Four move up

COLUMBUS — Four area football teams have moved up a division for the 2026 season, which was anounced by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Thursday.

Salem is the only area team in Division III, while Crestview is in Division V and East Palestine and Lisbon are in Division VI.

They are among the 37 schools in Ohio that moved up a division from their 2025 assignment due to the 2026-27 school year being the start of a new two-year base enrollment cycle.

South Range dropped from Division V to Division VI.

A total of 708 Ohio schools will field 11-man football teams this fall, which opens Aug. 21.

Quakers at Poland Invitational

POLAND — The 30th Poland Invitational will be held Saturday at Poland High School.

Twenty-four schools are entered, including Crestview, Leetonia, Salem, South Range, Springfield Local, West Branch and Western Reserve.

The Salem girls and McDonald boys will try to defend their team titles.

Action will start at 9 a.m. Saturday with the boys shot put and long jump and girls discus and high jump. The finals in the girls and boys 3200-meter run will be at 9:15 a.m., followed by the rest of the running finals at 10:15 a.m.

Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for students. All tickets are sold at the home gate.

East Palestine Relays today

EAST PALESTINE — The 41st East Palestine Relays will be held today at Reid Stadium.

Action starts at 4:30 p.m. with the 4×1600 relay, the boys discus and high jump, girls shot put and boys and girls long jump.

The Howland boys and girls have swept the team titles the past four years.

Other schools entered are host East Palestine, Beaver Local, Campbell Memorial, Carrollton, East Liverpool, Howland, Rootstown and United.

West Branch netters fall

BELOIT — Louisville scored a a 5-0 win over West Branch on Thursday. West Branch (6-4) will play at Salem on Tuesday.

FIRST SINGLES: Chase Duskey (L) def. Austin Hawk, 6-1, 3-6, 10-8.

SECOND SINGLES: Peyton Eyler (L) def. Damon Edwards, 6-3, 6-1.

THIRD SINGLES: Ryan Pritz (L) def. Blake Robbins, 6-0, 6-1.

FIRST DOUBLES: Logan Demos-Justice Allman (L) def. Jeremy Augustein-Cameron McCartney, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

SECOND DOUBLES: Trent Beard-Colin Leatherberry (L) def. Connor Loper-Mason Cosma, 6-3, 6-2.

Puskar’s new job

YOUNGSTOWN — Lisbon assistant boys basketball coach Quinn Puskar has been hired as the Youngstown Cardinal Mooney girls basketball head coach.

“I’m beyond excited to jump in and get started with such a prestigious program at Cardinal Mooney,” Puskar said.

Puskar has spent the past nine seasons with the Lisbon boys as an assistant under Chris Huckshold.