Louisville High School (Ohio)

Louisville High School is a public high school located in Louisville, Ohio, USA. It is the only high school in the Louisville City School District. It serves all of the city of Louisville and the majority of the surrounding Nimishillen Township.

History

The first schoolhouse within Louisville was a one-room log cabin located on the corner of Nickelplate and Main Streets. It was built in the 1840s and was replaced by a two-room brick edifice in the 1850s. This new school was located on the northeast corner of Mill and Broad Streets. In 1872, Louisville's seat of learning was moved again to another two-room brick building, located upon South Chapel Street. Louisville's students moved to a larger, four-classroom building on the corner of Mill and Gorgas Street in 1876, where Louisville's current City Hall building now stands.^[1]

In 1924, Louisville High School again moved to a much larger campus, which included ten classrooms, an auditorium, a gymnasium, and a library. This school was located on the corner of Gorgas and Mill Streets, just down the street from the previously-used school building. A third floor was added to the building in 1930, and a bussing system for the students began in 1936. In 1949, the school built an addition which linked the school to the Louisville City School District Administration Building on Main Street. Louisville High School remained at this location until 1967, when it became solely a middle school.^[1] Louisville Middle School was housed within this building until 2004, when a new middle school was constructed on South Chapel Street. The old building was demolished in 2009.^[2]

The construction of Louisville High School's present campus commenced in 1964, and the new building opened in 1967. Additions and renovations to LHS occurred in 2004 and 2011.

Academics

Louisville was a 2008 Bronze Medal Winner of America's Best High Schools, given by the U.S. News & World Report.^[3]

Athletics

Louisville High School formed its first athletic club in 1916, and the boys' basketball team became a member of the Ohio High School Athletic Association in 1922. The OHSAA's records for the school's football team date back to the 1924 season.^[1][4]

Louisville's first conference membership was with the former Stark County League.^[5] In 1932, Louisville became a charter member of the Tri County League (which is now a part of the Inter-Tri County League).^[6] By 1938, Louisville's athletic teams had become known as the "Blue Raiders". Louisville adopted its current athletics nickname, the "Leopards", in 1948. The name change was due to problems with designing a Blue Raider mascot.^[1]

During the 1960s, the Louisville Leopards football team achieved a particularly high level of dominance. From the period of 1962–1966, the Leopards' record was 48-1-1. This includes an unbeaten streak of 38 games, which is still the fourteenth-longest in Ohio high school football history.^[7] These teams were led by head coaches Gaylord ("Hap") Lillick from 1962–1964 and Paul Starkey from 1965–1966. Star players included future Notre Dame and NFL running back Bob Gladieux and future Ohio State linebacker Mark Stier.

In order to find a more competitive league, Louisville High School left the Tri County League after the 1966–1967 school year,^[6] moving to the Federal League. When the league split into two divisions in 1988, the Leopards became a member of the National ("Small-School") Division.^[8] By this time, Louisville's sports teams had mostly begun to struggle against Federal League competition, as their enrollment was among the smallest of the league's schools. Thus, Louisville High School decided to leave the Federal League for their current sports league, the Northeastern Buckeye Conference (which, at the time, was newly formed). However, due to league scheduling commitments, the Leopard sports teams did not begin NBC league play until 1990.^[9] On February 5, 2016, it was announced that the Northeastern Buckeye Conference will disband, as all of Louisville's league rivals agreed to form a new league (the Eastern Buckeye Conference) without Louisville, starting with the 2018–2019 school year.^[10][11] At that time, Louisville's athletic teams will compete independent of a league.^[12]

• As of the end of the 2015 season, Louisville High School's football team was the twenty-fourth winningest high school program in the state of Ohio.^[7] Their 600th win came in a 51-0 win over West Branch on October 3, 2014.^[13] As of the end of the 2015 season, the Leopards' all-time record stands at 614 wins, 275 losses, and 36 ties.^[4]

Rivalries

Louisville High School maintains long-standing sports rivalries with the North Canton Hoover Vikings and the Minerva High School Lions. Louisville and Hoover were Federal League-mates from 1968 until 1989. Louisville and Minerva were both charter Tri County League members in 1932, and remained league rivals until 1967. When the Leopards joined the NBC in 1990, Louisville and Minerva once again became leaguemates, to which they remain to this day.

