The eligibility fight over two of Massillon Washington’s top football players is headed to Ohio’s highest court. The Ohio High School Athletic Association filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court on Friday, Oct. 23, challenging whether Brayton and Brydon Feister can keep playing for the Tigers this season, according to The Canton Repository. The filing came on the eve of Massillon’s rivalry matchup against McKinley.
In the filing, OHSAA attorney Joseph Fraley asked the Supreme Court to stay the 5th District Court of Appeals’ Oct. 16 ruling, which declared the brothers eligible, and to prohibit the appeals court from taking further action unless it dismisses the case. According to The Repository, there is no timeline for a Supreme Court ruling.
If the Supreme Court grants the stay, the brothers would again be ruled ineligible, as they were earlier this month. A Stark County Common Pleas judge ruled on Oct. 9 that they could not play, dissolving the temporary protection they had played under since late September. The appeals court reversed course a week later, granting an injunction on Oct. 16 that cleared them for the rest of the 2026 season.
The dispute began after the OHSAA denied the family’s request for an exception to its transfer rules. The association determined the family’s move into the Massillon district was driven by the brothers’ desire to transfer from Archbishop Hoban, rather than by a residential move that necessitated a transfer. Under OHSAA rules, such transfers are eligible only for the first half of a season unless a family qualifies for an exception, including a bona fide change of residence.
The stakes are high for Massillon because of who the brothers are on the field. Brayton Feister, a senior, is a running back and linebacker committed to Oregon and an all-state player. His younger brother Brydon, a junior, is a 6-foot-4, 240-pound defensive end, an all-state player and a two-time state wrestling champion. The brothers were among six Massillon players whose eligibility became the subject of a legal dispute after their families moved into the district.
Canton attorney Lee Plakas, who represents the Feisters and four other Massillon families, welcomed the appeals court’s Oct. 16 decision, saying it was good for the players, team and community and that families must be able to make private decisions without having their reasons second-guessed. Fraley, for the OHSAA, said after that ruling the association was looking at all options, including the Supreme Court — the step it has now taken.
For now, the Oct. 16 ruling remains the decision that cleared the brothers for the rest of the season, and the Supreme Court filing does not by itself change their status. What happens next depends on whether the justices act quickly on the stay request as the regular season gives way to the playoffs. Until the court rules, Massillon is left waiting on a legal decision that could reshape the Tigers’ lineup at the most important point of the year.
Photo: Sean P Bender, CC BY-SA