Western Buckeye League


Centered in Lima, Ohio, the Western Buckeye League is an OHSAA athletic league located in northwest Ohio and includes schools in Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Hardin, Mercer, Putnam, and Van Wert counties. The league's school district boundaries also include portions of Logan, Paulding, Shelby, and Wyandot 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

High SchoolLocationJoined WBLTenure of MembershipCharter MemberCurrent League
Bellefontaine High SchoolBellefontaine, Ohio19361936–1965YesCentral Buckeye Conference - Kenton Trail Division
Bluffton High SchoolBluffton, Ohio19361936–1957YesNorthwest Conference
Coldwater High SchoolColdwater, Ohio19571957–1973NoMidwest Athletic Conference
Delphos St. John's High SchoolDelphos, Ohio19711971–1982NoMidwest Athletic Conference

Membership history


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width:20 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:powderblue from:1940 till:1965 text:Bellefontaine
bar:2 color:powderblue from:1940 till:1957 text:Bluffton
bar:3 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:Celina
bar:4 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:St. Marys Memorial
bar:5 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:Van Wert
bar:6 color:powderblue from:1940 till:end text:Wapakoneta
bar:7 color:powderblue from:1942 till:end text:Kenton
bar:8 color:powderblue from:1952 till:1967 text:Lima Shawnee
bar:8 color:powderblue from:1981 till:end text:Lima Shawnee
bar:9 color:powderblue from:1957 till:1973 text:Coldwater
bar:10 color:powderblue from:1965 till:end text:Lima Bath
bar:11 color:powderblue from:1967 till:end text:Ottawa-Glandorf
bar:12 color:powderblue from:1971 till:1982 text:Delphos St. John's
bar:13 color:powderblue from:1971 till:end text:Elida
bar:14 color:powderblue from:1972 till:end text:Defiance
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text:"Western Buckeye League Membership History"

1940s

Boys League Championships

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.
SchoolYear
BathNone
Celina1972, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014
Defiance1973, 1976 1977, 1980, 1981, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000
Elida1979, 1982, 1992, 1993
KentonNone
Ottawa-GlandorfNone
Shawnee1985, 1986, 1987, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010
St. Marys Memorial1971, 1974, 1975, 2019
Van WertNone
Wapakoneta1990, 1995, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Enrollment