Cardinal Mooney High School (Ohio)

Cardinal Mooney was founded in 1956 and is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown. In the early 1950s, the Diocese of Youngstown recognized the need to expand Ursuline High School and to build a new parochial high school on the southside. In 1953, Bishop Emmet M. Walsh obtained the present site of Cardinal Mooney High School from the Youngstown Parks Department and began the organization of a high school fundraising committee.

Ground was broken in 1954, and in the fall of 1955 the first freshman class was organized and began attending classes at the old Glenmary convent. Construction of Cardinal Mooney was completed in time for the first day of school in September 1956. A total of 610 students were enrolled as freshmen or sophomores. The school was named after Cardinal Edward Mooney, a former southsider, who was the Archbishop of Detroit. He had distinguished himself as a scholar and Vatican diplomat.

Father William Anthony Hughes, later the Bishop of Covington, Kentucky, was named the school's first principal. Red and Gold were selected as the school colors. They symbolized the blood of the martyrs, and the responsibility of all Christians to accept suffering and the Blessed Sacrament.

The initial faculty included sisters from the Ursuline, Dominican, Notre Dame and Vincentian communities, two priests and five lay teachers.

In June 1959 the first graduating class celebrated Baccalaureate Mass at St. Columba Cathedral, and on June 7 graduation ceremonies were held at Stambaugh Auditorium.

Enrollments grew rapidly in the early '60's. By 1960 an addition to Cardinal Mooney was being planned and an overflow of students were once again attending classes at the old Glenmary Convent. The addition opened in 1961. It included an auditorium, seven classrooms and a physics laboratory.

In early 2000, Cardinal Mooney came into possession of the two military annex buildings adjacent to the school grounds. Shortly after obtaining this real estate, construction of the high school's new sports complex was underway. Completed in late 2001, the Cardinal Mooney sports complex yields a well rounded athletic training facility where official OHSAA athletic contests can be hosted. The complex includes a regulation football field, two adjacent practice fields, two tennis courts, a practice putting green, a practice soccer field, two practice baseball fields, a small batting cage, a training pool, and a full length, rubberized track encircling the main football field. The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy annex buildings were left standing during construction, but Rush Boulevard was filled in with top soil and cut off from the rear lot. The buildings, now referred to as the Cardinal Mooney Industrial Arts Center, have since been converted to garages where shop classes can work on vehicles and driving classes can be taught during the summer breaks.[2]

• Tim Beck, former offensive coordinator, Nebraska Cornhuskers football[8]
• Denise DeBartolo York, current owner of the San Francisco 49ers[9]
• Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers[10]
• Jerry Diorio, former NFL offensive guard[11]
• Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, former CFL wide receiver[12]
• Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, defensive tackle, New England Patriots[13]
• Mark Malaska, former Major League Baseball relief pitcher[14]
• Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, former lightweight WBA World Champion boxer[15]
• Ed Muransky, retired NFL offensive tackle[16]
• Bo Pelini, head coach, Youngstown State Penguins football[17]
• Carl Pelini, former head coach, Florida Atlantic Owls football[18]
• John Simon, Defensive Line, New England Patriots, Super Bowl Champion
• Bob Stoops, head coach, Oklahoma Sooners football[19]
• Mark Stoops, head coach, Kentucky Wildcats football[20]
• Mike Stoops, defensive coordinator, Oklahoma Sooners football[21]
• James Traficant, former Congressman for Ohio's 17th congressional district[22]
• John Edward "Jed" York, CEO for the San Francisco 49ers