreed to before the announcement keeps LCC on NWC members' athletic schedules through the 2014–2015 school year unless there is a mutual decision between a conference member and LCC to break the agreement. As of September, 2013, Lima Central Catholic will remain an independent after unsuccessful negotiations with many other area conferences to become a member.^[1]
• 2012: Ada and Bluffton are asked to apply for membership in the expanding (and neighboring) Blanchard Valley Conference in March. Both schools decline the BVC's invitation and remain members of the NWC. The BVC also invites North Baltimore and Hopewell-Loudon, who both accept.
• 2020: In response to Holgate leaving the Green Meadows Conference, the GMC invited former member Paulding to rejoin their league. Paulding would accept their invitation and is expected to join after the 2020–21 school year.^[2] With Paulding leaving, the NWC invited Blanchard Valley Conference/Putnam County League member Leipsic to join as a replacement, which is expected to join during the 2022–23 school year.^[3] Leipsic will completely leave the BVC while maintaining their dual-membership with the PCL.
• 2023: On April 26, 2023, the school board at Ada voted to accept the BVC's invitation to join their league.^[4] No timeframe has been set for when the Bulldogs will switch conferences.^[5]

During a special board meeting held on Sunday, May 21, 2023, the Leipsic school board voted to rejoin the BVC. Similar to Ada, a timeframe for returning to their old league has not yet been established.^[6]

• In response to Ada and Leipsic leaving the NWC, Fort Loramie was invited to join the league as a football-only member while Lima Central Catholic was invited to rejoin the league as a full-time member. Both schools accepted shortly after and will begin league competition in 2024.^[7]

Notable Conference Rivalries

• Bluffton & Columbus Grove (Battle of 696)
• Crestview & Lincolnview (Battle of Van Wert County)
• Delphos Jefferson & Spencerville (Battle of Route 66)

Out of Conference Rivalries

• Ada & Allen East (Battle of Route 81)
• Allen East & Lima Bath
• Bluffton & Cory-Rawson
• Columbus Grove & Pandora-Gilboa
• Crestview & Rockford Parkway
• Delphos Jefferson & Delphos St. John's

Football Championships^[8]

By Year

Year	Champions
1947	Jefferson
1948	Forest
1949	Shawnee
1950	Shawnee
1951	Columbus Grove
1952	Columbus Grove
1953	Jefferson
1954	Forest
1955	Elida
1956	Bluffton
1957	Elida
1958	Bluffton Elida
1959	Columbus Grove
1960	Elida
1961	Pandora-Gilboa Elida
1962	Elida
1963	Spencerville
1964	Bath
1965	Bath
1966	Bluffton
1967	Allen East
1968	Allen East Columbus Grove Paulding
1969	Bluffton
1970	Elida
1971	Ada
1972	Ada Allen East Spencerville
1973	Ada
1974	Bluffton
1975	Bluffton
1976	Bluffton
1977	Paulding
1978	Paulding
1979	Ada
1980	Jefferson
1981	Jefferson
1982	Allen East
1983	Paulding
1984	Jefferson
1985	Jefferson
1986	Jefferson
1987	Jefferson
1988	Paulding
1989	Allen East
1990	Allen East
1991	Bluffton
1992	Columbus Grove
1993	Jefferson
1994	Ada
1995	Allen East
1996	Bluffton Spencerville
1997	Columbus Grove
1998	Columbus Grove Bluffton
1999	Columbus Grove Bluffton Jefferson
2000	Bluffton Jefferson
2001	Jefferson
2002	Columbus Grove
2003	Columbus Grove
2004	Bluffton
2005	Columbus Grove Bluffton Crestview
2006		Lima Central Catholic
2007		Lima Central Catholic
2008	Ada
2009	Ada
2010		Lima Central Catholic
2011		Lima Central Catholic
2012		Lima Central Catholic
2013	Jefferson Crestview Ada
2014	Jefferson
2015	Jefferson
2016	Jefferson
2017	Spencerville
2018	Crestview Spencerville Columbus Grove
2019	Allen East Spencerville Columbus Grove
2020	Columbus Grove

Boys' Soccer^[9]

Championships, by year (Boys' Soccer was introduced to the NWC in 2015)

!Year!Champions!Runner-up!Third Place

2015	Bluffton	Spencerville	Lincolnview
2016	Bluffton	Paulding	Allen East
2017	Bluffton	Ada	Allen East
2018	Bluffton	Ada	Allen East
2019	Bluffton	Allen East	Ada
2020	Bluffton	Ada	Spencerville
2021	Bluffton	Spencerville	Lincolnview
2022	Bluffton	Spencerville	Lincolnview
2023	Bluffton	Lincolnview	Spencerville

• Bluffton maintains an undefeated conference record through nine consecutive years of play, 42-0-0 through 2023.^[10]

External links

• Northwest Conference Official Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: NWC-LCC press conference | Video - West Ohio Sports Network . 2011-12-02 . 2012-04-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120426012539/http://video.wosn.tv/media/nwc-lcc-press-conference . dead .
2. Web site: Paulding announces their intent to leave the NWC and join the Green Meadows Conference. NWC-Sports.com . February 28, 2020. May 15, 2020.
3. Web site: Leipsic to Leave Blanchard Valley Conference After 2021-2022 School Year. 419Sports.com . May 14, 2020. May 15, 2020.
4. Web site: Staff article. It's official: Ada Schools join Blanchard Valley Conference . . April 27, 2023. April 27, 2023.
5. Web site: Nogueras. Joe. Ada latest Lima area school to switch conferences . The Lima News . April 29, 2023. May 1, 2023.
6. Web site: Hanneman. Dave. Reports: Leipsic votes to return to BVC . Findlay Courier . May 22, 2023. May 23, 2023.
7. Web site: Nogueras. Jose. LCC to become NWC member . LimaOhio.com . September 15, 2023. November 14, 2023.
8. Web site: NWC Football .
9. Web site: NWC Boys Soccer. admin. NWC-Sports.com The Official Site of the Northwest Conference for nwc news, nwc scores and more.. en-US. 2019-11-23.
10. Web site: admin . NWC Boys Soccer . 2024-08-05 . NWC-Sports.com The Official Site of the Northwest Conference for nwc news, nwc scores and more. . en.