The Cardinal Conference was a high school athletic conference in north central Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 that existed from 1960 to 1987. With its dissolution, several teams joined the Ohio Heartland Conference. In 2003, a new conference, the Ohio Cardinal Conference

Ohio Cardinal Conference

The Ohio Cardinal Conference, which began play in 2003, is an OHSAA athletic league whose members are from Ashland, Holmes, Richland, and Wayne counties in Ohio...

, was formed with the expressed intention of preserving the legacy of the original Cardinal Conference.

History

Attempts to form the Cardinal Conference began as early as 1949; by 1955, discussions began in earnest and on April 8, 1959, the new conference was officially formed. The conference remained stable throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1981, Mansfield Malabar became the first school to leave the conference; in 1983, Coshocton High School followed suit. The remaining conference members discussed adding several schools, including readmitting Malabar, adding Mansfield Senior High School

Mansfield Senior High School

Mansfield Senior High School is located in Mansfield, Ohio, USA. The school serves grades 9-12 and is part of the Mansfield City School District. The school enrolls 1,389 students as of the 2006-2007 academic year...

 or Mt. Vernon High School

Mount Vernon High School (Ohio)

Mount Vernon High School is a public four-year high school located in Mount Vernon, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Mount Vernon City Schools district. The school's mascot is the Yellow Jacket, and its official colors are orange and black. The yellow jacket mascot is actually orange and...

, but travel considerations prevented any agreement from being reached.

By the mid 1980s, the conference began to disintegrate. Madison and Ashland left the conference for the newly formed Ohio Heartland Conference. Dover High School joined the Senate League. Wooster and New Philadelphia both joined the Federal League

Federal League (OHSAA)

The Federal League is an Ohio High School Athletic Association sports conference that was established in 1964 and includes schools from Stark and Mahoning counties.-Current members:* Boardman Spartans...

. The Cardinal Conference officially disbanded following the 1986-87 school year.

Over the conference's history, the conference had four separate commissioners. The first commissioner, Don Welsh, was associated with Wooster. Welsh was succeeded by O.J. Thompson, and he by Joe Romano. New Philadelphia's Jim Roman was the final conference commissioner in the 1980s.

Members

The following schools were members of the Cardinal Conference during its duration.

• Ashland High School (1960-1987)
• Coshocton High School
  Coshocton High School
  Coshocton High School is a public high school in Coshocton, Ohio. CHS participates in open enrollment. The school has approximately 700 students 7-12th Grade.-Sports:Coshocton High School is a member of the East Central Ohio League...
  
   (1961-1983)
• Dover High School
  Dover High School (Ohio)
  Dover High School is a public high school in Dover, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Dover City Schools district. The school's mascot is The Tornadoes, and the school colors are crimson and gray. The Dover High School Alma Mater was composed by L. H...
  
   (1961-1987)
• Madison High School
  Madison Comprehensive High School (Mansfield, Ohio)
  Madison Comprehensive High School is a public high school in Richland County's Madison Township, near Mansfield, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Madison Local School District. Their nickname is the Rams....
  
   (1960-1987)
• Malabar High School
  Mansfield City School District
  Mansfield City School District is a public school district serving students in the city of Mansfield, and northwestern parts of Madison Township in Richland County, Ohio, United States...
  
   (1961-1981)
• New Philadelphia High School
  New Philadelphia High School
  New Philadelphia High School is a public high school in New Philadelphia, Ohio. It is the only high school in the New Philadelphia City Schools district. Its mascot is the Quakers.-History:...
  
   (1961-1987)
• Wooster High School
  Wooster High School (Ohio)
  Wooster High School is a public high school in Wooster, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Wooster City School District. The mascot/nickname of the school is the Generals, named after American Revolutionary War General David Wooster....
  
   (1960-1987)

Fall sports

This only includes state championships won while schools were members of the Cardinal Conference:

School	Sport	Year(s)
Ashland	Boy's Golf	1962
Coshocton	Boy's Golf	1970 1975
Dover	none
Madison	none
Malabar	none
New Philadelphia	none
Wooster	Boy's Golf	1980

Notable athletes

• James Black, Dover (1980)
• John Denning (Track & Field), Dover (1982) Cardinal Conference Champ