2 weeks Ago By Alex VandenHouten
ROCHESTER — There are always surprises and frustrations when it comes to MSHSL Section realignment. This year's edition might just take the cake. ADVERTISEMENT That's because the MSHSL decided to move national wrestling powerhouse Simley — winners of 11 state titles since 2008 and the program with the second-most individual state champions in state history (71) — back into Section 1.
The decision brought about plenty of emotions, with frustration and confusion being the most prominent among area coaches. "The MSHSL’s decision to add Simley in Section 1-2A is less than ideal," Byron coach Ryan Radke said. "When decisions being made don’t include the actual people being affected, it’s frustrating.
This decision ultimately will take opportunities away from kids and teams in southeast Minnesota and that’s unfortunate. But you have two choices, sit back and do nothing or find ways to better yourself. Life is about controlling what you can control, so the only option is to keep working hard to be a better version of yourself.
" One of the main reasons for the frustration? Southeastern Minnesota and the wrestling community has already been down this road. The Spartans were in Section 1 from 2018-2021, winning three section titles in four years en route to three state championships. Those four years saw the Spartans qualify 39 individuals for the state tournament as well.
It should be noted that was at a time when 14 weight classes were in place — there are now 13, which means two fewer state qualifying spots from each section. Many considered it bad for the sport back then to have Simley in the same section as fellow powers Kasson-Mantorville, Zumbrota-Mazeppa and others. After all, why would a structure not allow for one of the top two consistently best programs of the past two decades to reach the state tournament? Until this year, when Watertown-Mayer won the Class 2A team wrestling title, either Simley or Kasson-Mantorville had won every Class 2A team state title since 2008.
ADVERTISEMENT Now the two perennial powers and rivals are back together again. That means the likely de facto Class 2A state championship will be at the Mayo Civic Center in the Section 1, Class 2A final. “It’s in the best interest of our program that I focus on the things that I can control," K-M coach Ryan Hill said.
"I have zero control over which section K-M gets placed in and therefore I’m going to put my energy and efforts elsewhere.” Hill was quick to point out that this not only affects the KoMets, but as well as the rest of Section 1, especially Zumbrota-Mazeppa. The Cougars will be a consensus top-four team next year along with K-M and Simley.
When requesting comment from multiple board members on the potential reasoning, MSHSL communications coordinator Tim Leighton gave this statement to the Post Bulletin via email: "Member School enrollment data compiled by the Minnesota Department of Education and Geographic locations of Member Schools are two of the primary criteria during the Competitive Section Placement Process." Leighton did not respond when pressed for further comment. If that was the case, then it would truly be a head-scratching move.
According to the latest data provided by the MSHSL, Simley has an enrollment of 831, which is the second largest in Section 1, Class 2A behind only the co-op of Winona/Winona Cotter (1,033), which was moved down from Class 3A. Meanwhile, Albert Lea (827) and Austin (1,159) won appeals to move up to Class 3A. Full enrollments of all member schools can be found here.
ADVERTISEMENT As for the distance, Simley is nearly 70 miles from Rochester — where the section tournament is located. Quite simply, it doesn't seem to add up in the eyes of many coaches. All of these factors coupled with the lack of transparency is what has coaches and the wrestling community so up in arms.
"I know Will (Short) at Simley doesn't want this. It is a real head-scratcher that I honestly feel the state should explain better to the public," Z-M coach Link Steffen said in an email. "Show us the diagram, show us the other options, it just seems not much thought was used in this decision.
At least not much thought at all for the betterment of the sport or the athletes — everything they preach (to) us to do." Minnesota's neighbor to the East, Wisconsin, has implemented a performance and competitive balance factor — a points system that is calculated after each sport's season and applied on a sport-by-sport basis, with the exception of track & field and swimming & diving. It is a three-year cumulative total per division.
Programs that have accumulated at least six tournament performance-factor points will be promoted to the division with the next highest enrollments from the previous year. A program is awarded points based on playoff success, such as reaching the state tournament and advancing. It's not a perfect system but it takes into account powerhouse programs dominating in a specific sport/division — Wisconsin uses divisions instead of classes — and still takes into account enrollment data.
Right now, some coaches believe the current MSHSL system, with realignment every two years, does not seem to put the schools in the best position. "It's a broken system," Plainview-Elgin-Millville coach Steve Heinrichs said. "It's a mess right now.
So next year, I would probably say Kasson right now on paper, is probably the top seed in the section. Then Z-M and Simley are two and three. So a top-five team in the state is not even going to get to the (section) finals.
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It's bad for the sport." ADVERTISEMENT Heinrichs points out that it will really impact programs like P-E-M, Byron, Cannon Falls, Lake City, etc., when it comes to the individual section tournament.
It could put a real strain on these programs. "Here's the deal," Heinrichs said. "We have all these coaches, I've been at it 28 years, and other coaches have been at it for 20-25 years.
Very passionate people bust their butt, try and get the right people into those youth programs, build them up. You put all the time in, the season, it's a grind. We have all been down that road before, when you have not qualified people for state, and you get done with sections, and you're like, what just happened? You sit there and say, well, now we need to get ready for next season and your offseason is just, it's terrible.
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What people don't understand is that it trickles down. (When) you don't get kids to state, all of a sudden elementary kids will say, 'well we are going to do something else.' .
.. I was talking to Jamie Heidt when he was still the (K-M) coach a few years ago and he said if you want to build these programs, you have to get kids to state.
That's how you build these programs." According to Heinrichs, many coaches want to go back to a manner in which the three classes were broken down before — split evenly by thirds, with the top 1/3 going in the highest class, the next 1/3 into the middle class and the smallest 1/3 into the smallest class. Now, the top 64 most populated schools are supposed to be in Class 3A, the following 96 in 2A and the rest in 1A.
The Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association sent out a survey to the state's coaches last year gauging the interest in bringing back the previously used format. Many coaches prefer the old method, according to the responses. But any significant change is not on the docket any time soon.
Still, the MSHSL's hand needs to be pressed to the stove when it comes to change. "There's nothing you can do. What can we do?" Heinrichs said.
"What can we do looking ahead? The high school League it's a broken system — a mess right now." The only problem is that many people close to the situation believe the State High School League doesn't seem to care. ADVERTISEMENT.
