Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

As far as the Ohio High School Athletic Association is concerned, more is better.

The OHSAA Board voted 6-3 last year to split Division I into two divisions, thus creating seven total divisions this fall for the postseason football playoffs.

The OHSAA noted that Division I enrollment ranged from 494 males to 1,164.

“Adding a seventh division not only helps address the enrollment disparity in Division I, but also will create 32 more tournament opportunities for student-athletes, their schools and their communities, many of which have never or rarely experienced the playoffs,” said OHSAA commissioner Dan Ross.

“The committee members believe that this is an issue unique to football, especially since not all schools qualify for the OHSAA football tournament.”

Divisions II, III, IV and VI will hold playoffs at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Divisions I, V and VII will be at 7 p.m. on Saturdays.

The seventh division means the state finals will add another day for a championship game. The extra title game will be held on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The other six divisions will continue the normal schedule of three games each day at the normal times on Friday and Saturday.

The Thursday title game will consist of a division from Friday’s games and will be determined following the state semifinals.

The title games for divisions playing on Saturday will hold championship games on Saturday, Dec. 7. All game times will be announced following the state semifinals.

The schools with the 10 percent largest enrollments will remain in Division I. The remaining 644 schools are divided evenly to comprise the next six divisions.

The other divisions will just add another number so the smallest schools will be Division VII instead of VI as in the past.

The divisional breakdown will be: Div. I 608 and more; Div. II 403-607; Div. III 281-402; Div. IV 213-280; Div. V 156-212; Div. VI 112-155; Div. VII 111 and less.

Lawrence County teams in Division IV will be Ironton, Rock Hill, Chesapeake, South Point and Fairland. Other area teams are Portsmouth, Portsmouth West, Wheelersburg, Waverly, Northwest and Wellston.

In Division VII are Symmes Valley, Green, Portsmouth Notre Dame, Sciotoville East and South Gallia.

Some area teams in Division VI are Coal Grove, Oak Hill and Lucasville Valley.

The top eight teams in each region of each division will qualify for the playoffs as in past years.

The state playoffs will begin the weekend of Nov. 8-9 and continue each weekend until the state finals scheduled Dec. 5-7 at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium and Massillon’s Paul Brown Tigers’ Stadium.

The state finals will move to Columbus next year.

See a complete list of area teams, division breakdowns and enrollments.

 

Division Breakdown
Division    Enrollment    Schools
I        608 and more    72
II    403 to 607    108
III    402 to 281    108
IV    280 to 213    109
V    212 to 156    108
VI    156 to 112    105
VII    111 and less    105
Total schools    715

Ohio High School
Athletic Association
2013 Regional Assignments
Division V Region 17
Ironton
Chesapeake
Fairland
South Point
Adena
Amanda-Clearcreek
Bishop Hartley
Bloom Carroll
Coshocton
Liberty Union
Martins Ferry
Mount Gilead
Johnstown Northridge
Northwest
Piketon
Portsmouth
Portsmouth West
River Valley
St. Clairsville
Chillicothe Southeastern
Belmont Union Local
Waverly
Wellston
Westfall
Wheelersburg
West Muskingum
Zane Trace
Division VI Region 23
Coal Grove
Oak Hill
Lucasville Valley
Col. Bishop Ready
Bellaire
Chillicothe Huntington
West Lafayette Ridgewood
Nelsonville-York
Fort Frye
Columbus Academy
Fredericktown
Northmor
Crooksville
Centerburg
Woodsfield Monroe
Barnesville
Howard East Knox
Grandview Heights
Cardington-Lincoln
Buckeye Trail
Belpre
Federal Hocking
Sarahsville Shenandoah
Berne Union
Hannibal River
Newark Catholic
Division VII Region 25
Symmes Valley
Glouster Trimble
Steubenville Catholic
Toronto
Columbus Africentric
Frontier
Shadyside
Caldwell
Waterford
Lancaster Fisher Catholic
Corning Miller
Racine Southern
Grove City Christian
Conotton Valley
Bridgeport
Reedsville Eastern
Malvern
Millersport
South Gallia
Strasburg-franklin
Columbus Harvest Prep
Fairfield Christian
Tuscarawas Catholic
Zanesville Rosecrans
Beallsville
Bellaire St. John
Division VII Region 26
Green
Sciotoville East
Portsmouth Notre Dame
Paint Valley
Manchester
North Lewisburg Triad
Covington
Fort Recovery
Cincinnati Christian
Fort Loramie
Marion Local Maria Stein
Springfield Catholic
Cedarville
Sidney Lehman Catholic
Lockland
Upper Scioto Valley
South Charleston Southeastern
Cincinnati Montessori
Ansonia
Dayton Jefferson
Waynesfield
Bradford
DeGraff Riverside
Ridgemont
Cin. College Prep Academy

Volleyball Enrollment
Division I    344 or more
Division II    200 to 343
Division III    113 to 199
Division IV    112 or less
Boys Golf
Division I    299 or more
Division II    156 to 298
Division III    155 or less
Girls’ Golf
Division I    301 or more
Division II    300 or less
Boys’ Soccer
Division I    377 or more
Division II    201 to 376
Division III    200 or less
Girls’ Soccer
Division I    354 or more
Division II    190 to 353
Division III    189 or less
Cross Country
Division I    324.5 or more
Division II    167 to 324
Div. III    166.5 or less
Girls’ Tennis
Division I    321 or more
Division II    320 or less

Area School Enrollments
Upper 3 Grades as of Oct. 2010
School    Boys    Girls
Independent
Ironton       162    153
St. Joseph    18    26
Ohio Valley Conference
South Point    209    196
Fairland    202    188
Rock Hill    189    166
River Valley    186    195
Chesapeake    176    159
Coal Grove    140    135
Southern Ohio Conference
Division I
Oak Hill    155    163
Symmes Valley    110    90
Beaver Eastern    97    102
Western    94    81
Green       81    58
Portsmouth Clay    73    90
Sciotoville East    59    66
New Boston    51    54
Ports. Notre Dame    35    37
Division II
Minford    219    172
Northwest    206    166
Waverly    201    220
Portsmouth West    188    174
Wheelersburg    170    154
Lucasville Valley    132    119
South Webster    86    91
SEOAL
Logan      478    461
Jackson    306    297
Vincent Warren    279    263
Gallipolis    253    224
Portsmouth    187    175
Tri-Valley Conference
Alexander    183    186
Athens     297    335
Belpre      128    121
Meigs Eastern    79    84
Meigs      218    177
Nelsonville-York    148    153
South Gallia    70    87
Racine Southern    86    85
Trimble    110    86
Vinton County     290    253
Waterford    98    85
Wellston    179    185
(Wahama, W.Va., has 202 total students)
Scioto Valley Conference
Adena      162    132
Huntington Ross    151    158
Paint Valley    111    112
Piketon    162    175
Westfall    185    207
Zane Trace    191    200
Southeastern    157    144
Unioto     250    229
Southern Hills League
Lynchburg-Clay    156    141
Manchester    90    103
North Adams    114    111
Whiteoak    74    78
Eastern Brown     148    148
Peebles    112    114
Ripley    132    127
Fayetteville-Perry    114    132
Leesburg Fairfield    110    92
West Union    137    171
Schools of Interest
Amanda-Clearcreek    221    197
Chillicothe    381    324
Bishop Hartley    210    334
Col. St. Charles    492    0
Marietta    349    356
Greenfield McClain    253    193
Wash. Court House    284    285
Miami Trace    274    272
Hillsboro    327    320
New Lexington    226    208