Green Meadows Conference

The Green Meadows Conference is an OHSAA athletic league located in northwest Ohio. The eight member schools are all located in one of four counties: Henry County, Defiance County, Paulding County, or Williams County.

Green Meadows Conference
ClassificationOHSAA Division(s) III-IV
Region Ohio
Sports fielded9
Members
No. of members8
Map
Green Meadows Conference member schools

History

source:[1]

The Green Meadows Conference was formed as an athletic conference in 1962. The charter members of the conference were Ayersville, Fairview, Hicksville, Paulding, and Jewell (now Tinora).

In 1966, Blue Creek, from Paulding County and now a part of the Wayne Trace School District, joined the conference. Then in 1967, Oakwood joined.

The conference stayed intact until 1972, when district consolidations in Paulding County caused some changes in the make-up of some member schools. Blue Creek became a part of the new Wayne Trace School District, along with Grover Hill and Payne. Oakwood became a part of the Paulding Exempted School System. Antwerp and Holgate also joined the league making the number of members eight: Antwerp, Ayersville, Hicksville, Holgate, Fairview, Paulding, Tinora, and Wayne Trace.

In 1974, Paulding left the GMC to join the Northwest Conference. They were replaced by Edgerton. Membership remained the same until the 2019-20 school year.

In February 2020, it was announced that Holgate would join the Buckeye Border Conference as a member for every sport except football, which will participate in the Northern 8 Football Conference.[2] Holgate announced in late 2019 that they would move to 8-man football due to low numbers, which caused the remaining schools in the Green Meadows Conference to vote them out of the GMC over scheduling concerns. The Tigers are expected to join the BBC in the fall of either 2021 or 2022.

With Holgate's departure, the GMC decided to extend an invitation to former member Paulding in February 2020, which was accepted shortly afterwards.[3] Paulding, which has been a member of the Northwest Conference ever since leaving the GMC in 1974, is expected to rejoin after the 2020-21 school year.[4]

Ayersville has traditionally been a football power in the conference. They won ten consecutive conference titles between 1985 and 1994.[5] Fairview was a similar power in girls' basketball, having advanced to the state tournament repeatedly in the 1990s and having won the OHSAA Division III state championship in 1989.[6] Holgate won the Division IV boys' basketball state championship in 2004.[7] Wayne Trace won the Division III boys' basketball title in 1991 with Final 4 appearances in 1988, 2001, 2008, and 2015. They have won the conference title over 20 times.[8] Tinora girls' cross country consistently won the conference title through the 1990s and early 2000s.
Recently, Edgerton, Fairview and Tinora have emerged as football powers as well. In 2013 Wayne Trace recently got runner up at State in Football. In 2018, Edgerton won the GMC Conference and advanced to State Semi-Finals in football. Antwerp won the state volleyball championship in 1992, and has won the volleyball title the last two years and were the District Champs. Additionally, Wayne Trace and Fairview have been near the top of the conference in cross country for the past few years.

The Tinora boys' basketball team recently captured a State Runner-up trophy in Division III for the 2008–09 season. Tinora's baseball team has recently made the state final four four years straight with winning the state championship in 2014.

In 2020, Holgate was voted out of the conference and joined the Buckeye Border Conference (BBC) for the 2021-2022 season. Paulding rejoined the GMC, active in the fall of 2021.

Members
The member schools of the Green Meadows Conference.
School Nickname Location Colors
Antwerp Archers Antwerp Royal Blue, White
   
Ayersville Pilots Highland Twp. Columbia Blue, Gold
   
Edgerton Bulldogs Edgerton Maroon, Gold
   
Fairview Apaches Sherwood Black, Gold
   
Hicksville Aces Hicksville Red, White
   
Holgate Tigers Holgate Purple, Gold
   
Tinora Rams Defiance Green, White
   
Wayne Trace Raiders Haviland Red, Blue
   

Conference rivalries
  • Tinora vs Fairview[9][10]
  • Ayersville vs Tinora[9]
  • Antwerp vs Wayne Trace[10]
  • Holgate vs Ayersville
  • Hicksville vs Edgerton
  • Hicksville vs. Fairview
  • Hicksville vs. Tinora
  • Wayne Trace vs. Tinora
  • Antwerp vs. Hicksville

State championships

Fall sports
Boys Cross Country[8] Girls Cross Country Football Golf Boys Soccer Girls Soccer Girls Tennis Volleyball[8]
Antwerp 1992
Ayersville 1975
Edgerton
Fairview
Hicksville
Holgate
Tinora
Wayne Trace

Winter sports
Boys Basketball[11][12] Girls Basketball[8] Boys Swimming Girls Swimming Wrestling[8][13]
Antwerp
Ayersville 1957, 1961
Edgerton 1959
Fairview 1946 1989
Hicksville
Holgate 2004
Tinora
Wayne Trace 1991

Spring sports
Baseball[14] Softball Boys Tennis Boys Track & Field Girls Track & Field[8]
Antwerp 2019
Ayersville 1997 1996
Edgerton
Fairview
Hicksville 1978, 1982,
Holgate 1937
Tinora 2014
Wayne Trace

Notable athletes

Chad Reineke, Ayersville (MLB Pitcher)

Kris Hinchcliff, Wayne Trace (1994-1998)

Steve Hall, Wayne Trace (1984-1988)

Alex Welly, Hicksville (Sumo Wrestler)

Cody Champion, Hicksville (1989-1991)

Kris McDonald, Hicksville (1999–2002)

Denny Stark, Edgerton (1993 Graduate) Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 4th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft.

Matt Hormann, Antwerp (1991) - 2nd team practice squad. Younger brother to standout 5 sport athletes Chad (85), Todd (87), Jason (89).

Dustin Miller, Edgerton (2013-2017)

Ryan Radcliff, Fairview (2005–2008)

Taylor Tripoli, Fairview (2005–2008)

Curt Westrick, Holgate (2000-2004)

Kurt Michaelis, Holgate (1995-1999)

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2011-08-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Calvin, Nate (February 6, 2020). "Holgate To Become Member Of BBC After GMC Votes To Remove School From League". The Village Reporter. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  3. "Paulding Invited to Join Green Meadows Conference". 419Sports.com. February 25, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  4. "Paulding announces their intent to leave the NWC and join the Green Meadows Conference". NWC-Sports.com. February 28, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  5. Fowerbaugh, Paul (1995-08-25). "Special to the Journal Gazette". Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette.
  6. Bellis, Jennifer (1995-11-10). "No letup expected at Fairview". Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette.
  7. "2004 Division IV State Final". OHSAA. 2004-03-07. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  8. OHSAA. "Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
  9. "High school playoffs: Five area teams still in hunt for state title". Crescent-News. 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  10. Monroe, Mark (2008-03-04). "Inexperienced Ayersville advances past district for first time since 1994". The Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  11. Yappi. "Yappi Sports Basketball A". Archived from the original on 2007-01-13. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  12. Yappi. "Yappi Sports Basketball D3". Archived from the original on 2007-01-13. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  13. Yappi. "Yappi Sports Wrestling". Archived from the original on 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  14. Yappi. "Yappi Sports Baseball". Archived from the original on 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  15. Hefflinger, Bruce (2008-06-08). "Difficult decision lies ahead". Crescent-News. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
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