This is another question that I am interested in. It comes up a lot. so here goes an attempt to look at it critically.
Based on results at The Rumble, Reno and other places, you would think that Utah is hurting, but is that the case?
Participation numbers in our sport compared to other Western States according to the NFHS survey from 2018-2019.
Arizona: 4,894
California: 22,602
Colorado: 5,290
Idaho: 2,519
Montana: 1,380
Nevada: 1,976
Oregon: 4,481
Utah: 3,323
Washington: 9,251
Wyoming: 1,395
Comparing us to California is kinda not apples and oranges. If you add all the wrestlers from all the western states but Washington together you get Cali.
Looking at the NCAA tournament that didn't happen, at the D1 level.
Arizona: 2/4,894
California: 19/22,602
Colorado: 9/5,290
Idaho: 3/2,519
Montana: 2/1,380
Nevada: 0/1,976
Oregon: 4/4,481
Utah: 4/3,323
Washington: 2/9,251
Wyoming: 1/1,395
By that metric, Utah isn't doing to bad only Utah, Montana, Idaho and Colorado have more than 1 Qualifier per 1000 wrestlers. By this metric, Colorado is way ahead.
Some other information to look at. If we are looking at Clovis and Windsor at the Rumble, we need to realize, that these are perennial powerhouse teams with great coaching year-round development, well-established feeder programs, and extensive support. Not that Utah doesn't have that, but these are premier programs within their respective states. and have been for a while. Clovis High is bigger than any high school in Utah, and honestly, as far as athletic achievement, the Clovis Unified School District is the best I've seen. That District has 3 schools that would walk away with a title in Utah in any class. It is unreal. Clovis itself has a roughly similar NCAA All American list to Utah as a whole. But compare Utah wrestling with your average school in California, outside of the Clovis Area, Poway and some private schools like St. John Bosco, we'd do just fine. Not only that, but California also has 3,162 public High Schools only 904 of which have a team. Utah is a higher percentage.
Are there things that we can do as a state to develop better teams and individuals? Yes, but I don't think it has anything to do with the number of classifications, let me know in the comments what you think the issue is?
According to the polls (See Below) over 90 % of you think that Utah has too many classifications. If there was a way to do this and make it make sense, which since we are primarily looking at wrestling and the UHSAA must consider all sports, will be hard. But then again, I cannot honestly make sense of how or why the current UHSAA classifications make sense so I guess it’s not exactly important. I mean why when dividing classifications don’t they just take the 24 biggest, then move on down the list? I assume part of it deals with locations of schools and monetary considerations of that ilk. I get those, especially at the 4A level and below, but the current 6A and 5A classes are all pretty much Wasatch Front schools and 2 on the Wasatch back. So does it really matter if Northridge is 5A or 6A? For wrestling, most of you feel like the best choice would be to have 3 or 4 classifications. So let’s look at those two options specifically.
According to the State of Utah’s Fall Enrollment Data, this is what 4 classifications would look like:
Copper Hills High, Bingham High, Lone Peak High, American Fork High, Granger High, Westlake High, Syracuse High, Pleasant Grove High, Riverton High, Skyridge High School, Davis High, Layton High, Weber High, Clearfield High, Farmington High, West High, Taylorsville High, Herriman High, Cyprus High, Fremont High, Hunter High, West Jordan High, Roy High, Mountain Ridge High, Northridge High, Alta High, Kearns High, Wasatch High
Timpview High, Corner Canyon High, Lehi High, Skyline High, Maple Mountain High, Cedar Valley High, Brighton High, Olympus High, Box Elder High, Woods Cross High, Jordan High, Hillcrest High, East High, Payson High, Springville High, Spanish Fork High, Murray High, Provo High, Stansbury High, Viewmont High, Timpanogos High, Bountiful High, Bonneville High, Salem Hills High, Uintah High, Tooele High, Highland High, Mountain View High
Cottonwood High, Snow Canyon High, Park City High, Ben Lomond High, Orem High, Dixie High, Pine View High, Ogden High, Ridgeline High School, Logan High, Hurricane High, Mountain Crest High, Bear River High, Green Canyon High School, Sky View High, Desert Hills High, Cedar City High, Crimson Cliffs High, Canyon View High, Union High, Carbon High, Morgan High, Grantsville High, Juab High, North Sanpete High, Richfield High, Manti High, Emery High
American Leadership Academy, Summit Academy High School, Delta High, South Summit High, Grand County High, South Sevier High, San Juan High, Beaver High, Millard High, North Summit High, Gunnison Valley High, Enterprise High, Kanab High, North Sevier High, Parowan High, Duchesne High, Altamont High, Monticello High, Rich High, Whitehorse High, Monument Valley High, Panguitch High, Water Canyon High, Milford High, Wayne High, Piute High, Bryce Valley High, Tintic High
The biggest changes: Wasatch would be challenging Pleasant Grove in the same division. The biggest upside of this for the wrestling nerds is the increase in competition. Who wins in each of these?
According to the State of Utah’s Fall Enrollment Data, this is what 3 classifications would look like:
Copper Hills High
Bingham High
Lone Peak High
American Fork High
Granger High
Westlake High
Syracuse High
Pleasant Grove High
Riverton High
Skyridge High School
Davis High
Layton High
Weber High
Clearfield High
Farmington High
West High
Taylorsville High
Herriman High
Cyprus High
Fremont High
Hunter High
West Jordan High
Roy High
Mountain Ridge High
Northridge High
Alta High
Kearns High
Wasatch High
Timpview High
Corner Canyon High
Lehi High
Skyline High
Maple Mountain High
Cedar Valley High
Brighton High
Olympus High
Box Elder High
Woods Cross High
Jordan High
Hillcrest High
East High
Payson High
Springville High
Spanish Fork High
Murray High
Provo High
Stansbury High
Viewmont High
Timpanogos High
Bountiful High
Bonneville High
Salem Hills High
Uintah High
Tooele High
Highland High
Mountain View High
Cottonwood High
Snow Canyon High
Park City High
Ben Lomond High
Orem High
Dixie High
Pine View High
Ogden High
Ridgeline High School
Logan High
Hurricane High
Mountain Crest High
Bear River High
Green Canyon High School
Sky View High
Desert Hills High
Cedar City High
Crimson Cliffs High
Canyon View High
Union High
Carbon High
Morgan High
Grantsville High
Juab High
North Sanpete High
Richfield High
Manti High
Emery High
American Leadership Academy
Summit Academy High School
Delta High
South Summit High
Grand County High
South Sevier High
San Juan High
Beaver High
Millard High
North Summit High
Gunnison Valley High
Enterprise High
Kanab High
North Sevier High
Parowan High
Duchesne High
Altamont High
Monticello High
Rich High
Whitehorse High
Monument Valley High
Panguitch High
Water Canyon High
Milford High
Wayne High
Piute High
Bryce Valley High
Tintic High
Still more teams and more competition. with 3 Classifications, the schools aren't even, but then I'm not sure I didn't miss a school with a team or added a school not currently fielding a team. Let me know. Lots of interesting matchups. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Tag(s): Home