Ursuline Football Cancels Remainder of Its Season Amid Lawsuits

The Ursuline football season has come to an end after multiple lawsuits filed against school, team

Ursuline football coach Dan Reardon during a game against Austintown-Fitch on Sept. 9, 2022. / Jeff Harwell, High School on SI

The least surprising outcome of the 2025 Ohio high school football season seems to now be a reality as Ursuline announced on Friday that the Fighting Irish were cancelling the remainder of their season.

According to WFMJ 21 NBC, the decision was shared with the families of Ursuline students.

A statement sent to families from Ursuline High School says that the school is saddened and shaken up by allegations recently brought to light in two lawsuits accusing members of the football team of hazing, sexual assault, and much more.

The reason for cancelling the season was due to a pair of lawsuits that have been filed against the football program, coaches and school principal.

The first lawsuit

The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 2 against Ursuline High School, Principal Matthew Sammartino, Assistant Principal Margaret Damore, football head coach Dan Reardon and football assistant coaches Tim McGlynn and Christian Syrianoudis. The lawsuit also named several players and their families.

The lawsuit was field on behalf of a student who was allegedly hazed, while also being physically and sexually assaulted. The incident was also allegedly then recorded and sent to several people.

The lawsuit claims that "when school administrators, soon after the trip, learned of the misconduct, they engaged in their own misconduct and failed to take the appropriate actions to address the misconduct and protect the victims."

The second lawsuit

The second lawsuit, filed as a federal Title IX civil-rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, alleges that Ursuline failed to protect a female student from a football player’s “alleged sexual harassment, stalking and violent assault.”

Fallout for coaches

On Monday, the school announced that head coach Dan Reardon agreed to a suspension and assistant coaches Tim McGlynn and Christian Syrianoudis were placed on leave for the rest of the season and Michael Frasco would be the interim head coach.

Games cancelled

Multiple teams had already cancelled their games against Ursuline, as Warren G. Harding, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Austintown-Fitch announced their decisions earlier this week and then Chaney joined them on Friday.

Ursuline in the High School on SI Ohio football rankings

Ursuline had started the season 2-0 by defeating Steubenville 37-7 and Bishop Hartley 34-7 after being ranked No. 16 in the High School on SI Ohio football Preseason Top 25. They had made it as high as No. 11 in the rankings following Week 2, but this past week, the decision was made to drop them to No. 25 until more news became available. When the new rankings come out after this weekend, they will no longer be ranked.

Read more on the Ursuline situation:

Four more Ursuline Football Games Against Cancelled Amid New Lawsuit, coaches placed on leave

Ursuline Cancels Football Game After Hazing Lawsuit Filed Against Coaches, Players

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