Cloverleaf set to join Principals Athletic Conference

Cloverleaf is on the move again, pending school board approval Wednesday. What began as exploratory talks escalated over the winter months, athletic director Craig Walkup confirmed that the Colts were accepted Saturday morning into the Principals Athletic Conference for the 2028-29 school year. The move ends an 11-season association with the Portage Trail Conference Metro Athletic Conference/Metro Athletic Conference. The PAC, which also invited West Holmes, was looking for two schools after Brewster Fairless and Massillon Tuslaw bolted for the Northeast Senate League. In 2028, the PAC is projected to consist of Cloverleaf, West Holmes, Orrville, Coventry, Manchester, Northwest, Canton South and Triway. The league was founded in 1989. Once Division I basketball and D-II in football but now D-IV due to enrollment drops and the OHSAA expanding divisions, Cloverleaf has had an interesting league history. The Colts were charter members of the Chippewa Conference in 1963 and the big-school Pioneer Conference in 1977 before bumping to the Suburban League in 1997. Struggling to compete in almost every SL sport, the Colts left to become one of the biggest schools in the expanded PTC in 2015. The PTC Metro Division teams soon became frustrated with behind-the-scenes logistics and broke off to form the MAC in 2019. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.