Allen County Athletic Conference

Last updated

Allen County Athletic Conference
Founded1956
Region Indiana
Locations
Indiana (ACC).png

The Allen County Athletic Conference (ACAC) is a seven-member Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) conference. While all of its charter schools are and were located in Allen County, it also has member schools from Adams, Jay, and Wells counties. The ACAC, along with the Porter County Conference, are the only two county conferences left in existence.

Contents

History

The Allen County Athletic Conference began with nine schools in Allen County in 1956. [1] The schools were smaller, rural schools, with the exception of Elmhurst, the sole Fort Wayne school that wasn't included in the Fort Wayne City Series. The conference was hit hard by consolidation, and the nine original schools were down to four by the 1968 season (and two of those were new consolidations). The conference responded by going outside county borders by admitting Norwell (itself a newly consolidated school) in 1967, followed by Adams Central, Churubusco, and Eastside in 1968. The rebooted conference now expanded well outside of the Allen County footprint, including schools from Adams, DeKalb, Wells, and Whitley counties. All of the schools now sponsored football, and competition in that sport began in 1969.

The conference went to a two division format in 1971 with the addition of new school Homestead and Southern Wells. That format ended in 1975, as Homestead left for the Northeastern Indiana Athletic Conference, followed by Eastside leaving for the Northeast Corner Conference in 1980. The breakup of the NEIAC in 1989 led to a wide-scale realignment of conferences in Northeast Indiana, as schools looked to realign themselves with rivals of similar enrolments. The ACAC became the home for mid-sized schools, while the Northeast Corner housed small schools, and the newly formed Northeast Hoosier Conference became the stable for the largest non-Fort Wayne schools. Carroll and Norwell left that year for the NEHC, while Churubusco left for the NECC. They were replaced by NEIAC schools Bluffton and South Adams. Garrett, becoming too large for the Northeast Corner, moved to the Allen County league in 2005.

Jay County joined the conference beginning with the 2014–15 school year. [2] However, the conference shrank down to seven schools in 2015, as Garrett moved to the Northeast Corner Conference in 2014, and Leo joined six of the eight Northeast Hoosier Conference high schools in a new conference (Northeast 8) in 2015. [3] [4]

Membership

Current members

SchoolLocationMascotColorsEnrollment
24–25		 IHSAA Class/
Football Class		CountyYear joinedPrevious conference
Adams
Central 1		 Monroe Flying Jets  4082A/2A 01
Adams 		1965 Eastern Wabash Valley
Bluffton Bluffton Tigers  5072A/2A 90
Wells 		1989 Northeastern Indiana
Heritage Monroeville Patriots   6163A/3A 02
Allen 		1968none (new school)
Jay County Portland Patriots   8003A/3A 38
Jay 		2014Independents (Olympic 2010)
South
Adams 		Berne Starfires   3572A/1A 01
Adams 		1989 Northeastern Indiana
Southern
Wells 		Poneto Raiders   2521A/1A 90
Wells 		1971Independents
Woodlan 2 Woodburn Warriors  5182A/3A 02
Allen 		1956independents
  1. Adams Central played in the ACAC and the EWVC concurrently for 1965–66, the final year for the EWVC.
  2. Woodlan was known as Woodburn before 1959.

Former members

SchoolLocationMascotColorsCountyYear joinedPrevious conferenceYear leftConference joined
Arcola Arcola Aces   02
Allen 		19561968none (consolidated into Carroll (FW))
Elmhurst Fort Wayne Trojans   02
Allen 		19561960 Northeastern Indiana
Harlan Harlan Hawks   02
Allen 		19561965none (consolidated into Woodlan)
Hoagland Hoagland Wildcats   02
Allen 		19561968none (consolidated into Heritage)
Huntertown Huntertown Wildcats   02
Allen 		19561968none (consolidated into Carroll (FW))
Lafayette Central 1 Nine Mile Pirates   02
Allen 		19561963none (consolidated into Roanoke)
Leo Leo Lions   02Allen 19562015 Northeast Eight
Monroeville Monroeville Cubs   02
Allen 		19561968none (consolidated into Heritage)
Ossian Ossian Bears    90
Wells 		1966 Eastern Wabash Valley 1967none (consolidated
into Norwell)
Norwell Ossian Knights    90
Wells 		1967none (new school)1989 Northeast Hoosier
Carroll
(Fort Wayne) 		Fort Wayne Chargers   02
Allen 		1968none (new school)1989 Northeast Hoosier
Churubusco Churubusco Eagles    92
Whitley 		1968Independents
(WCC 1958)		1989 Northeast Corner
Eastside Butler Blazers   17
DeKalb 		1968Independents
(SCC 1967)		1980 Northeast Corner
Homestead Fort Wayne Spartans    02
Allen 		1971none (new school)1975 Northeastern Indiana
Garrett Garrett Railroaders    17
DeKalb 		2005 Northeast Corner 2014 Northeast Corner
  1. Lafayette Central became part of Roanoke High School in 1963. Roanoke itself consolidated into Huntington North in 1966, taking Lafayette Township with it. The township then split off from HNHS to become part of Southwest Allen County Schools in 1971.

