Eastern Buckeye Conference

The Eastern Buckeye Conference is an OHSAA athletic league that began competition in the 2018–19 school year and is made up of member schools from Carroll, Columbiana, Mahoning, and Stark Counties in Ohio. This conference is made up of members of the former Northeastern Buckeye Conference.

Members

School Nickname Location Colors Tenure Notes
Alliance Aviators Alliance Red, columbia blue
    		2018- Leaving in 2028
Carrollton Warriors Carrollton Black, white
    		2018- Leaving in 2028 for Northeast Senate League
Marlington Dukes Lexington Orange, black
    		2018- Leaving in 2028 for Northeast Senate League
Minerva Lions Minerva Crimson, gray
    		2018- Leaving in 2028 for Northeast Senate League
Salem Quakers Salem Red, black
    		2018- Leaving in 2028
West Branch Warriors Beloit Green, white
    		2018- Leaving in 2028

Former Members

School Nickname Location Colors Tenure Notes
Canton South Wildcats Canton Red, gray

   

2018-2022 Left for Principals Athletic Conference

History

In December 2015, discussions began between members of the Northeastern Buckeye Conference to create a new league that didn't include member school Louisville.[1] February 2016, the Northeastern Buckeye Conference disbanded, the other members in the league at the time (Alliance, Canton South, Carrollton, Marlington, Minerva, Salem, and West Branch) voted to form the Eastern Buckeye Conference that would begin play in the fall of 2018. Other nearby schools were invited to join the league such as Crestview and Beaver Local. Those schools would decline their invitations, joining other conferences instead.[2] South Range had originally accepted their invitation to become the leagues eighth member but retracted its invitation and instead joined the newly formed Northeast 8 Conference.[3]

In July 2020, Canton South announced that they had accepted an invitation to the Principals Athletic Conference and would be leaving following the 2021-22 school year.[4] East Liverpool was offered to replace Canton South beginning the 2022-23 school year but declined their invitation after internal discussions with coaches, ultimately remaining in the Buckeye 8.[5]

Howland announced in May 2024 that they would be joining the Eastern Buckeye Conference for football only starting the 2026 season, after years of being an independent school.[6] Howland later made the decision to remain independent following the news that the EBC would likely be folding.

Carrollton, Marlington and Minerva announced their intention to leave the EBC effective the 2028-29 school year for a new athletic conference called the Northeast Senate League with Claymont, Fairless, Sandy Valley, Tuscarawas Valley and Tuslaw, all of them being former Senate League members.[7] West Branch and Salem announced on February 14, 2026, that they would be searching for a new league as a result of the news,[8] both schools applied to become the eighth and ninth members of the Northeast 8 Athletic Conference,[9] however, on March 13, 2026, the Northeast 8 denied both schools. The Northeast 8 citied that "it was not in the best interest of the conferences core members at this time."[10] West Branch also applied to the All-American Conference and the Metro Athletic Conference in late March 2026, with Alliance also looking toward joining Stark County leagues.[11]

Conference Championships

List of Conference Champions since 2018.

Year Football Volleyball Girls Basketball Boys Basketball Baseball Softball
2018–19 Alliance Salem/Marlington Salem/Canton South Alliance Marlington West Branch
2019–20 Alliance Marlington West Branch West Branch NO SEASON- COVID NO SEASON - COVID
2020–21 West Branch Marlington Marlington West Branch/Canton South/Salem Salem West Branch
2021–22 West Branch Marlington Marlington Alliance Marlington Marlington
2022–23 West Branch Marlington Marlington/Salem Carrollton/Alliance Alliance Marlington
2023–24 West Branch Marlington West Branch West Branch Alliance Marlington
2024–25 West Branch Marlington West Branch Carrollton/Alliance Carrollton West Branch
2025–26 West Branch Marlington West Branch Alliance

References

  1. ^ "Northeastern Buckeye Conference could disband to oust Louisville". IndeOnline.com. December 12, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ^ ""Eastern Buckeye Conference to go with 7 schools for now"". Alliance Review. June 6, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  3. ^ ""South Range joins new Northeast 8, leaving the Northeast Buckeye"". WKBN 27. May 23, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  4. ^ ""Canton South to join Principals Athletic Conference in 2022"". CantonRep.com. July 2, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  5. ^ "Potters won't be a part of EBC". salemnews.net. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
  6. ^ "Mahoning Matters Howland Joining EBC".
  7. ^ Beaven, Chris. "Former Senate League schools forming a new high school conference". Canton Repository. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  8. ^ "West Branch, Salem to start search for new league". salemnews.net. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  9. ^ "Quakers will look to Northeast 8". salemnews.net. Retrieved February 17, 2026.
  10. ^ "Northeast 8 Conference decides not to fill vacancy at this time". www.wfmj.com. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  11. ^ "Salem, West Branch keep working to find new opportunity". reviewonline.com. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
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