March Comes In Like A Lion in Ohio With Showdowns at Fairfield and Solon

March is coming in like a lion in Ohio, as two major competitions at Fairfield and Solon kick off the second-to-last weekend of the Buckeye State’s show choir scene. 

Last Weekend’s Results: 

• Alliance - Euclid showed that they remain at or near the top of Ohio Small Mixed with a sweep at Royal Aviation. Scranton’s trip from PA paid off with a nice 2nd place finish, while North Royalton rounded out the podium in 3rd. Van Buren placed 4th (their 3rd finals appearance this season), beating Kenton, who took 5th. River Valley rounded out finals in 6th place. 

• Grove City - As expected, Hurricane swept both Mixed and Single Gender at this year’s Voices in the Grove. Shepherd Hill showed New England’s prowess with 2nd place finishes in both divisions, while Lebanon placed 3rd, their best finish of the season. Norwood placed 4th and Mayfield placed 5th. 

• Ross - Marysville proved once again that they are Ohio’s top dog with a win and Best Visuals at the Legacy Championship. Solon proved that they are also near the top, placing 2nd and taking Best Vocals off SU. Fairfield placed 3rd, probably their best result so far this season, while Loveland placed 4th. Fairfield’s women’s group won a stacked Single Gender division in the daytime on their way to a 5th place finish in finals. Pendleton Heights (IN) won the Small Mixed division. 

• Teays Valley - Piqua finished their season with a win and Best Vocals at Teays Valley. Olentangy showed some improvement at this competition, placing 2nd and taking Best Visuals, while ETC placed 3rd. In Middle/Small Mixed finals, Winfield took the GC and Best Visuals, while Buckeye Valley placed 2nd with Best Vocals and Hamilton placed 3rd. In Single Gender finals, Winfield’s women’s group continued their remarkable 2026 run with a win and Best Vocals, while ETC Rouge took 2nd with Best Visuals. 

Now for this weekend’s competitions. 

Fairfield Crystal Classic - 

Large Mixed - Millard West (NE) “Swing Cats,” Loveland “By Request,” Plainfield (IN) “Belles et Beaux,” Zionsville (IN) “Royalaires,” Brandon (MS) “Brio,” Millard West (NE) “West In the Groove” 

Middle Mixed - Teays Valley “Prominent Rendition,” Ross “Legacy” 

Small Mixed - Buckeye Valley “Visions,” Whitehall-Yearling “Music Unlimited,” Norwood “The Silhouettes,” Middletown “Purple Pizzazz,” West Jessamine (KY) “Dually Noted,” Tarpon Springs (FL) “Syndicated Sound” 

Large Single Gender - Loveland “Allure,” Plainfield (IN) “Femmes Fatales,” Millard West (NE) “Uptown,” Zionsville (IN) “Choralaires,” Brandon (MS) “Bellas” 

Small Single Gender - West Jessamine (KY) “Fortissima” 

This Large Mixed division is one of the most stacked in the country this year, though only one group is from Ohio. Loveland will be looking to recover from falling to their old rival, Fairfield, last weekend, but they have their work cut out for them in this tough division. Two groups will be representing Indiana at the Crystal Classic: Plainfield, who have been toward the back of the pack in Indianapolis so far this season, and Zionsville. The Royalaires placed 2nd and took Best Vocals at Fairfield last year, and they’ll be looking to improve on that performance; given their good performance so far this season, only having lost to Center Grove, they’re definitely a contender to win this year. Millard West will be making the trip from Omaha, NE, bringing Swing Cats, their prep group, and West in the Groove, their varsity choir. WIG has had a slight down year in 2026, falling to top local and regional groups like Westside, Gretna, and Urbandale, but they have taken the Visuals caption at multiple competitions and could definitely do so here. Finally, Brandon will be traveling to Fairfield from central Mississippi. Brio has done well in the South this season, only losing to Clinton, but questions do remain about their performance outside the region after their 5th place finish at Chesterton. 

Middle Mixed has twice as many Ohio groups as Large Mixed, with the division featuring a pair of Ohio groups. Ross is one of the best smaller groups in Ohio, and their results this season (including a win in a tough Small Mixed field at Homestead and a 2nd place overall finish at South Dearborn) show that; they’re probably the favorites to win this division. The other Ohio group is Teays Valley, who looks to come back from an abnormally low finish at Kenton with a good performance here.

Small Mixed is quite the stacked division at the Crystal Classic. One of the favorites in this division will be Buckeye Valley, who have won their division at 2 of their 3 competitions this season (they won the Vocals caption at all 3); they’ll be looking to end their season on a high note after their loss to Winfield last weekend. Norwood is another potential contender; they’ve made overall finals at 2 competitions so far this season and could definitely make waves here. West Jessamine, making the trip up from Kentucky, is yet another potential contender; they beat Norwood at Loveland, where they won the Small Mixed division, and had good results at their other two competitions. Look for Dually Noted to end their season on a high note at the Crystal Classic. A shoutout must also be given to Tarpon Springs, coming to this competition from the Tampa, FL, area (making them the farthest-traveling group here). They did well in the smallest mixed division at Petal two weeks ago, and another good performance is not out of the question here. There is a Small Single Gender division as well; the only group competing is West Jessamine’s women’s group, who has struggled to content with much larger single gender groups this season.

