From Columbus to the Coast, Ohio Leaves January and Flies into February

By Simon Zimmerman, Ohio contributor

Loveland By Request performs earlier this season at Beavercreek. PHOTO: Nathan Ensley / @nensley.photography

Last weekend saw two great competitions take place at Olentangy and Findlay, pitting several top Ohio groups against each other. That trend continues this week, as some groups start their seasons while others look to continue past success at Marion Harding, Twinsburg, and Walsh Jesuit.  

Findlay FEst Final Results

GC: Solon “Music in Motion” (BV/BC) 

1RU: North Royalton “Royal Harmony” 

2RU: Piqua “The Company” 

3RU: Marion Harding “Harding Singers” 

4RU: Hamilton “Prestige” 

5RU: Medina “Encore Entertainment Company” 

Solon’s win at Findlay FEst extended their current winning streak to seven straight GCs, and taking both major caption awards left no doubt that they were the top group here. However, MIM’s win wasn’t the biggest eye-catcher in these results; that honor goes to North Royalton upsetting Piqua to earn second place. North Royalton - a small mixed group - has seen a steady rise these past few seasons, culminating in their first-ever GC last year. Their victory over Piqua signals that the rise is continuing, and with it they are in contention to beat even good large mixed groups like Piqua, which should be welcome news for Royal Harmony and fans. 

Marion Harding’s placement in fourth shows that they likely will hold their usual position towards the middle of Ohio show choir for the 2026 season; they beat every small mixed group not named North Royalton, as well as Hamilton and Lebanon, which counts for something. Hamilton, for their part, finished fifth; making finals here is a nice step up from missing the evening round at Beavercreek. Medina finished as the second-best small mixed group of the day and sixth place overall, beating out persistent contender Kenton. The last few years haven’t been kind to EEC, but perhaps their finish here indicates that they’re on the upswing. 

Olentangy Keynote Classic Final Results 

Mixed

GC: Center Grove “Sound System” (BV/BC) 

1RU: Marysville “Swingers Unlimited” 

2RU: Loveland “By Request” 

3RU: Fairfield “Choraliers” 

4RU: Twinsburg “Great Expectations” 

Womens

1st: Center Grove “Debtones” (BV/BC) 

2nd: Fairfield “Pure Elegance” 

3rd: Marysville “Swingers Select” 

Small Mixed winner: Teays Valley “Prominent Rendition” 

Center Grove’s victory in both divisions here shouldn’t surprise anyone; they’re one of the top show choir programs in the country, with both Sound System and Debtones having gone undefeated in 2025, and their top placements here position them well for another dominant season. Marysville’s second-place finish here sets them up well for another season near the top of Ohio, a spot they’ve maintained almost every season for several years. Loveland, meanwhile, proved that their third-place finish with Best Choreography at Beavercreek wasn’t a fluke, beating out Fairfield to earn another podium finish here. By now, it’s probably safe to say that 2026 will be a much better season for By Request than 2025.

In Swomens, the Debtones took the top spot in both the daytime and finals rounds, but Marysville and Fairfield did flip between second and third between prelims and finals. Pure Elegance has long been one of Ohio’s best single-gender groups, and if their finish here is any indication, that’s probably going to continue. This season is also looking good for Marysville’s women’s group, now in their second season of competition, who managed to make finals in a decently tough field. Of note is the fact that Loveland Allure did not make womens finals two weeks after winning Beavercreek’s division and making overall finals; this is likely attributable to the tougher competition at Olentangy, but it may be a warning sign for the rest of Allure’s season. Of note as well is Teays Valley Prominent Rendition, who won the small mixed division in a close caption-split decision over perennial good group Martinsburg; Teays Valley might be making a comeback this year after a string of disappointing seasons. 

Now for the competitions that will be taking place in Ohio this weekend. 

