Marysville, Edgewood, and Grove City Top Ohio Preseason Rankings for 2026

By Michael McHargh, Ohio Contributor

Although Ada and Van Buren have already taken place, this weekend marks the start of the season for a large majority of Ohio choirs so it seems the perfect time to kick off the rankings for 2026. 

Three regional experts were surveyed. The results, plus some news and notes, are included below.

Large Mixed

1. Marysville "Swingers Unlimited" (2 first-place votes)

2. Solon "Music in Motion" (1 first-place vote)

3. Fairfield "Choraliers"

4. Grove City "Touch of Class"

5. Loveland "By Request"

6. Piqua "The Company"

7. Findlay "First Edition"

8. Olentangy "Keynotes"

9. ETC "All Americans"

10. Beavercreek "Friends"

Yet again, Marysville leads the pack going into the season with the undefeated power of Solon and resurgent Fairfield trailing close behind. Marysville has continued to reign supreme in Ohio and have only lost to national powers like Center Grove and the California Big Three (Burbank, John Burroughs, and Los Alamitos) in recent years. Solon came into the scene swinging hard last year with a win at Beavercreek. Their momentum from that weekend carried them through the rest of the season to earn four more wins.

Rounding out the top three is Fairfield, who had a couple of rougher seasons after the pandemic but turned things around in 2025 to have one of their most successful seasons in recent history. Although they took it on the chin from Solon and Marysville throughout the season, they were the only choir to keep West Virginia power Hurricane from an undefeated season. Just behind the podium is Grove City, who had one of their best seasons on record, and Loveland, who ran a tough season in 2025 that resulted in their first winless season since 2010. 

At this point, the following competitive schedules and competition lineups have been released, indicating a slew of tough battles that will be sure to make waves:

1/17 - Beavercreek - Loveland vs. Solon vs. Piqua

1/24 - Winfield (WV) - ETC vs. Olentangy

1/31 - Olentangy - Fairfield vs. Loveland vs. Marysville

2/7 - Marion Harding - Beavercreek vs. Grove City

2/7 - Twinsburg - ETC vs. Marysville

2/14 - Loveland - Beavercreek vs. Fairfield vs. Marysville vs. Olentangy

2/21 - Hamilton - Grove City vs. Piqua

2/28 - Teays Valley - ETC vs. Piqua 

3/7 - Solon - Grove City vs. Findlay vs. Marysville

3/14 - Marysville - Beavercreek vs. ETC

Small Mixed

1. Edgewood "Choraliers" (2 first-place votes)

2. Euclid "Varsity Chorale"

3. Twinsburg "Great Expectations" (1 first-place vote)

4. Ross "Legacy"

5. Kenton "Top Twenty"

6. Teays Valley "Prominent Rendition"

7. North Royalton "Royal Harmony"

8. Garfield Heights "Music Express"

9. Alliance "Jet Setters"

10. Van Buren "The Association"

Receiving votes: Hamilton "Prestige", Buckeye Valley "Visions", Ada "Varsity Singers"

Edgewood holds strong their reign over the small mixed field in Ohio, having beat just about every choir in their division as well as a few Large Mixed choirs like Fairfield and Marion Harding in the past few years. Trailing behind Edgewood is a resurgent Euclid, who has quickly become not only a fan favorite but a very strong power in the scene. Just two seasons ago the group was struggling to make finals, but in 2025 a huge shift happened, leading to not only their first but three consecutive Grand Championships for their program. The last spot on the podium goes to Twinsburg, who has confidently settled into their groove as a smaller choir. They have continued their long history of success in a different way after the pandemic, but are still often at the top of their divisions and frequently earning finals appearances.

Trailing closely behind are Ross and Kenton, two consistently strong choirs who also continue to show some dominance in the Small Mixed territory. Ross has also had a very consistent run competitions in recent years, earning several finals appearances and winning Small Mixed competitions. Kenton started off very strong after the pandemic, winning multiple Grand Championships and consistently making finals, but more recent years have seen the competitive field get more dense and Kenton has fallen back because of that. 

Here are the intense matchups slated for Small Mixed:

1/24 - North Royalton - Alliance vs. Buckeye Valley vs. Edgewood vs. Garfield Heights vs. Kenton vs. Teays Valley vs. Van Buren

1/31 - Findlay - Kenton vs. North Royalton

2/7 - Walsh Jesuit - Edgewood vs. Euclid vs. Van Buren

2/14 - Homestead (IN) - North Royalton vs. Ross

2/14 - Medina - Euclid vs. Twinsburg

2/21 - Kenton - Teays Valley vs. Twinsburg vs. Van Buren

2/28 - Alliance - Alliance vs. North Royalton

3/7 - Fairfield - Ross vs. Teays Valley

3/7 - Solon - Edgewood vs. Euclid vs. North Royalton vs. Twinsburg

Single-Gender

1. Grove City "Class Act" (3 first-place votes)

2. Fairfield "Pure Elegance"

3. Marysville "Swingers Unlimited"

4. ETC "Rouge"

5. Loveland "Allure"

Of all of the battles that were had in 2025, the single-gender field was arguably one of the most tumultuous and ever-changing battles. Each week, a different womens choir came out on top, but the most consistent of all was Grove City. They have not lost to another Ohio womens choir since 2023 and they don’t plan on changing that statistic. 2025 saw them winning their division at all but one of their competitions, and even placing third overall amongst a tough West Virginia field. Second on the podium is Ohio’s oldest womens group, Fairfield. Although they took some tough losses throughout the season, they were still able to earn three finals appearances and divisional wins.

Closing out the top three is Ohio’s newest womens choir, Marysville, who had just about as good of an inaugural year that anyone could ask for. Two divisional wins and three out of four competitions resulting in finals appearances marks a fantastic start for this group and is very indicative of the program’s overall success. The next two closest groups are ETC and Loveland’s womens groups, who both had decent but not necessarily exceptional seasons. There’s lots of talent in the single-gender field and it seems to alternate every year, so 2026 could see a completely different leader by the very end.

Here are the intense match-ups slated for Single-Gender:

1/24 - Winfield (WV) - ETC vs. Olentangy

1/31 - Olentangy - Fairfield vs. Loveland vs. Marysville

2/7 - Twinsburg - ETC vs. Marysville

2/14 - Loveland - Fairfield vs. Marysville vs. Olentangy