Wayne County Athletic League Explained

The Wayne County Athletic League is an OHSAA athletic conference whose eight members are from Wayne County and Ashland County, Ohio. The following are currently members:

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Middle School
Chippewa	Chipps	Doylestown	Blue, White	Chippewa MS
Dalton	Bulldogs	Dalton	Orange, Black	Dalton MS
Hillsdale	Falcons	Jeromesville	Columbia Blue, Gold	Hillsdale MS
Northwestern	Huskies	West Salem	Blue, Gray	Northwestern MS
Norwayne	Bobcats	Creston	Scarlet, Gray	Norwayne MS
	Indians	Rittman	Red, White, Black	Rittman MS
	Smithies	Smithville	Green, White	Green MS
	Golden Bears	Apple Creek	Brown, Gold	Waynedale MS

Former members

School	Nickname	Location	Colors	Left League
Apple Creek	Aces	Apple Creek	Black, Gold	cons. 1955
Big Prairie	Bobcats	Big Prairie	Black, Gold	late 1930s
Burbank	Bombers	Burbank	Purple, White	cons. 1953
Chester	Pups	Chester Township	Blue, ??	cons. 1951
Congress	Senators	Congress	Scarlet, Gray ^[1]	cons. 1951
Creston	Panthers	Creston	Red, Black	cons. 1953
Fredericksburg	Freddies	Fredericksburg	Red, Black	cons. 1955
Marshallville	Tigers	Marshallville	Blue, Gold	cons. 1938
Mt. Eaton/Paint Township	Pirates	Mount Eaton	Green, White	cons. 1955
Shreve	Trojans	Shreve	Red, White	cons. 1963
Sterling/Milton Township	Eagles	Sterling	Blue, Gold	cons. 1953
Triway	Titans	Wooster	Purple, White	1970
West Salem	Clippers^[2]	West Salem	Orange, Black	cons. 1951

League history^[2]

1920s

• The league began slowly in the 1920s as a "B" league (smaller schools run by the county) with baseball and basketball serving as the primary sports of competition between the schools. The first 16 teams to be members were Apple Creek, Big Prairie, Burbank, Chester, Congress, Creston, Dalton, Doylestown, Fredericksburg, Marshallville, Mount Eaton/Paint Township, Rittman, Shreve, Smithville, Sterling, and West Salem.
• Apple Creek, Dalton, Doylestown and Rittman had the earliest (and at times, the only) football programs in the league. They competed in the Wayne County "B" Football League beginning in 1924.
• Apple Creek dropped football after the 1928 season.

1930s

• In the later 30s, Rittman left the league after becoming an exempted village school while Big Prairie became part of the Holmes County school system.
• In the spring of 1938, a Wayne County Coaches Association was formed to help organize the league's athletic play.
• Marshallville lost their high school in 1938 when the state told them they could no longer function as a three-year high school. They began sending their students to Dalton for the 1938-39 school year.

1940s

• The former Marshallville High School was torn down in 1940 and replaced with an updated elementary school.

1950s

• In 1951, Northwestern was created by merging Chester, Congress and West Salem with the northwestern areas of the county. They began calling themselves the 'Huskies' and borrowed Chester's blue and Congress' gray as their new colors.^[1]
• In 1953, Norwayne was created with the merger of Burbank, Creston, and Sterling. The original proposed name for the district was 'Burlington' (BURbank, SterLING, and CresTON), but residents preferred the acronym for "Northern Wayne" County. They chose the nickname 'Bobcats.'^[1]
• In 1954, the first official football season began for the Wayne County Athletic League with Dalton, Doylestown, and Rittman playing right away. Norwayne began playing the following year, while Shreve, Smithville, and Waynedale started up in 1956.^[1]
• In 1955, Apple Creek, Fredericksburg, and Mt. Eaton/Paint Township consolidated to make Waynedale (the dale area of Wayne County). They became the 'Golden Bears.'^[1]
• Also in 1955, to prevent Marshallville students from being bused across the Orrville school district territory into Dalton, Marshallville's district was merged with Smithville's. This move enabled the Smithies to start up a football team, but also caused a rivalry to start up with Dalton.
• The league makeup was now at 8 schools: Dalton, Doylestown, Northwestern, Norwayne, Rittman, Shreve, Smithville, and Waynedale.

1960s

• Rittman was invited back into the league in 1961 as a full-time member.^[1]
• Triway was created in 1963 when Shreve (Clinton Township) combined with Franklin and Wooster townships. They called themselves the 'Titans', after the new AFL team based in New York City.^[1]
• Northwestern began league football play in 1965.^[1]

1970s

• In 1970, Triway left the league for the Chippewa Conference and was replaced by Hillsdale, who had come over from the Firelands Conference.^[1]
• Upon opening a much-needed new high school in 1971, Doylestown changed their name to Chippewa High School to reflect the trend that most of the district's residents were living in Chippewa Township and not within Doylestown itself. They felt it redundant to call themselves the 'Chippewa Chippewas', so they shortened their nickname to the 'Chipps.' Despite these changes, many locals still refer to the school as "Doylestown."

