6 Milwaukee-area high school teams will be reclassified due to recent performance in WIAA tournaments
The WIAA released a list of 63 schools impacted by the newly-instituted tournament performance factor on Thursday, which included six greater Milwaukee area high school programs moving up a division from where they competed this past fall.
Catholic Memorial football (Division 4 to D3), Kettle Moraine football (D2 to D1), New Berlin Eisenhower boys soccer (D3 to D2), Shorewood boys cross country (D2 to D1), University School of Milwaukee girls tennis (D2 to D1) and Whitefish Bay boys soccer (D2 to D1) were competitively balanced to higher divisions for the 2024-25 school year after meeting points-based thresholds for team finishes over the last three years.
Tournament performance factor approved last spring
The tournament performance factor was developed by an ad hoc committee of 19 statewide district administrators and approved by a 265-115 vote of WIAA member schools at the 2023 Annual Meeting in April. The initiative established a threshold of six points to both public and private school programs for WIAA postseason team finishes over the previous three seasons. Points are applied as follows:
State title win - four points
State title appearance - three points
State semifinal appearance - two points
State quarterfinal, sectional final appearance, Level 3 of 11-player football or Level 2 of 8-player football - one point
For example, a program such as Catholic Memorial football earned two points from a state semifinal appearance this past fall, three points for a state title appearance in the 2022 season and four points for a 2021 state title win, for a total of nine points. All programs meeting or exceeding the six-point threshold over the three preceding seasons are designated to move up one division from their current placement.
Sports exempted from the tournament performance factor include swimming and diving, and track and field. Boys volleyball, girls hockey, girls wrestling and 8-player football are also single-division sports that are not impacted under their existing formats.
In addition to the six programs moving up, eight area programs already competing in D1 met the performance threshold of six points, including: Marquette boys cross country, Oconomowoc boys cross country, Muskego girls cross country, Slinger girls cross country, Franklin football, Westosha Central girls golf, Marquette boys soccer and Arrowhead girls tennis. Those programs will remain in D1 for the coming fall season regardless of any enrollment factors that may otherwise impact their divisional placement.
Three area schools were among 24 that appealed
Among the six area programs moving up a division, sources from Kettle Moraine football, Shorewood boys cross country and University School of Milwaukee girls tennis shared with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that they had attempted unsuccessful appeals during the designated window from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1.
Kettle Moraine head football coach Matt McDonnell said although the appeal attempt was made, the result was not surprising.
"Although we did not expect the WIAA to take our appeal seriously or truly consider it, we did decide to appeal," McDonnell said. "We appealed based on our total and declining enrollment, overall history, and the breakdown of our school/enrollment."
McDonnell added that with the level of high-caliber D1 schools in their Classic 8 Conference, he did not anticipate the decision to impact his program until the postseason. He also said no further action would be taken to challenge the decision.
Cross country programs distinctly impacted
Shorewood boys cross country coach Dominic Newman said his program also attempted an unsuccessful appeal. He added that he has been part of the drafting of a proposal to vote to remove cross country from the competitive balance plan, to be presented at a coaches clinic in January. He declined further comment while that process got under way this week.
Boys and girls cross country were among the fall sports most prominently impacted as far as the number of teams meeting the threshold to be moved up a division, as 21 of the 63 total fall teams came from those two sports. The points awarded under the competitive balance plan in non-bracketed sports, including cross country, are different than those of bracketed sports.
In cross country, all state-qualifying teams receive one point. The third and fourth-place finishers at state receive two points, as do the sectional champions. The state runner-up receives three points, and the state champion receives four points. The approved plan creates a scenario where each division receives 27 to 31 tournament performance-factor points, depending on the performance of sectional-winning teams at state.
By contrast, sports such as soccer, football or basketball that use an elimination bracket to produce sectional and state qualifiers, receive 15 total points per division between the state champion (4), runner-up (3), two remaining semifinalists (4) and four remaining quarterfinalists (4).
University School of Milwaukee athletic director Tim Williams confirmed an unsuccessful appeal attempt was made on behalf of the girls tennis program, but declined additional comment.
No appeal for some
Representatives from Catholic Memorial football, New Berlin Eisenhower boys soccer and Whitefish Bay boys soccer shared they did not appeal.
Catholic Memorial athletic director Matt Bergen stated the Crusaders football program welcomes the move to D3. New Berlin Eisenhower athletic director Kevin Fitzgerald pointed to existing reports that had indicated there had not been an appeal on behalf of the boys soccer program.
Whitefish Bay boys soccer coach Rob Dubinski pointed to the strong participation in his program despite an enrollment that falls below many other D1 schools as an indicator of a consistency he believes they can maintain in D1. He confirmed there was no plan to appeal the decision.
"I’ve always felt that our program can compete with anybody in the state no matter the school size," Dubinski said.
WIAA releases minimal information regarding requests from schools
Twenty-four schools in total attempted appeals to the classification committee, with just one being approved according to the WIAA release. The approved team was not identified in the release.
The classification committee also reviewed requests from 19 schools to move down a division based on enrollment. Six of those requests were approved, but the schools associated were not included in the release. The programs were identified simply by sport, with four requests in girls volleyball, one in boys soccer and one in girls tennis listed.
A request made to Todd Clark, WIAA director of communications, for additional information on the schools involved, yielded a reply that the release of such information was not discussed by the classification committee.
"The classification committee indicated it would be most appropriate to have the members discuss it next area meetings before sharing the appeal information," Clark said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WIAA tournament performance factor reclassifies 6 Milwaukee area teams
