November 3, 2026 — Cleveland, Ohio
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Andrew Santoli ruled Tuesday afternoon that Cleveland Glenville should remain in the football playoffs, overruling the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s decision to remove the Tarblooders and reinstating them into the Division III, Region 9 tournament.
Santoli found the removal decision was arbitrary because it happened before the OHSAA had completed its investigation, according to cleveland.com‘s account of the ruling. Glenville and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District had argued they were denied due process because the OHSAA had not conducted a full investigation before disqualifying Glenville.
The ruling gives Glenville’s season a second life. It does not settle who Glenville plays next — or when.
Santoli ordered the OHSAA to determine Salem’s opponent “forthwith” by rescheduling the Glenville–Hunting Valley University School first-round playoff game, declaring University School to have forfeited the rescheduled Oct. 31 playoff game, or by another appropriate remedy, cleveland.com reported. It was unclear Tuesday afternoon when, or if, the first-round game would be played. Salem was scheduled to host the winner of that game on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.
The first-round game has already been through a dizzying series of turns. The OHSAA removed Glenville (8-2, the No. 5 seed in Region 9) on Thursday, Oct. 29, amid an investigation into the Cleveland Metropolitan School District inaccurately assigning Ginn Academy students’ participation opportunities to Glenville. On Friday, Oct. 30, Santoli granted a temporary restraining order requiring the Glenville–University School game to proceed that night. University School (6-4, the No. 12 seed) did not show and declined the Saturday reschedule, saying it would prepare for Salem on Nov. 6 if that was the resolution.
Cleveland.com reported Tuesday that the OHSAA had declared a forfeit for University School, that a Saturday emergency order vacated that forfeit and ordered the game rescheduled for Monday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m., and that a Monday-morning injunction stopped that game pending Tuesday’s hearing. Monday’s hearing ran about five hours with no decision and continued to Tuesday, when Santoli adjourned after closing arguments and said he would issue a written decision. Tuesday’s ruling followed.
The OHSAA had argued before the ruling that it believed it had given Glenville reason to believe a violation occurred and that there was a lack of institutional oversight, and it filed a Monday motion to dismiss arguing the court lacked jurisdiction because administrative remedies had not been exhausted, according to cleveland.com. No OHSAA response to Tuesday’s ruling itself was quoted in the cleveland.com account. As of late Tuesday afternoon, the OHSAA bracket still listed the Glenville–University School game as postponed and Salem’s opponent as to be determined.
The underlying investigation centers on 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, Ginn Academy students participate in athletics at the Cleveland school closest to their residence, and the OHSAA’s audit found many Glenville football players should have been assigned to other schools. Glenville was previously fined $5,000 and placed on probation through 2021 for the same type of violation in 2018.
Meanwhile in in Michigan—-