2010s

On December 3, 2011, the WCAL had its first-ever state football champion when Norwayne defeated Kenton 48-42 in the Division IV championship at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon.^[3]

Boys league championships

Year	Football	Boys Basketball
1924-25	Doylestown
1925-26	Doylestown
1926-27	Doylestown
1927-28	Dalton
1928-29	Rittman
1929-30	Dalton
1930-31	Doylestown
1931-32	Dalton, Rittman
1932-33	Doylestown
1933-34	Rittman
1934-35	Doylestown
1935-36	Rittman
1936-37	Dalton
1937-38	Rittman
1938-39	Dalton
1939-40	Rittman
1940-41	Dalton
1941-42	Rittman
1942-43	Doylestown
1943-44	None
1944-45	None
1945-46	None
1946-47	None
1947-48	None
1948-49	None
1949-50	None
1950-51	None
1951-52	Rittman
1952-53	Rittman
1953-54	Doylestown
1954-55	Dalton, Doylestown
1955-56	Doylestown
1956-57	Doylestown
1957-58	Doylestown
1958-59	Rittman
1959-60	Dalton, Waynedale
1960-61	Waynedale
1961-62	Dalton
1962-63	Smithville
1963-64	Dalton
1964-65	Rittman
1965-66	Norwayne
1966-67	Dalton
1967-68	Dalton, Northwestern
1968-69	Dalton
1969-70	Doylestown
1970-71	Doylestown
1971-72	Dalton
1972-73	Waynedale
1973-74	Waynedale
1974-75	Dalton
1975-76	Rittman
1976-77	Dalton
1977-78	Dalton
1978-79	Waynedale
1979-80	Rittman
1980-81	Rittman, Smithville
1981-82	Waynedale
1982-83	Waynedale
1983-84	Smithville
1984-85	Smithville
1985-86	Waynedale
1986-87	Rittman
1987-88	Smithville
1988-89	Smithville
1989-90	Waynedale	Northwestern
1990-91	Smithville
1991-92	Dalton	Dalton, Waynedale
1992-93	Dalton, Waynedale	Waynedale
1993-94	Dalton, Smithville, Waynedale	Norwayne
1994-95	Smithville	Norwayne
1995-96	Waynedale	Dalton
1996-97	Dalton	Smithville
1997-98	Waynedale	Dalton, Smithville
1998-99	Waynedale	Dalton
1999-00	Chippewa	Waynedale
2000-01	Smithville	Hillsdale
2001-02	Northwestern, Smithville	Dalton, Norwayne
2002-03	Smithville	Northwestern
2003-04	Dalton, Smithville, Waynedale	Northwestern
2004-05	Smithville	Northwestern
2005-06	Dalton, Smithville	Waynedale
2006-07	Northwestern	Northwestern
2007-08	Northwestern, Waynedale	Smithville, Norwayne
2008-09	Norwayne, Waynedale	Smithville
2009-10	Dalton	Dalton
2010-11	Hillsdale	Hillsdale, Northwestern
2011-12	Hillsdale, Norwayne, Smithville	Dalton
2012-13	Norwayne	Dalton
2013-14	Northwestern	Norwayne
2014-15	Chippewa, Hillsdale	Dalton
2015-16	Norwayne	Waynedale
2016-17	Norwayne	Northwestern
2017-18	Dalton	Rittman
2018-19	Norwayne	Northwestern
2019-20	Dalton	Dalton, Northwestern
2020-21	Norwayne	Dalton
2021-22	Dalton	Dalton
2022-23	Dalton, Northwestern	Dalton, Norwayne, Smithville
2023-24	Dalton	Norwayne

Girls league championships

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships

• Baseball
  • 1933: West Salem
  • 1959: Northwestern
  • 1966: Northwestern
  • 2022: Waynedale (D-III)^[4]
  • 2023: Waynedale (D-III)^[5]
• Boys Basketball
  • 1957-58: Northwestern
  • 1964-65: Northwestern
• Football
  • 2011: Norwayne (D-IV)
• Softball
  • 1979: Hillsdale
  • 1994: Hillsdale
  • 1996: Hillsdale
  • 1999: Hillsdale
  • 2000: Hillsdale
  • 2006: Dalton (D-IV)
  • 2007: Dalton (D-IV)
  • 2010: Hillsdale (D-III)
• Boys Track & Field
  • 2022: Norwayne (D-III)
• Girls Track & Field
  • 1975: Chippewa
  • 2024: Smithville (D-III)^[6]
• Wrestling
  • 2011-12: Waynedale (D-III)

See also

• Ohio High School Athletic Conferences

Further reading

• Vasas, Michale Paul, A History of Wayne County Football 1899 to 1988, Collier Printing Company of Wooster, Ohio. 1989.
• History of Wayne County, Ohio, "Wayne County History Book Committee." Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas. 1987.

External links

• WCAL Official Website
• History of the Wayne County Athletic League
• Milwaukee Journal Story noting the Mount Eaton High School basketball team's 6-year losing streak. 18 Dec, 1953
• WCAL Football Playoff Appearances

Notes and References

1. Book: Vasas, Michale Paul . A History of Wayne County Football 1899 to 1988 . Collier Printing Company of Wooster, Ohio . 1989 .
2. Web site: History of the Wayne County Athletic League . Wayne County Athletic League . 1973-06-12 . website . 2010-09-26.
3. Web site: Dorksen. Aaron. STATE CHAMPIONS! Norwayne pulls out all-time thriller for Div. IV title. . December 4, 2011. December 4, 2011.
4. News: Carey . Tyler . Waynedale beats Milan Edison in walk-off fashion to win OHSAA Division III state baseball championship . 20 June 2024 . wkyc.com . 11 June 2022.
5. News: Dorksen . Aaron . Back-to-back Bears — Waynedale repeats as state . 20 June 2024 . The Bargain Hunter . 11 June 2023 . en.
6. News: Brown . Dan . Smithville girls win Div. III state track championship . 20 June 2024 . The Bargain Hunter . 5 June 2024 . en.