Membership timeline

Jay County High SchoolGarrett High SchoolSouth Adams Jr./Sr. High SchoolBluffton High School (Bluffton, Indiana)Southern Wells Jr/Sr High SchoolHomestead High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana)Heritage Junior-Senior High SchoolEastside Junior-Senior High SchoolChurubusco High SchoolCarroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana)Norwell High School (Indiana)Norwell High School (Indiana)Adams Central High SchoolWoodlan Junior/Senior High SchoolHeritage Junior-Senior High SchoolLeo Junior/Senior High SchoolHomestead High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana)Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana)Heritage Junior-Senior High SchoolWoodlan Junior/Senior High SchoolElmhurst High SchoolCarroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana)Allen County Athletic Conference

Division Format 1971-75

NorthSouth
ChurubuscoAdams Central
Fort Wayne CarrollHeritage
EastsideHomestead
LeoNorwell
WoodlanSouthern Wells
BoysGirls
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCross Country
Cross CountryGolf
FootballSoccer
GolfSoftball
SoccerSwimming
SwimmingTennis
TennisTrack & Field
Track & FieldVolleyball
Wrestling

Conference championships

Football

#TeamSeasons
14Adams Central1969, 1972 (S)*, 1981, 1994, 1995, 1997*, 1999, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
14Woodlan1970*, 1971 (N)*, 1972 (N, C), 1973 (N), 1974 (N, C)*, 1975, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989*, 1996, 2015, 2016
11Leo1971 (N)*, 1974 (N)*, 1977, 1997*, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012*, 2013, 2014
10Heritage1970*, 1972 (S)*, 1998, 2001, 2002*, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012*
6South Adams1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2019, 2020
5Norwell1971 (S, C), 1980, 1983, 1987, 1988
3Carroll (FW)1976, 1978, 1979
2Garrett2007, 2012*
2Homestead1973 (S), 1974 (S)
2Southern Wells2000, 2008
1Bluffton1989*
1Churubusco1971 (N)*
1Eastside1974 (N)*
0Jay County

Boys basketball

#TeamSeasons
24Leo1957, 1960, 1961, 1963*, 1964, 1966*, 1971, 1972, 1979*, 1980, 1993, 1994, 1995,
1998*, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005*, 2006, 2011*, 2013*, 2015
11Norwell1973, 1978*, 1979*, 1981*, 1982, 1983*, 1984*, 1986, 1987*, 1988
10Bluffton1998*, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009*, 2010, 2011*, 2013, 2016*, 2020
9Carroll (FW)1969, 1974, 1977, 1978*, 1981*, 1983*, 1984*, 1985, 1987*
5Jay County2016*, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023*
4Woodlan1996, 2007, 2014, 2017*
4Heritage2005*, 2009*, 2017*, 2021
3Southern Wells1975, 1976, 1992
3Adams Central2012, 2023*, 2024
1Huntertown1966*
1South Adams1997
0Arcola
0Churubusco
0Eastside
0Elmhurst
0Garrett
0Harlan
0Hoagland
0Homestead
0Lafayette Central
0Monroeville
0Ossian
0Woodburn

Girls basketball

#TeamSeasons
8Leo1978, 2001, 2002, 2004*, 2008*, 2010, 2012, 2013*
8Jay County2015, 2016, 2017*, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
5Garrett2006*, 2007, 2008*, 2011, 2014
5Southern Wells2004*, 2005*, 2006*, 2009, 2013
2Woodlan2005*, 2020
2Heritage2003, 2006*
1Norwell1976
1South Adams2017*
0Adams Central
0Bluffton
0Carroll (FW)
0Churubusco
0Eastside
0Homestead

Wrestling

#TeamSeasons
27Adams Central1975, 1978*, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987*, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
5Carroll (FW)1974, 1976, 1977, 1978*, 1987*
3Leo2003, 2007, 2014
3Woodlan1972, 1973, 2001
2Bluffton1999, 2002
2Garrett2009, 2010
2South Adams2008, 2011
0Churubusco
0Eastside
0Heritage
0Homestead
1Jay County2023
0Norwell
0Southern Wells

[5]

Only tournament champions listed.

State titles

Adams Central Flying Jets (2)

Bluffton Tigers (5)

Garrett Railroaders (1)

Heritage Patriots (1)

Leo Lions (1)

South Adams Starfires (1)

• Davona Runkel - Girls shot put (1986)

Southern Wells Raiders (1)

Woodlan Warriors (0)

References

  1. ↑ Elmhurst High School (1957). "Varsity Season". Anlibrun Yearbook. Fort Wayne, IN: 63. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Jay County Planning to Join ACAC in 2014". The Star Press. April 23, 2013. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Leo, Huntington North Join NHC Schools for New Conference". FortWayne.com. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Garrett Move to NECC Approved by School Board". Indiana News Center. May 21, 2013. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  5. ↑ "ACAC Wrestling History - IndianaMat". Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  6. ↑ https://www.wane.com/sports/dwayne-eskridge-runs-away-with-two-titles-at-ihsaa-state-championship/ [ bare URL ]
  7. ↑ "Randy Pursley".
  8. ↑ "Ben Sprunger".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.