AP State Poll Champions
The 2019 Columbus Grove Boys Basketball team is the only team in Columbus Grove's basketball programs to end a season with a perfect undefeated record with a record of 26-0. The Bulldogs would've played Rockford Parkway in the regional finals at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Columbus Grove vs. Rockford Parkway game and every other OHSAA playoff games at the time were also canceled, closing the state semi-finals and state finals altogether. The winner of the Columbus Grove vs. Rockford Parkway would've played the winner of the Richmond Heights vs. Lucas regional final game that would've been held in Canton. The Bulldogs also went undefeated in NWC play, going a perfect 8-0 in conference play and winning the season as a whole. However, the 2019 Bulldogs did not win the state championship, which would've been the first time, in Columbus Grove Boys and Girls basketball program history, that a basketball state championship came home to the small town in Putnam County. They did, however, get all the way to the state championship in the 2020-21 season, marking the second time in Columbus Grove basketball program history to make it all the way to the state championship, playing Botkins. Every person from both small towns were in attendance at UD Arena to watch Botkins beat Columbus Grove, 60-44 to win the state title. This wouldn't be the first time the Boys or Girls basketball programs have been to state, however. The girls basketball team only had 2 losses in the 2024-25 season, both losses being to Ottoville, who would make it to the state semi-finals, and Ottawa-Glandorf, who would make it to the regional finals. They would blow out the first 4 teams in the playoffs, those 4 teams being Ada, Wayne Trace, Crestview, and Margaretta all in order. They would skim out a close one at the Bluffton University gymnasium vs. Patrick Henry that would send them to state for the first time in Columbus Grove Girl's Basketball program history. The Bulldogs would play Minster in the Elida Fieldhouse in front of a packed-out crowd in an intense state semi-final game. The dynamic duo of senior Lauryn Auchmuty and junior Nichole Nesby would lead the Bulldogs past Minster in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. The whole community of Columbus Grove would travel down south to watch their Cinderella Bulldogs play Rootstown for the state title. Both teams would be playing for their first state title in both basketball programs history. Nichole Nesby would record a crazy double-double stat, scoring 13 points, but the crazy part is that she recorded a crazy 16 rebounds. Lauryn Auchmuty, in her final high school basketball game, would record points to cap off her majestic playoff performance and high school career, earlier in the season becoming the all-time leading scorer in Columbus Grove Basketball program history. [4]
Columbus Grove's main rival is the Bluffton Pirates, though the Pandora-Gilboa Rockets and Ada Bulldogs are also considered rivals. The school has been an active American football school since the early 1900s, and the majority of its seasons have been winning seasons. The school's mascot is the Bulldog, along with several other area schools.
The 2003 Columbus Grove Bulldog American football team won the school's first and only state title in football, having gone 15 wins and 0 losses, including its 28–26 win in Canton Stadium over the Marion Local Flyers. The Columbus Grove 2003 men's track and field team has a similar honor, having won the state championship in spring 2003. [6]
