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UHSAA CLASSIFICATIONS (UPDATED AGAIN)

By BWG, 03/23/20, 12:45PM MDT

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I BELIEVE UTAH WRESTLING IS ON PAR WITH OTHER WESTERN STATES.

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?  

THE POLLS

HOW MANY CLASSIFICATIONS SHOULD UTAH HAVE? 

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. 

UTAH WITH 4 CLASSIFICATIONS

According to the State of Utah’s Fall Enrollment Data, this is what 4 classifications would look like:

4A

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

3A

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

2A

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

1A

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

What do you think?

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?  

Utah with 3 Classifications

According to the State of Utah’s Fall Enrollment Data, this is what 3 classifications would look like:

3A

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

2A

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

1A

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

How about 3?

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.