Louisville and Hoover have played every year in football since 1924, with the Leopards leading the all-time series, 55-34-5.^[14] Louisville and Minerva's football rivalry also dates back to 1924. For many years, the two teams met during the tenth, and final, week of the OHSAA football regular season. The Leopards also lead that series, 64-20-5.^[15]

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships

• Boys cross country – 2010^[16]

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Runner-up

• Football – 2007^[16]

League Champions

• Boys Cross Country
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1970
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
• Girls Cross Country
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016
• Football
  • Stark County League – 1921, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929
  • Tri County League – 1938, 1941, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1971, 1972, 1974,1977, 1978, 1981
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015
• Boys Golf
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2007, 2008, 2014
• Girls Golf
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
• Girls Soccer
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2012, 2013, 2016
• Girls Tennis
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 1990, 1991, 1992, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
• Girls Volleyball
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1986, 1988
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 1989, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016
• Boys Basketball
  • Tri County League – 1934, 1942, 1948, 1956, 1965
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1982
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015
• Wrestling
  • Tri County League – 1967
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1974
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 1995, 1997
• Baseball
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1976, 1977, 1978, 1988
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 1995, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011
• Softball
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
• Boys Tennis
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1979, 1983, 1985
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 1990, 1991, 1992, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
• Boys Track
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1973
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2011, 2014
• Girls Track
  • Federal League (OHSAA) – 1980
  • Northeastern Buckeye Conference – 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015

Arts

OMEA State Marching Band Competition

• The Louisville High School Marching Band ("The Pride of Louisville") has qualified and participated in the OMEA State Finals for over twenty years, with a record of 14 Superior (I) and 7 Excellent (II) ratings.^[17]

Notable alumni

• Dr. Samuel W. Speck: member of Ohio House of Representatives; member of Ohio Senate; Associate Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); President, Muskingum College; Director, Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
• Don Atkinson, Broadway actor. Appeared in twenty Broadway plays, including Sail Away, Mr. President, which he also performed in front of Presidents Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. He directed and produced his own off-Broadway show, The Red Robin Review, than ran for one summer. Atkinson later became an actor upon several soap operas, including The Doctors and Love of Life. He also appeared upon numerous national commercial spots, including for Dannon^[1]
• Bob Gladieux, former NFL running back for the Boston/New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills from 1969–1972. Gladieux also played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL in 1973, and the New York Stars/Charlotte Hornets of the former World Football League from 1974–1975. Prior to his NFL career, Gladieux was a three-year letterman for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 1966–1968, including the 1966 National Championship team. That year, Gladieux scored the Irish's only touchdown in the "Game of the Century" versus Michigan State. He also was named an honorable mention Parade All-American as a senior. Gladieux was charter member of the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame, which was established in 2002. His 3,469 rushing yards at LHS remain the tenth-most by any Stark County high school football player.^{[18][19][20][21]}
• Ken Kuhn, four-year letter-winning linebacker for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 1972–1975. Kuhn was also named to the Scholastic All-Big Ten team during his junior and senior seasons, and was a Buckeyes senior captain. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round in 1976, but retired in 1977 without ever playing in an NFL regular season game due to knee and shoulder injuries. Kuhn was a 2006 inductee of the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame.^[22][23]
• Mark Stier, three-year starting linebacker for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 1966–1968, including for the 1968 National Championship team. Stier was a Buckeyes captain in 1968, and earned the honor of being the team MVP, as well as being named an Academic All-American and Academic All-Big Ten (a distinction he also earned in 1966). He was inducted into the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame in 2009.^[24]
• Kyle Smith, former Minor League Baseball right-handed pitcher from 2009–2010. Smith was a three-year letter-winner for the Kent State Golden Flashes baseball team from 2006–2008, as the Flashes won Mid-American Conference league titles during each of those three years. He also won All-MAC Tournament Team honors in 2007, and All-MAC and All-Midwest Region accolades in 2008. The Cleveland Indians drafted him in the 20th Round in 2009, and he played for the Tribe's class A-Short Season affiliate, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, from 2009–2010.^[25] After retiring in 2010 due to an arm injury, Smith returned to Kent State, and became the Golden Flashes' assistant pitching coach. In 2012, he helped Kent State reach the College World Series. In 2013, Smith was the pitching coach for the Malone University Pioneers.^[26] He was then the pitching coach for his alma mater's rival, the University of Akron Zips, from 2014 to July 2015, when the university dropped its baseball program.^[27]
• Nathan DeGasperis, 4 year letter-winner in football at West Liberty University. Drafted first overall in the AIFL draft by the Erie Freeze. Won an arena league championship as a player for the Canton Legends in 2006. After retirement, he led the Marion Mayhem to their first-ever CIFL playoff appearance and win in 2009 as the Mayhem's Head Coach and General Manager.

Notes and references

External links

• Official website