Why West Holmes made the decision to join Principals Athletic Conference

West Holmes Lynn Cline fights to break the grasp of Wooster's Anthony Wineman. The Knights will began competing in the Principals Athletic Conference in the 2028-29 academic/athletic school year.

Woods says that in case of any future realignment within the league, the PAC had always planned to stay at eight schools, which will still stand when West Holmes and Cloverleaf join in 2028. He added that "it seems to work best for football, so you don't have an open date rotating during the season."

As far as how talks first initiated, Woods says it was between West Holmes and Triway, one of the current schools in the PAC.

"Actually, it was Justin McDowell (Triway's Athletic Director), who is pretty good friends with Adam Brately, the AD at West Holmes," Woods said. "They've talked about this for awhile. West Holmes is starting to lose enrollment and they became the smallest school in the OCC. They were looking to try and improve their situation and that way at the same time get themselves in a competitive league."

With student enrollment at high schools across Ohio shrinking, Jurkovic said that finding a conference that more suits the size and enrollment of West Holmes was a priority.

"We have to be forward-thinking. As enrollment shifts, it’s important we align with schools of similar size so we can sustain strong programs long-term," he said.

"We felt they were a good fit both academically and athletically. Very similar school to our schools. They've had good volleyball teams. They've had good football teams. Triway has played them in their opening game for years now in football. That was their familiarity," said Woods, who compared league membership to being in a marriage. "Their size wasn't a major factor because they've loss a tremendous amount of enrollment like everyone else in Ohio has over the years.

"I was the AD at Northwestern and one year we graduated 287 kids. Last year, I think they graduated 175. The enrollment trend is declining and they became a small school in the OCC."

West Holmes football has been one of the school's top sports over the years.

With West Holmes — located in Millersburg — in East Holmes County and not much distance apart from Wayne County schools in the PAC like Triway and Orrville, the close proximity was also a key factor in switching conferences.

"Travel logistics are consistently a topic of discussion, particularly with our location, even within the OCC, resulting in some lengthy journeys," Jurkovic said.

"That has some impact on it. The fact that they became close geographically to Triway and Orrville, it helps eliminate a little bit of travel," Woods explained. "We looked at several schools. Fairless and Tuslaw moving really put the kibosh on the leagues. The EBC (Eastern Buckeye Conference) loss three of its members (Minerva, Marlington, Carrollton), so they went down to four teams. The IVC (Inter Valley Conference) loss three members in Tusky Valley, Claymont and Sandy Valley. When the dominos starting falling, they started falling."

In 2028, West Holmes, Triway, Orrville, Canton South, Cloverleaf, Coventry, Akron Manchester and Northwest are expected to be the eight member schools that make up the PAC.

jamessimpson@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Inside why West Holmes is leaving the Ohio Cardinal Conference