Little change to area winter sports divisions
Jun. 14—COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Tuesday the new divisional breakdowns for the upcoming winter sports 2022-23 school year.
The OHSAA Board of Directors approved the new divisions during its June meeting late last week.
Fall sports divisional breakdowns were announced Monday, while the spring sports will be announced sometime in September.
The OHSAA uses enrollment data provided by the Ohio Department of Education to determine each school's base enrollment numbers for girls and boys sports, which will be used for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.
Among the OHSAA's winter sports, only basketball utilizes competitive balance data, therefore it is reconfigured every season. Sports that do not utilize competitive balance data are reconfigured every two years.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Willard moves back up
The long change among the nine Reflector schools in boys basketball saw Willard move back up from Division III to Div. II.
With an enrollment number of 199, the Crimson Flashes will be the 11th-smallest Div. II program in the state. Willard had competed in Div. II for many years, but had slipped down to Div. III for nearly a decade, winning a district title in 2019 while reaching a district final in 2021.
At the other end of the spectrum, Norwalk narrowly remained Div. II in the sport. The Truckers will be the third-largest Div. II school this winter with an enrollment number of 348 — the same as SBC Lake member Sandusky.
On Monday, it was announced Norwalk had moved up to Div. I in girls tennis and volleyball.
The cutoff for Div. I in boys basketball was 349, meaning Norwalk was just under that figure. At 352, Tiffin Columbian as the largest SBC Lake school did narrowly bump to Div. I.
Edison and Western Reserve remain in Div. III, while Monroeville, New London, Plymouth, South Central and St. Paul are again in Div. IV.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
No changes locally
In girls basketball, Norwalk was more comfortably under the cutoff and will remain Div. II. At 303, the largest Div. II school has an enrollment number of 324.
Like the boys, both Edison and Western remain in Div. III, while the five other Firelands Conference schools are again Div. IV.
WRESTLING
No changes
Norwalk is among the top 20 of largest schools, but will again remain Div. II in wrestling.
Willard will also compete in Div. II, while the remaining area schools stay in Div. III.
SWIMMING
No changes
Norwalk, St. Paul and Willard each remained in Div. II in swimming, according to the new figures.
The Norwalk girls narrowly missed being bumped to Div. I, while St. Paul is the third-smallest program in Div. II boys and the fourth-smallest in Div. II girls.
BOWLING
No changes
The three schools with bowling programs saw no changes to their division status.
Norwalk will again be Div. I in both boys and girls, while Edison and Willard is Div. II in both sports as well.
