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Changes made to fall sports tourneys

VW independent sports/submitted information

COLUMBUS — Notable changes are in store for Ohio High School Athletic High School regional football finals, state semi-final and finals football games, along with the state volleyball tournament and state cross country.

Football regional finals, state games

According to a press release issued Tuesday afternoon by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, instead of the usual format of all neutral sites, regional championship football games may be played at the better-seeded team’s stadium or at a different site of their choosing. Division I regional finals are this Friday, October 30, while regional finals for Divisions II through VII are November 6-7.

Later this week, the OHSAA will announce how the regions will be paired for the Division I state semifinal games and next week, the OHSAA will announce how the regions will be paired for the state semifinals in Divisions II through VII.

The OHSAA will select neutral sites for the state semifinal games and the state championship games. Sites will be announced as soon as possible. Of note, many traditional host sites are not available to serve as neutral sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

State volleyball tournament

The upcoming volleyball state tournament will take a hiatus from the Nutter Center at Wright State University and be hosted by Vandalia Butler High School. In addition, the event will move to a Friday-Saturday-Sunday format (November 13-15). School will not be in session at Butler High School that Friday.

“We are very thankful that Butler High School stepped forward to host our volleyball state tournament,” said Emily Gates, OHSAA Director of Sport Management and the volleyball administrator. “We look forward to our return to Wright State University in the future, but with the small number of fans who can attend this year, we needed to find a smaller venue that was still an exceptional site.”

The facility will be cleared and cleaned after each match, so the state tournament schedule will be adjusted to the following:

Friday, November 13: Division II semifinals at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Division I semifinals at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday, November 14: Division IV semifinals at 10 AM and 1 p.m.; Division III semifinals at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Sunday, November 15: Division II final at 9 a.m.; Division I final at 12:30 p.m.; Division IV final at 4 p.m. Division III final at 7:30 p.m.

Cross country regional and state tournament schedule

The OHSAA will now conduct all regional and state cross country races on Saturdays (Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, respectively). The schedule for the regional and state tournaments is as follows:

Division III Boys: 9 a.m.
Division III Girls: 10 a.m.
Division II Boys: 12 p.m.
Division II Girls: 1 p.m.
Division I Boys: 3 p.m.
Division I Girls: 4 p.m.

Regional and state tournament information is posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/Sports-Tournaments/Cross-Country/Cross-Country-2020/2020-Cross-Country-Tournament-Coverage

Soccer state championships

In partnership with the Columbus Crew SC, the OHSAA girls and boys soccer state championship games will once again be hosted at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus.

The girls finals will be Friday, November 13, followed by the boys finals on Saturday, November 14.

POSTED: 10/27/20 at 3:11 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports