Solon Takes Top Honors at Beavercreek in No-Caption Win to Begin Ohio Season
- Simon Zimmerman
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
By Simon Zimmerman, Ohio contributor
Last weekend, many groups from Ohio and neighboring states began their seasons at the 2026 Beavercreek Midwest Show Choir Classic. Solon Music in Motion won the competition, extending their winning streak to six straight competitions, with Noblesville and Loveland taking Vocals and Choreography, respectively. In small mixed, Bishop Dwenger Summit Sound took top honors, while Loveland Allure won the womens division on their way to a finals berth.
Small Mixed Results
1st: Bishop Dwenger “Summit Sound”
2nd: West Jessamine “Dually Noted”
3rd: South Dearborn Opening Knight”
4th: Benjamin Logan “Standing Ovation”
There are several interesting stories in this division, despite it only being four groups. The most prominent is likely West Jessamine; though they are no longer Kentucky’s only show choir program, they have been on a steady rise these past few seasons. They seem to be continuing in that direction in 2026; despite having only 16 performers, they beat two groups over twice their size - including South Dearborn Opening Knight, who had won small mixed at Beavercreek for three years running before last weekend. Dually Noted should be incredibly proud of both their show and their placement here, which bodes well for the rest of their season.
None of this should obscure Bishop Dwenger Summit Sound, who won the small mixed division on their first trip outside Indiana since 2023 with a show themed around pirates. Summit Sound competes mostly in the tough Fort Wayne scene, which is filled with good small mixed groups; still, their win here should boost their confidence as they continue their 2026 campaign.
Womens Division Results
1st: Loveland “Allure”
2nd: Noblesville “New Dimension”
3rd: Hurricane “Heat Wave”
4th: West Jessamine “Fortissima”
The showdown of four states ended with a victory for Ohio, as Loveland Allure took top honors in the division with a show about women working in a car shop. This victory didn’t exactly come as a surprise - Allure has always been a dangerous group, capable of beating just about any Ohio women’ group (and several from outside Ohio) on a good day - but it is impressive. Noblesville New Dimension, whose show is themed around the movie Sister Act, got a good second-place result, which should serve as a good stepping stone as they move into a tough string of competitions. Hurricane Heat Wave rounded out the podium in third; this is perhaps unsurprising, given that this was about half of the group’s first show choir competition. Still, their show (themed to a bank heist) was well-received, and they will likely only get better from here as performers grow more confident.
Large Mixed Preliminary Results
1st: Solon “Music in Motion”
2nd: Noblesville “NHS Singers”
3rd: Loveland “By Request”
4th: Piqua “The Company”
5th: Hurricane “Red Hot”
6th: Hamilton “Prestige”
7th: Lebanon “Singers”
The daytime large mixed top three were the same in 2025 as in 2026; though Solon and Noblesville’s spots at the top likely came as unsurprising to most, Loveland’s placing third might have come off as shocking to some after their disappointing 2025 season or as a source of dread to those who remembered Loveland’s fall to fifth in finals at Beavercreek 2025. However, the bigger shock for most people was Hurricane placing fifth after placing on the podium at every competition since 2017. Both of these raised questions that would be resolved in finals.
The top five groups in this division made the evening finals round, where they were joined by Loveland Allure. Though they failed to make finals, the other two groups in this division merit a mention. Hamilton Prestige and Lebanon Singers have both had a rocky past few seasons; however, both groups’ shows (Hamilton’s themed around Peter Pan, Lebanon’s entitled ‘Diamonds and Dance Floors’) did seem improved from 2025 (at least to this writer), and both groups definitely have a solid foundation to build on as the season continues.
Final Results
1st - Solon “Music in Motion”
2nd - Noblesville “NHS Singers” (BV)
3rd - Loveland “By Request” (BC/BB)
4th - Piqua “The Company”
5th - Hurricane“Red Hot”
6th - Loveland “Allure”
Some of the questions from prelims were answered in finals at Beavercreek. Loveland proved that they may just be back by maintaining their prelim placement and beating out several good visual groups for Best Choreography (no doubt aided by adding Peyton Bellman and bringing back Tori Brindis to their team). Hurricane, meanwhile, proved that they may struggle this year; though the group has many first-year members, this was likely not the result they were looking for to start their season.
The big story of finals was Solon’s no caption win. Though MIM proved that they remain a force to be reckoned with by, well, winning, it goes to show how close this competition was that they lost both captions. Noblesville’s vocal win may herald improvement over last season - they began 2025 by losing vocals to Solon at Beavercreek - though their remaining competition schedule is quite tough. Piqua and Loveland Allure ought to be proud of their finals performances as well; Allure showed that they remain a top womens group by making it to the finals round, while Piqua reprised their performance at last year’s Beavercreek competition in an arguably tougher field.
What’s Next
Several of the groups competing at Beavercreek will be taking the next weekend off before continuing their show choir seasons; here’s where they’ll be competing next.
North Royalton (Jan. 24) - Bishop Dwenger, after not leaving Indiana since 2023, is competing in Ohio twice to start their season. At North Royalton, they’ll see several of Ohio’s top small mixed groups, but if they perform as well as they did at Beavercreek, they should be in a good position to make finals.
Findlay (Jan. 31) - Solon, Piqua, Lebanon, Hamilton, and Benjamin Logan will compete next at Findlay FEst, which is back for 2026 after being cancelled in 2025. Solon and Piqua will likely be the contenders at the top of the competition, but several small mixed groups will be added to the mix, making that division more interesting.
Olentangy (Jan. 31) - Loveland will be at another tough competition the weekend after next, continuing their difficult 2026 schedule. At the Keynote Classic, they will see Center Grove, Marysville, and Fairfield; another podium placement would be a great result there.
Edgewood (IN) (Jan. 31) - Hurricane will next be in action at the Contest of Champions outside of Bloomington. There, they will see several area small mixed contenders, including Ross and Roncalli, as well as Beavercreek Friends beginning their competition season.
Fishers (IN) (Feb. 7) - Noblesville won’t compete again until the first weekend of February, when they’ll be performing at one of Indianapolis’ traditional season-opening competitions. Though they may be ahead due to their comparatively early start to competition season, they will face titan Center Grove at Silver Spotlight.
Loveland (Feb. 14) - West Jessamine will have almost a month to improve their show before competing at Loveland’s annual Showfest (appropriately held on Valentine’s Day). There, they will see South Dearborn and Hamilton (again), as well as groups from Marysville, Daniel Hand, Fairfield, Olentangy, Beavercreek, and New Castle.
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