Finally, there is the Large Single Gender division. Like their mixed group, Loveland Allure will be Ohio’s sole representative in the division; they’ve made overall finals twice this season and are coming off a tough weekend that saw them fall to Marysville and Fairfield at Ross, which may give them extra motivation to do well here. Indiana will have two groups in Single Gender: Plainfield and Zionsville. Plainfield’s women’s group has seen some tough competition in Indianapolis this season, but they did beat Brownsburg to make finals at Franklin Central last weekend; a good result is certainly not out of the question here, particularly given the comparatively weaker field. The Zionsville Choralaires, meanwhile, enter as perhaps the favorites to win the division; they knocked off the Center Grove Debtones, one of the top women’s groups nationally, earlier this season at a controversial Pike MusicFest, and placed on the overall podium last weekend at Sullivan, showing their prowess. Nebraska will be represented by Millard West Uptown, who have done quite well locally this season, even making finals at PLV South. Mississippi will be represented by the Brandon Bellas, who have made overall finals twice this season but, like Brio, have struggled against tough competition outside the South. 

There are three separate finals at the Fairfield Crystal Classic. Small Mixed/Single Gender finals will take five groups in the auditorium. It’s tough to predict which combination of five groups will make the finals, beyond saying that Buckeye Valley is a strong favorite to make the evening round. Large Single Gender will take three finalists in the arena; like in Small Mixed, it’s difficult to predict which combination of three groups will make it, beyond saying that Zionsville is a strong favorite. Finally, Large/Medium Mixed finals will take five groups in the arena These finals are probably easiest to predict, with Loveland, Millard West, Brandon, Zionsville, and Plainfield being the favorites from the Large Mixed Division; still, a middle mixed group making finals is impossible to rule out.

Solon Show Choir Invitational - 

Large Mixed - Findlay “First Edition,” Marysville “Swingers Unlimited,” Grove City “Touch of Class” 

Middle Mixed - Edgewood “Choraliers,” Garfield Heights “Music Express,” Mayfield “Limited Edition,” Medina “Encore Entertainment Company,” North Royalton “Royal Harmony,” Twinsburg “Great Expectations” 

Small Mixed - Mentor “Top 25,” Walsh Jesuit “Harmony Gold,” Ada “Varsity Singers,” Euclid “Varsity Chorale” 

Single Gender - Twinsburg “Blue Harmony,” Grove City “Class Act,” Marysville “Swingers Select” 

Despite only being three groups, the Large Mixed lineup at this year’s Solon SCI manages to pack a punch. The headline battle will be between Findlay and Marysville; Findlay is undefeated so far this season, with sweeping wins at Medina and DeKalb, while Marysville has put together three straight GCs at Twinsburg, Loveland, and Ross, beating several top Ohio groups in the process. Both groups have faced and beaten Solon, the host group - Findlay swept them at Medina, while Marysville beat them with Best Visuals last weekend at Ross - so some predictive insight may come from those results. The other Large Mixed group is Grove City, who are no slouches themselves; they’ll be looking to end their season on a high note with a strong placement here. 

The Middle Mixed division is just as exciting as Large, with several of Ohio’s top small groups competing. Of special note in this division is Garfield Heights, who have done well competitively this year; this competition will be director Stephen Pernod’s last after 24 years with the program, so watch out for them to finish strong. They’ll face tough competition from North Royalton, who have only placed behind Solon, Ross, Euclid, and Scranton so far this season, as well as Twinsburg, who have made finals at each of their competitions so far in 2026. The Edgewood Choraliers are also a group to watch here; though they’ve had a somewhat down year, making finals only once and placing behind several of the groups here. However, it's not out of the question that they put their best foot forward to finish their season strong. 

The clear favorite in the Small Mixed division will be Euclid, in their last competitive appearance of 2026. Euclid has beaten every small group they’ve faced so far this season (including Mentor and Ada from this division as well as every group besides Twinsburg in Middle Mixed) and show no signs of slowing down. The Single Gender division will feature an interesting matchup between Grove City and Marysville’s women’s groups. Both are among the top Single Gender groups in Ohio - Class Act has made finals at all of their competitions so far this season, while Swingers Select has beaten most of the major Ohio women’s groups. The pair has not faced each other yet this season, making this quite an interesting matchup. 

SSCI will take six mixed finalists (single gender groups are not eligible for finals here). The three groups in Large Mixed - Marysville, Findlay, and Grove City - are likely locks for finals, leaving three spots for Middle and Small Mixed groups. Of those groups, the most likely contenders are North Royalton, Garfield Heights, Euclid, and Twinsburg, though another group from these divisions could pull the upset and make the evening round.