COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association has removed Cleveland Glenville from the 2026 football playoffs, the association announced Thursday, Oct. 29 — one day before the Tarblooders were set to open the postseason.

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Glenville, the No. 5 seed in Division III, Region 9 at 8-2, was removed as part of an ongoing investigation into the Cleveland Metropolitan School District inaccurately assigning student participation opportunities to Glenville.

The issues stem from students who attend Ginn Academy, a non-member magnet school that does not offer sports and is under the control of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Under OHSAA rules, students who attend Ginn Academy can only participate in athletics at the Cleveland Metro school closest to their residence.

OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute

“Recently we discovered several irregularities with students going to Ginn Academy and playing football at Glenville, which led us to conduct an audit of the participation opportunities for all fall sports student-athletes at Glenville High School. This week we confirmed that many players on Glenville’s football team should have been playing at other schools this season. It will take some time to examine all the information and determine the extent of the violations this season and potentially in previous seasons for all schools and teams within Cleveland Metro.”

The removal is not Glenville’s first for this kind of violation. In October 2018, the Tarblooders were also removed from the football playoffs for the same infractions, along with being fined $5,000 and placed on probation through 2021.

Glenville won the Division IV football state championship in 2022, 2023 and 2025 before moving up to Division III this season.

What happens to the bracket: Glenville’s first-round opponent, No. 12 seed Hunting Valley University School (6-4), advances without playing Friday. University School will face No. 4 seed Salem in a second-round game Friday, Nov. 6.

There is no exact timetable for the full scope of the investigation or additional penalties, according to the OHSAA, which thanked Cleveland Metro, Glenville and Ginn Academy for their cooperation thus far.