{"id":207171,"date":"2026-06-22T14:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=207171"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:10:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:10:20","slug":"schools-moving-up-to-division-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/06\/22\/schools-moving-up-to-division-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools moving up to Division I"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Submitted information<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COLUMBUS &#8212; Eight schools have opted up to Division I for the 2026 Ohio High School Athletic Association football playoffs, which has resulted in a number of shifts to Division I regional assignments that were initially announced on April 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All eight schools that opted up to Division I had been initially assigned to Division II. There are no changes to Divisions III through VII. The OHSAA does not move schools up a division to replace schools that opt up to Division I. The changes increase Division I to 80 schools (from 72), while decreasing Division II to 98 schools (from 106).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Football-250.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-169067\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Five of the schools that opted up to Division I have been assigned to Region 1, including Austintown-Fitch, Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid and Hudson. The remaining three schools that opted up to Division I have been assigned to Region 2, including Clayton Northmont, Dublin Scioto and Toledo St. John\u2019s Jesuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perrysburg and Toledo Whitmer have been reassigned from Region 1 to Region 2. Lebanon, Middletown and Springboro have been have reassigned from Region 3 to Region 4. Upper Arlington has been reassigned from Region 2 to Region 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2026 football divisions and regions are posted at:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohsaa.org\/Sports-Tournaments\/Football\/Football-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.ohsaa.org\/Sports-Tournaments\/Football\/Football-2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As noted in the initial divisional breakdowns announcement on April 23, school consolidations are anticipated this summer within Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Youngstown City School District, which will result in some schools within those districts being reclassified into higher divisions. The OHSAA annually sets September 10 as the date to collect enrollment data from new schools and schools that have consolidations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The remaining fall sports divisional breakdowns will be announced later this week, while the winter sports divisional breakdowns will be announced next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2026 OHSAA Football Divisional Breakdowns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Division Adjusted Enrollment&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Number of Teams<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 601 and more&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 80 as of June 18 (had been 72)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>II&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 356 to 600&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 98 as of June 18 (had been 106)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>III&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 257 to 355&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 106<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IV&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 197 to 256&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 104<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>V&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 150 to 195&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 105<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>VI&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 107 to 149&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 107<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>VII&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 106 and less&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 108<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Total Teams&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 708<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2026 OHSAA Football Calendar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer Period: May 15 through July 31 (13 practices permitted, plus five days for acclimation)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practice Begins \u2013 August 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regular-Season Begins \u2013 Week of August 17 (first Friday is August 21)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regular-Season Ends \u2013 Saturday night, October 24<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Playoff Qualifiers Announced \u2013 Sunday, October 25<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regional First Round \u2013 Friday, October 30<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regional Quarterfinals&nbsp; &#8211; Friday, November 6<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regional Semifinals \u2013 Friday, November 13<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regional Finals \u2013 Friday, November 20<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State Semifinals \u2013 Friday, November 27<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State Championships \u2013 December 3-5, Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Submitted information COLUMBUS &#8212; Eight schools have opted up to Division I for the 2026 Ohio High School Athletic Association football playoffs, which has resulted in a number of shifts to Division I regional assignments that were initially announced on April 23. All eight schools that opted up to Division I had been initially assigned [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-01 00:17:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207173,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207171\/revisions\/207173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}