'A real positive for us': Division Expansion to provide a boost for Madison

MADISON TOWNSHIP — It's been a long time coming for Doug Rickert and Madison High School.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors approved a proposal from the desk of OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute that will see seven sports experience division expansion for the 2024-25 athletic year.

And it was as if 10,000 pounds was lifted off of Rickert's shoulders. Since becoming athletic director in 2014, Rickert has been making a case for division expansion as Madison has routinely been one of the smallest Division I schools in the entire state in several sports. And finally, help is on the way.

DIVISION EXPANSION ON ITS WAY: OHSAA Board of Directors vote to expand tournament divisions starting in 2024-25

Boys and girls basketball, girls volleyball, baseball and softball will expand from four divisions to seven while boys and girls soccer goes from three divisions to five. It brings a new landscape to high school sports and Ute, a 1980 Clear Fork grad, is proud of the work he and those at the OHSAA offices have done.

"It's a big day not just for our member schools and their communities, but a big day for our student athletes in Ohio," Ute said. "It is all about our kids."

The major change comes at the Division I and II levels where the Top 64 schools in terms of enrollment will be placed in Division I with the next 64 in Division II, then, schools will be separated evenly based on enrollment numbers across the remaining divisions depending on the sport.

"Would you put your school in a league with the other schools in the division tournament?" Ute asked. "That was one fundamental question that helped us lead to where we are today. We need to put our student athletes in a tournament against teams that would play in the same league with each other."

Many schools in Richland County will not see major changes. While their divisions change, their competition largely remains the same — except for Madison. The Rams are one of the smallest Division I teams in the state and have to compete in a tournament against schools with nearly 1,000 more students on their enrollments.

In boys basketball, Madison's adjusted enrollment number is 351, making it the sixth-smallest Division I team in Ohio. The largest is Mason at 1,300. It is that size disparity that led Ute to pushing an issue that has been in the discussion phase for more than a decade.

"If you look at Division I and some of those teams, you can go all around Ohio, and those small Division I schools travel a long way for their tournament games and you also ask yourself, 'When is the last time one of those teams played in a district final?'" Ute said. "Is that fair to our kids? The data will show, those small Division I schools aren't the ones advancing. What we have learned from our conversations with our member schools is it is not about winning a state championship, it's about winning a couple of tournament games and giving their kids hope that they can compete at the tournament level."

Since going to Division I in 1987-88 when the OHSAA went to the number system compared to an "A" system during its last expansion, Madison has won just seven postseason games, going 7-31 during years in which it faced Division I competition in the boys basketball tournament. Madison was Division II five times in the postseason and went 8-5 in tournament play winning the 2010-11 district championship.

Rickert was the boys basketball coach at Madison from 2007-2012. The 2008-09 season was his most successful as the Rams went 18-2 in the regular season and 12-2 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. It was one of the best teams in program history, yet it played in the Division I tournament. The Rams won a sectional championship beating Fremont Ross before knocking off Mansfield Senior 65-63 in the district semifinals, the third time the Rams beat the Tygers that year. Then they ran into Lima Senior, a school more than twice the size in terms of enrollment and lost 74-46 in the district finals.

"I really thought we could have won a state championship in Division II that year," Rickert said. "I saw the teams down at the state tournament that year and honestly felt we could have played with them. Then, we go into a district final in Division I against Lima Senior which has three Division I recruits and we get beat at the district final level. It has been so tough."

The Rams finished the year 20-3 that season which is one of just three 20-win seasons in program history.

"We are just not a Division I school," Rickert said. "Unfortunately, you get into these tournaments, in our situation, if you win a sectional championship, it is a big deal. The other thing that has been rough is in our case, the sectional doesn't even feel like one because our kids are playing teams that they don't even know. Our fans don't go to the games because they are two hours away, parents can't make it because of work and it is just no special feeling for us when we get in the postseason."

Just two years after that magical season, the Rams were in Division II in boys basketball and made a run to the regional tournament after playing schools of similar size like Willard, Lexington, Edison and Shelby. Madison is expected to be in Division III when the division expansion is finalized alongside Lexington and Mansfield Senior.

"Not to knock that team in 2010-11, but that team wasn't even close to as good as that team that lost in Division I," Rickert said.

Rickert also served as the Rams' baseball coach for 21 seasons, winning 16 sectional championships, nine conference crowns and four district titles while floating between Division I and Division II. He recalled a Saturday nonleague game against Cleveland St. Ignatius, which today is the fourth-largest Division I school in the state according to the 2023-24 adjusted enrollment figures after competitive balance.

Ignatius rolled in on a charter bus and unloaded 46 kids in front of the baseball field at Madison. Rickert had nowhere to put them all, but Ignatius's coach assured him he didn't need to worry. He was sending 15 down to the bullpen because they were all varsity relief pitchers. Some would sit in the dugout, and the rest could post up in the metal bleachers beside the dugout.

"We played a good game and lost 4-3 or 3-2," Rickert said. "Their coach told me I had a good team, and I told him the difference between our teams was he could make a pitching change and point to the bullpen and say, 'Give me the lefty,' and when I make a pitching change, I have to say, 'Give me the left fielder'. And we were both Division I playing in the same tournament. That is the difference."

Similar things are happening inside the boys soccer program. In 2019, the Rams were in Division II and made a run to the district championship game before falling to Lexington in overtime on a golden goal. Since then, they have been in Division I and have gone 0-4 in the postseason, getting outscored 23-3 against teams with three times the number of male athletes in the school. After the tournament draw every year, the mood changes before the game is even played.

"Our boys soccer team is a perfect example," Rickert said. "We had a nice team, and they were always stuck in Division I, and they went into those tournaments thinking they are going to lose early. Then, they start to think even if they win that first game, look at who they would have to play in the next one. They were beat before they got off the bus."

Madison is expected to be in Division III in boys soccer starting next fall along side Lexington, Mansfield Senior and Ontario, schools much closer in size. The move is already creating a buzz around the school and for an athletic program that has struggled in recent years, the division realignment could provide a much-needed spark.

"It just gives us an opportunity, and that is what it is all about," Rickert said. "We have already had kids talking to us. I had soccer kids and girls basketball kids asking if we are going to be playing teams similar in size like Lexington and Mansfield Senior, and that is the case. There is no doubt that our kids are going to be more excited to play now."

Which is exactly what the OHSAA had in mind with the division expansion.

"Just to cut down a net and take a team picture, it is a really big deal to a kid," Rickert said. "It really is. It ignites something that makes them work harder in practice because they have something they can truly achieve. We hope it does generate some excitement at Madison. This is a real positive for us."

jfurr@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Madison Rams will now play similar-sized schools in postseason