Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference (OHSAA)

The Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference (EOAC) is an Ohio High School Athletic Association high school athletic conference that began competition in the 2017–18 school year and is made up of member schools from Columbiana and Mahoning counties in Ohio.[1] The league was formed from members of the red and white tiers of the former Inter-Tri County League.

Members

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School Nickname Location Colors Tenure Notes
Columbiana Clippers Columbiana Red and white

   

2017–
David Anderson Blue Devils Lisbon Blue and white

   

2017–
East Palestine Bulldogs East Palestine Brown and white

   

2017–
Leetonia Bears Leetonia Blue and white

   

2017–2026 Leaving for Northeastern Athletic Conference in 2026
Southern Local Indians Salineville Blue and gold

   

2017–
United Golden Eagles Hanoverton Blue and gold

   

2017–
Wellsville Tigers Wellsville Orange and black

   

2017–
Valley Christian Eagles Youngstown Blue and gold

   

2020–

Former members

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School Nickname Location Colors Tenure Notes
Toronto Red Knights Toronto Red and White

   

2017–2019 Left for OVAC

History

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The Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference was formed when the Inter-Tri County League disbanded in 2016. Seven members of the red and white tiers of the ITCL would form the EOAC[2] (Columbiana, Lisbon, East Palestine, Leetonia, Southern, Toronto, United and Wellsville.) conference play began in the fall 2017–18 season.[3]

Toronto announced they would forfeit its membership in the EOAC after two seasons of membership. They left following the 2018–19 school year, citing different reasons for their departure such as financial reasons from higher league and official costs, and lower crowds of both home and away games due to traveling distance between member schools. Toronto had rejoined its previous conference, the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.[4][5]

Youngstown Valley Christian accepted its invitation to join the EOAC in 2019, with them beginning conference play in the 2020–21 school year.[6][7] They were previously a member of the Portage Trail Conference but left due to wanting to compete with schools closer to enrollment size and travel distance.[8]

Leetonia, who is one of the EOAC's founding members, announced in 2025 they will be departing from the league following the 2025–26 school year, with them joining the Northeastern Athletic Conference in hopes of playing schools closer in size and competition to them.[9][10][11]

Conference championships

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Conference Championships of the EOAC since 2017

Year Football Volleyball Boys Soccer Girls Soccer Boys Basketball Girls Basketball Baseball Softball
2025–26 United Columbiana United Columbiana Lisbon/Columbiana Southern
2024–25 United Columbiana United United Valley Christian Columbiana United Columbiana
2023–24 United Columbiana United United Lisbon Columbiana/United/Southern Columbiana Columbiana
2022–23 Valley Christian Wellsville United United Southern United Columbiana Columbiana
2021–22 United Wellsville United United Wellsville United United Columbiana
2020–21 United Wellsville United United Southern East Palestine Columbiana Columbiana
2019–20 Southern Wellsville United United Columbiana Columbiana NO SEASON - COVID NO SEASON - COVID
2018–19 Southern Wellsville United United Toronto Columbiana Toronto Lisbon
2017–18 East Palestine Southern United United Toronto Columbiana Toronto United

References

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  1. ^ "Ohio Interscholastic Conference Affiliations". www.ohsaa.org. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  2. ^ "Fallout from folded ITCL results in 2 new leagues". tribtoday.com. Retrieved 2026-01-17.
  3. ^ "2017 Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference football schedules". WKBN.com. 2017-04-30. Archived from the original on 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  4. ^ "Toronto to leave EOAC". morningjournalnews.com. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  5. ^ "Toronto votes to leave EOAC". reviewonline.com. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  6. ^ "Valley Christian joining Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference". www.wfmj.com. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  7. ^ "Valley Christian accepted into EOAC". tribtoday.com. Retrieved 2026-01-17.
  8. ^ "Valley Christian will become eighth EOAC team". reviewonline.com. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  9. ^ "Leetonia to leave EOAC for NAC". reviewonline.com. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  10. ^ "Leetonia to exit EOAC". morningjournalnews.com. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  11. ^ "Leetonia leaving EOAC for NAC". vindy.com. Retrieved 2026-01-17.

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