Centered in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, the Western Buckeye League is an

OHSAA The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...

athletic league located in

northwest Ohio Northwest Ohio, or Northwestern Ohio, consists of multiple counties in the northwestern corner of the US state of Ohio. This area borders Lake Erie, Southeast Michigan, and northeastern Indiana. Some areas are also considered the Black Swamp are ...

and includes schools in

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

, Auglaize, Defiance, Hardin,

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

, Putnam, and Van Wert counties. The league's school district boundaries also include portions of Logan, Paulding, Shelby, and

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language Wyandot (sometimes spelled Wandat) is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot or Wya ...

counties. The WBL originally formed in 1936 and is one of the oldest high school conferences in the state. The Western Buckeye League currently awards championships in 13 Varsity sports: baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, and wrestling. An academic bowl tournament for the schools in the league began annually in 2004. While the WBL consists of larger schools and spreads over a larger area, it is geographically located in the same area of the state as the Midwest Athletic Conference. Most schools out of both leagues typically host hotly contested matchups in nearly every sport.

Current members

Former members

Membership history

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:1940 till:2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m bar:1 color:powderblue from:1940 till:1965 text:Bellefontaine (1940-1965) bar:2 color:powderblue from:1940 till:1957 text:Bluffton (1940-1957) bar:3 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:Celina (1940-present) bar:4 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:St. Marys Memorial (1940-present) bar:5 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:Van Wert (1940-present) bar:6 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:Wapakoneta (1940-present) bar:7 color:powderblue from:1942 till:end text:Kenton (1942-present) bar:8 color:powderblue from:1952 till:1967 text:Lima Shawnee (1952-1967) bar:8 color:powderblue from:1981 till:end text:Lima Shawnee (1981-present) bar:9 color:powderblue from:1957 till:1973 text:Coldwater (1957-1973) bar:10 color:powderblue from:1965 till:end text:Lima Bath (1965-present) bar:11 color:powderblue from:1967 till:end text:Ottawa-Glandorf (1967-present) bar:12 color:powderblue from:1971 till:1982 text:Delphos St. John's (1971-1982) bar:13 color:powderblue from:1971 till:end text:Elida (1971-present) bar:14 color:powderblue from:1972 till:end text:Defiance (1972-present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1940 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(370,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"Western Buckeye League Membership History" Western Buckeye League2

1940s

* The charter members of the league in 1940-1941 were Bellefontaine, Bluffton, Celina, St. Marys, Van Wert and Wapakoneta. * Kenton entered the league in 1942.

1950s

* Shawnee entered the league with the 1952-1953 Basketball Season. * Bluffton left the league in football after the 1952 season. * Bluffton left the league in all sports after the 1956–1957 season to join the

Northwest Conference The Northwest Conference (NWC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in the states of Oregon and Washington. It was known as the Pacific Northwest Conference from 1926 to 1984. History ...

. * Coldwater entered the league in the 1957–1958 season.

1960s

* Bellefontaine left the league after the 1964–1965 season to join the Central Buckeye Conference. * Bath entered the league beginning with the 1965-1966 Basketball Season. * Shawnee left the league at the end of the 1966-1967 Basketball Season. * Ottawa-Glandorf entered the league in the spring of 1967 after withdrawing from the

in football and

Putnam County League The Putnam County League is non-football athletic conference whose eight members are located within Putnam County, Ohio. The league is affiliated with the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Members At the junior high level, three more mi ...

in all other sports.

1970s

* Elida and Delphos St. Johns entered the league in December 1971. * Coldwater withdrew from the league effective June 1, 1973 to join the Midwest Athletic Conference. * Defiance entered the league in September 1973 in all sports. (Defiance 1972-73 WBL meets in CC, Golf, Tennis, and Track)

1980s

* Delphos St. Johns withdrew from the league August 3, 1981 (effective end of 1981–82 season) to join the Midwest Athletic Conference. * Shawnee re-entered the league on October 5, 1981. Played full schedule in 1982–1983.

2000s

* In 2009, Napoleon decided they would leave the Greater Buckeye Conference for the

Northern Lakes League The Northern Lakes League (NLL), is an OHSAA high school athletic conference that was formed in 1956 and comprises eight high schools in Northwest Ohio. Current members Future members On April 9, 2021, invitations were extended to four schools ...

and Sandusky decided they would join the

Northern Ohio League The Northern Ohio League (NOL) was an OHSAA athletic league in north central Ohio that began competition in 1944 and disbanded in 2017 after six of its seven members joined the Sandusky Bay Conference. All-time members League History 1940s *The ...

. The GBC quickly dwindled down to four schools, leaving Findlay, Fremont Ross, Lima Senior, and Marion Harding out in the cold. * On March 11, Lima Senior sent a letter to the WBL in hopes of expanding. * On April 1, the WBL responded and denied Lima Senior entry into the league. The letter stated, "The Western Buckeye League (WBL) is not looking to expand at this time and there is no anticipation of any member leaving."

OHSAA state appearances

Boys League Championships

**The first cross country meet was an invitational in 1969, and not an official league meet. *~Two golf league matches were held during the 1973–74 school year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Lima Bath won both matches.

Girls League Championships

**The 1983 and 1984 cross country league meets were invitationals and not official championships. The first official league meet championship was in 1985.

All Sport Trophy winners

The Western Buckeye League awards an annual All Sport Trophy to the school that accumulates the most points in their rank in each of the conference sanctioned sports.

Enrollment

External links

Western Buckeye League official website

References

{{Northwest Ohio Division I/II High School Athletic Conferences Ohio high school sports conferences