Recruiting is said to be the lifeblood of college football. This series will countdown the top 100 high schools in Ohio that have provided the Buckeyes with football players. The rankings are based on how many times a player from each high school has been listed on Ohio State's roster between 1970 and 2018.
No. 12, Upper Arlington
Qualification
15 players from Upper Arlington have been listed on 42 Ohio State rosters.
DE Simon Fraser (2001-04) captain of the 2004 team and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times (2002, 2003, 2004). Ohio State went 40–11 with Fraser on the team and won the 2002 National Championship, 2004 Fiesta Bowl and 2004 Alamo Bowl.
All-Ohioan for Upper Arlington as a junior and senior, the Golden Bears won the 2000 state championship, also played basketball and track. Made it to the state championship in the shot put as a junior. Today, Fraser is a doctor and practicing medicine in Columbus.
DE/OL Tim Schafer (2002-06) started his Buckeye career as defensive end, but was switched to offensive guard in 2005 when Kirk Barton and Steve Rehring were unable to play due to medical reasons. Schafer played in the last six games of the 2005 season. Was Alex Boone's back-up at left tackle for the 2006 season.
All-Ohioan as a senior and a three-year starter at Upper Arlington. The Golden Bears won the state title during his junior season. Schafer was a two-year starter on the basketball team and made it to the regional finals his senior season.
| No. | POS | PLAYER | YEARS | OHIO STATE CAREER | HS CAREER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86 | DE | BRENDAN DONOVAN | 1972 | Made the roster for 1 season, did not play. | Nothing listed. |
| 1 | P | DAVID McKEE | 1977-78 | Had 29 punts in 1977 and averaged 35.2 yards per punt. Did not have a punt in 1978. | Averaged 38.8 yards per punt and 4-4.8 seconds of hang-time at UA. |
| 88, 91, 69 | DT | WILLIAM WILSON | 1979-81 | Played 1 game for 30 seconds during his time in Columbus. | Nothing listed. |
| 99, 39 | LB/FB | MARK PFISTER | 1982-85 | Injuries kept him off the field, had an ulcer, knee sprain, 2 shoulder separations, and a hand injury. | All-Ohioan as a linebacker and UA went 28–4–1 with him on the team. |
| 72 | DT | MIKE MACHINSKY | 1983 | Did not see the field during his 1 season on the team, his dad, Francis, was a starting tackle for OSU's 1954 National Championship team. | All-Ohio and All-District tackle, 3-year player on defense, part-time player on offense. |
| 82, 20 | WR | TIM HALLER | 1984-86 | Did not see the field during his 3 seasons on the roster. | Nothing listed. |
| 39 | TE | JOE HAZELBAKER | 1990 | On the roster for 1 season, did not play. | Nothing listed. |
| 20 | WR | CHAD CACCHIO | 1997-00 | Walked-on in 1996, earned a scholarship in 1999, played in 31 games. 2x Academic All-Big Ten (1997, 1998). | Played football and baseball. |
| 29 | FB/ HB | JESSE KLINE | 1999-02 | Played in 16 games and had 2 carries for 5 yards. 2x Academic All-Big Ten (2000, 2001). | All-Ohio FB as a junior, missed much of his senior year with a hamstring injury, but still ran for 1,100 yards and 15 TDs. |
| 79 | OL | MICHAEL STAFFORD | 1999-02 | Walk-on who earned a scholarship in 2001, started 4 games in 2002. | Won a conference and regional championship in 1997. |
| 75 | DE | SIMON FRASER | 2001-04 | See above. | See above. |
| 58 | LB | JOE BRADLEY | 2002-03 | Walk-on who played in 5 games. Was listed in the 2004 Media Guide, but was not on the roster as of 9/8/04. | All-District LB and went 15–0 and won the state title as a senior. |
| 99, 92, 68 | DE/OL | TIM SCHAFER | 2002-06 | See above. | See above. |
| 44 | HB | MATTHEW JOHNSON | 2004 | On the roster for 1 season. | Nothing listed. |
| 33 | WR | FRANK EPITROPOULOS | 2012-14 | Red-shirted in 2012, caught 1 pass for 6 yards, his dad (John) and uncle (Ernie) played for OSU, transferred to MSU and had 1 tackle for the Spartans. | Played WR, DB and P for UA. Two-time 2nd Team All-Ohio |
Back To School
Upper Arlington is located in Franklin County and is currently in the Ohio Capital Conference. The team competes in Division I, Region 2. The Golden Bears went 5–5 last year. 2015 was the last time the team made the playoffs. UA traveled to Pickerington Central and defeated the Tigers, 27-17, in the first round. They lost to Hilliard Davidson, 17-10, in the second round.
The football program won its only state tournament title in 2000. Before OHSAA had the state tournament, Upper Arlington won three consecutive AP Poll Championships in 1967, 1968 and 1969. A big thank you to lectricbuck for the hot tip on the AP titles.
Notable
Upper Arlington has won 49 state titles. During the 1986-87 school year, the Golden Bears won a singe year state record four state championships (Boys' golf, girls' cross country, boys' swimming, baseball).
Probably not a surprise that UA's boys' golf has won 17 state titles (2006, 1999, 1993, 1992, 1986, 1985, 1982, 1981, 1977, 1974, 1972, 1969, 1968, 1965, 1960, 1956, 1941).
The girls' swim team has an impressive 12 championships (2017, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003). Girls' cross country has six titles (1990, 1986, 1985, 1982, 1981, 1978), boys' swimming has three (1987, 1986, 1985), girls' lacrosse (2018, 2017), boys' baseball (1990, 1987) and boys' track (1939, 1937) have two and football (2000), girls' gymnastics (1995), girls' basketball (1988) and boys' basketball (1937) each have one.
Boys' and girls' water polo and boys' lacrosse are not sponsored by OHSAA, but Upper Arlington has won 11 championships in girls' water polo, 9 in boys' lacrosse and 6 in boys' water polo.
Famous Alumni
Famous names you may know: Actress and Ellen Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation movies, Beverly D'Angelo, Hugo Award-winning novelist Lois McMaster-Bujold, Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist George Smoot, ragtime artist Terry Waldo and the PGA player with the most major championships, the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus.
Explanation of the Rankings
School "A" had 14 players appear 16 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" had 11 players appear 20 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" will have the higher ranking. Why? Even though school "B" has less players, those players played for more years.
If two or more schools have the same number of appearances, the tie will be broken by the school with the highest average of roster appearances per player. If there is a tie in the average, the tie breaker will be the school with the most prominent Ohio State player.
2,823 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
103 days until The Game.
Are you a former player, graduate, live near or have something to add about today's featured high school? Please share your story with us in the comments. What makes the 11W community unique is the amount of great information everybody is willing to share.
If you like Ohio high school football, or want to read about the best teams of the '50s and '60s, you should check out Tim Raab's book: Powerhouses of Ohio High School Football.
