The aftermath of the demise of the Eastern Buckeye Conference is in motion but it might take some time for the teams left behind to figure out their next stops.

The first move after Minerva, Carrollton and Marlington decided to bolt for the new Northeast Senate League for both Salem and West Branch was to apply for the Northeast 8.

That did not work. The league officially said it would stay at seven teams last Friday.

Salem athletic director Matt Freeman and West Branch athletic director Ryan Wolf said the school districts received no reason why the Northeast 8 turned them down for membership. Only the vague statement sent to the media was passed on to the schools.

Wolf said that representatives from the Northeast 8 told him initially that it was interested in taking on nine teams and would be comfortable with both Salem and West Branch coming on board.

“We didn’t want to do it without Salem,” Wolf said.

Freeman said Salem’s membership into the Northeast 8 did not hang on West Branch coming too. He said if Salem was invited without West Branch, it would have accepted the invitation.

“For us we were concerned with Salem,” Freeman said. “We have been open to West Branch about that from the beginning and they understood.”

With the recent deaths of former superintendent Dr. Joe Shivers and current superintendent Sean Kirkland, Salem’s athletic department has hit pause on any official business. Freeman said that perhaps next week there will be a meeting addressing the future of the Quaker athletic programs.

West Branch is already working on its plan. Wolf has said the school district is targeting the All-American Conference for a home for all of its non-football sports. The league is made up of Boardman, Austintown Fitch, Canfield, Warren Harding and Howland.

West Branch would be the smallest enrollment-wise in that league, but Wolf said West Branch already plays a lot of those schools regularly.

“We want to take our athletics to the next level and we feel like the AAC could help us do that,” Wolf said. “We want to be challenged because we think that competition would lead us to deeper runs in the tournament. We want to be competing for regional titles and state championships.”

Wolf said West Branch is also keeping its irons in the fire with the Metro Athletic Conference out of Portage County.

“Some of the West Branch school district is in Portage County so that wouldn’t be out of question,” Wolf said. “You know we’re lucky in a sense that we are far enough west that we have a few more options open to us.”

Wolf said another option further down south around the New Philadelphia area could be explored but he’s hesitant get involved in that right now.

West Branch is hoping to know its fate by the end of May and that could mean jumping to a new conference before the EBC ceases at the end of the 2027-28 school year.

“We’re excited to get started with something new,” Wolf said.

Wolf said he has been in contact with Alliance and Salem throughout the transition process. He said Alliance could pursue something in Stark County or Summit County.