Teays Valley, Logan eager to prove worth with OCC
Since his team has never shied away from tough competition, Teays Valley wrestling coach Todd Nace wasn’t fazed by the news the school would move from the MSL to the OCC beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
“Our whole premise of (facing elite programs from around the state) is that we get used to that competition,” said Nace, who is in his 21st season as head coach and 28th in the program. “In our league now, (the Msl-buckeye Division), we don’t wrestle anybody until the league tournament. We wrestle everybody in central Ohio already. Outside of central Ohio, we wrestle in big tournaments. We’ve been doing this since 1994 and competing with everybody in Columbus.”
Along with Logan, the pair of additions will increase OCC membership to 34 schools and expand the geographic footprint of central Ohio’s largest conference.
They will compete in the Occ-buckeye in what will be the conference’s first expansion not involving first-year schools since 1997, when Big Walnut, Lancaster and Olentangy were added along with the newly opened Hilliard Darby.
The final vote to admit Teays Valley and Logan was 28-4, and the two district’s school boards accepted their invitations in mid-november.
Joining Logan and Teays Valley in the Occ-buckeye will be Canal Winchester, Groveport Madison, Lancaster, Newark, Pickerington Central and Reynoldsburg. Featuring schools east and southeast of Columbus, it’s the best fit geographically of the OCC’S five divisions, even though Reynoldsburg is about 50 miles from Logan, and Newark is about 50 miles from Teays Valley.
As part of the expansion, Central Crossing will move from the Occ-buckeye to OCC-OHIO and Westland will move from the OCC-OHIO to Occ-capital. The Occ-cardinal and Occ-central won’t change.
The OCC will feature two eight-team divisions (Buckeye and Capital) and three six-team divisions (Cardinal, Central and Ohio).
Logan and Teays Valley compete in Division II for football and Division I in all other sports.
“I looked at our OCC (division), and we probably would have won that league the last four, five years,” Nace said.
The wrestling team has won 17 MSL titles and produced 68 state qualifiers, including 19 state placers.
The Teays Valley softball team also has enjoyed success against elite competition, highlighted by winning the Division I state title in 2015.
“With any change comes new challenges, but also new opportunities,” said coach Derrick Hastler. “It’s excellent for our kids . ... We schedule OCC teams pretty regularly. The division we’re in is a competitive division . ... We’re hoping to continue our success.”
Joel Baker, in his third year as athletic director at Teays Valley, previously served as a junior varsity girls basketball coach at Central Crossing and Lancaster.
“It’s been a long time in the making, so we’re pretty pumped with the prospect of moving over (to the OCC),” he said. “It took people in the community a long time to understand how big we are and how much we’re growing and how much bigger we are than schools in our league right now. That’s where the timing was great for us. Our community was ready for this type of change.”
Growing populations in both areas, along with recently added fieldhouses, worked in the favor of Logan and Teays Valley in their latest bids to join the OCC, according to OCC commissioner Ken Baker.
Lisa Morelli, who was named athletic director at Logan in June, is eager for the move. Other than bowling and soccer, the programs at Logan have played an independent schedule since the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League folded in 2017.
Logan is one of two Division I schools in the Southeast District along with Chillicothe.
“It will be a great move for our kids,” Morelli said. “It really hit me when our kids didn’t have all-league awards. There was nothing to play for, no league title. No identity.
“We have a couple of rivalries, but they’re here and there. We don’t have true league rivalries because our schedules are mix and match. I’m excited to watch our kids grow and get into the OCC.”
Logan’s boys basketball coach is Chris Rider, who coached at Reynoldsburg for 15 seasons before resigning in 2012. He won five OCC-OHIO championships with the Raiders while going 218115.
“We’ve been without a league and getting in the OCC, which is a premier league in Ohio, everybody is excited about it,” he said.