14 Milwaukee-area winter sports teams bumped up a division by WIAA performance factor
STEVENS POINT - The WIAA released a list of 37 boys and girls winter athletics programs that will compete a division level higher next season after meeting thresholds of success established by the Wisconsin high school sports governing body's tournament performance factor.
The list includes nine boys basketball programs, nine girls basketball programs, nine gymnastics programs, five boys hockey programs and five wrestling programs. Each of these teams met a threshold of success over the past three seasons that qualified them for promotion to the next division.
Locally, 14 area programs were among the list of 37 that met the threshold to compete in a higher division effective next season.
Basketball
In boys basketball, Arrowhead, Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic, Pewaukee, St. Thomas More and Wisconsin Lutheran were among a list that also included Brillion, De Pere, Neenah and West Salem statewide.
Arrowhead already competes in Division 1 for boys basketball, but the tournament performance factor negates any drop in division that may occur based on declining enrollment. Barring enrollment changes, Pewaukee and Wisconsin Lutheran will compete in D1 next year, Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic will move from D4 to D3, and St. Thomas More will compete in D2.
Arrowhead, Brookfield East, Kettle Moraine and Pewaukee were among the nine girls basketball teams meeting the threshold of the tournament performance factor, a list that also included Albany/Monticello, Laconia, McDonnell Catholic, Notre Dame and Waupun. Pewaukee will join the other three local teams in D1 next season.
Gymnastics
The recent successes of the Elkhorn, Franklin/Muskego, Homestead, Nicolet and Whitefish Bay gymnastics teams also met or exceed the performance threshold, joining a list that also included Medford/Colby, Mount Horeb, Verona/Edgewood and West Salem/Aquinas/Bangor. Elkhorn, Nicolet and Whitefish Bay will move from D2 to D1, while Franklin/Muskego and Homestead will remain in D1.
Boys hockey; team wrestling
In boys hockey, statewide programs including Edgewood, Hudson, New Richmond, Notre Dame and St. Mary's Springs met the threshold to be elevated or stay in D1. In team wrestling, Coleman, Fennimore, Kaukuana, Luxemburg-Casco and Prairie du Chien also were listed among the 37 programs impacted.
The appeal process
The competitive balance plan also allows for programs to appeal promotions in division. The WIAA reported 12 such requests, with one being approved. None of the 12 were named in the association's release.
Schools are also afforded the opportunity to request to be moved down in division based on enrollment. A classification committee reviewed 15 requests from winter sports programs, with three being approved in girls basketball, two in boys basketball and two in boys hockey. Five programs also requested and were approved to be elevated to higher enrollment divisions than they competed in this past season, including three boys hockey teams, one boys basketball team and one girls basketball team.
The WIAA will release final tournament series assignments for the 2024-25 winter sports season later this spring.
How the tournament performance factor works
The tournament performance factor stems from a proposal of an ad hoc committee consisting of 11 superintendents/district administrators, six athletic directors, one principal and one principal/athletic director. That proposal was approved by a 265-115 membership vote at the 2023 annual meeting last April, and implemented beginning this school year.
The competitive balance plan assigns points based on WIAA state tournament finishes, awarding between one and four points for the round a program reaches between the sectional and state levels. The points awarded vary based on the sport, but the tournament performance factor has been enacted for all WIAA sports except track & field, swimming & diving and sports with only one division of competition.
Teams meeting or exceeding a threshold of six points over the three previous seasons are candidates for reclassification.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 14 Milwaukee-area winter sports teams bumped up a division by WIAA
