Best watermelon is a personal preference.. Shiny Boy is a very good Crimson sweet type hybrid, but has a long season (90day). Compadre is similar but a week earlier. If you are looking for earlier you will need to look at "icebox" or "personal" size melons. https://garden.org/plants/view/658603/Watermelon-Citrullus-lanatus-Shiny-Boy/ https://garden.org/plants/view/141036/Watermelon-Citrullus-lanatus-Compadre/

It may not fit your needs for a short maturity time and smaller size but "Gold Strike" is my "Best" overall watermelon for sweetness, flavor, texture, and productivity. It's an orange variety but my 2nd fav is "Raspa" which is red. Both have seeds.

Thanks! I do not mind seeds. Larger melon's typically have longer growing time

^^^ As a frame of reference I start my Gold Strike seeds indoor around April 10th, then transplant them outside around May 15th (if the soil and air temps are warm enough), and pick the first ripe melon around mid July. I would hazard to guess that in Ohio you may be 1 month later on all the above dates which should give you ripe melons in mid-Aug? By mid Aug my melons are generally past peak and I remove them and use that area for my fall crops.

Yellow Doll (hybrid) has a short DTM, and fairly good productivity. It also seldom gets hollow in the middle. It is probably the most reliable variety I've grown.

For OP/heirloom varieties, I could suggest several. I grew the heirloom Berries Yellow this year, and even planted late, with heavy weed pressure, a couple ripened. If you are looking for a short-season red, Blacktail Mountain is one of the earliest... and has a high sugar content.

I am looking for sweetest & earliest - equally.

Early "ice box" melons ( 6-15 lb) Blacktail Mountain, Micky Lee, Wilson Sweet, Cream of Saskatchewan (White flesh but very sweet) Bush Sugar Baby ( vining type is longer season). Hybrids like Yellow Doll, Red Doll, Jade, Dark Belle are competitive.

Earliest watermelon I ever grew was the personal size New Hampshire Midget. Edible when picked at the right time, poor texture, fibrous and spongy when over ripe. The hybrid Mini-Love is very early and gets good reviews, but I have not grown it.

Mini Love is very small. i had 1 good melon, but not very productive for me.