Marion Harding Singsational Lineup

Large Mixed: Beavercreek “Friends,” Olentangy “Keynotes,” Grove City “Touch of Class” 

Small Mixed: River Valley “Music Company,” Elgin “Energizers,” Perrysburg “The Swarm,” Norwood “The Silhouettes” 

Womens: Olentangy “She-Notes,” Grove City “Class Act”

Marysville will not be attending Singsational this year to defend their four straight wins at the competition, leaving a hole in Marion Harding’s usual lineup. Still, even without them, it should still be an interesting event. The biggest story will be Grove City’s 2026 competition debut; they have a win at Ada’s November Music Feast to their name already this season, and they might be the favorites to add another here. This will also be Olentangy’s first competition of the season - their planned debut at Winfield was cancelled due to winter weather - and their placement here will be a good indicator of where they stand relative to other middle of the pack Ohio groups. Beavercreek placed fourth last weekend at Edgewood, but they were the top Ohio group there; they’ve historically been in the middle of the pack in Ohio, but they could potentially make some noise here. The small mixed and womens divisions at Singsational could be interesting. The four Small Mixed groups often fly under the radar in Ohio’s strong small mixed scene, so it will be interesting to see how they are in relation to each other. Grove City’s womens group, meanwhile, is usually pretty strong, but the She-Notes have improved over the past few seasons, so this could be quite the even matchup. 

Twinsburg Northcoast Invitational Lineup

Large Mixed: ETC “All Americans,” Hurricane (WV) “Red Hot,” Marysville “Swingers Unlimited” 

Small Mixed: Bedford “Roarin’ Resonance,” Cuyahoga Valley Christian “Royal Vision,” Mayfield “Limited Edition,” Jefferson (WV) “Pop Singers,” Martinsburg (WV) “Good Times” 

Womens: Marysville “Swingers Select,” ETC “Rouge,” Martinsburg (WV) “GLITZ”

This year’s Northcoast Invitational is definitely going to be one for the books. Marysville is the likely favorite to win the competition; though they got swept by Center Grove last weekend, they were the top Ohio group there, and their show (featuring an interesting design themed around reptiles) is of a similar quality to the past few seasons, which have seen them do quite well. The more interesting matchup in Large Mixed is going to be ETC vs Hurricane. ETC’s 2025 season didn’t go quite the way they probably would have liked; however, they have a good second-place finish at Northrop (behind Fort Wayne standout Carroll) to their name this season, a potential indicator of better things to come in 2026. Hurricane, meanwhile, has had a rough 2026 season so far; after starting their season placing fifth at Beavercreek (their first time off the podium since 2017), Red Hot fell to Roncalli last weekend at Edgewood, though they did manage to take Best Choreography. In other words, both ETC and Hurricane have seen recent difficulties, and they’ll be looking to turn corners at this competition. 

Small mixed is going to be an exciting division at Northcoast Invitational as well, not least because it will be the debut of a new group - Bedford Roarin’ Resonance - onto the Ohio scene. They’ll join Cuyahoga Valley Christian (who made their competitive debut last season) as well as steadily rising Mayfield in representing Ohio in this division. The two West Virginia groups are probably the favorites for the top two slots; Martinsburg will be out to prove their loss to Teays Valley at Olentangy last weekend was a fluke, while Jefferson will look to continue the streak of finals placements that they began in 2025. The matchup between Marysville and ETC in single-gender will be interesting to watch as well. Marysville’s womens group beat Loveland Allure, one of Ohio’s stronger womens groups, last weekend and was within striking distance of Fairfield Pure Elegance. Rouge, meanwhile, started their season on the second step of the podium at Northrop, getting swept by Carroll Select Sound, but they will have a chance to right the ship here by beating Marysville. 

Walsh Jesuit Great Lakes Invitational Lineup

Large Mixed: Euclid “Varsity Chorale,” Edgewood “Choraliers,” Medina “Encore Entertainment Company,” Garfield Heights “Music Express”

Small Mixed: Van Buren “The Association,” Alliance “Jet Setters,” Strongsville “Mustang Express” 

Womens: Alliance “Aviatrix” 

The Great Lakes Invitational is a competition for groups that normally compete in small mixed, despite the individual division names. The large mixed division only features four groups, but each one of them packs a punch. Euclid was Ohio’s hottest small mixed group last season, rattling off three straight wins, including at Walsh Jesuit; this season, VC has a second-place finish (behind Piqua) at Van Buren to their name, but they’ll be looking for another win here. To get it, they’ll have to beat Edgewood; the Choraliers have traditionally been one of the top small groups in Ohio, though this is their first competition, which might open up the possibility of beating them. Garfield Heights has a win at North Royalton over several good small mixed groups to their name this season, which indicates that they are solidly in contention here as well. Finally, Medina did make finals last weekend at Findlay and seem generally improved from last season; they are also not out of the running at this competition. All three of the groups in small mixed, meanwhile, competed at North Royalton two weekends ago, where Alliance took third, Van Buren fifth, and Strongsville sixth; it will be interesting to see if those placements replicate themselves at Walsh Jesuit.