Monthly Archives: October 2014

Last week, we looked at how the conferences would have formed in 1976 if we used the 2014 conference structure. Today, we’ll jump ahead to 1985.

By 1985, Wyoming had expanded from three football classifications (AA, A and B) to four (4A, 3A, 2A and 1A). At that time, all four were 11-man classifications; the nine-man designation didn’t come along until 1989, and it broke off into its own class in 1990, which gave the state the five football classifications it has had ever since.

Applying this year’s conference alignments to the 1985 enrollment figures, here are the conferences we would have had back then:

Class 4A
1. Natrona, 2,054
2. Cheyenne East, 1,856
3. Cheyenne Central, 1,774
4. Kelly Walsh, 1,587
5. Gillette, 1,579
6. Laramie, 1,246
7. Sheridan, 1,156
8. Rock Springs, 1,101
9. Riverton, 981
10. Green River, 866

Class 3A East
11. Lander, 727
12. Rawlins, 693
15. Douglas, 578
20. Torrington, 469
21. Wheatland, 423
22. Buffalo, 368
Class 3A West
13. Cody, 690
14. Evanston, 670
16. Powell, 518
17. Star Valley, 513
18. Worland, 508
19. Jackson, 507

Class 2A East
23. Newcastle, 336
24. Glenrock, 321
25. Thermopolis, 304
31. Wind River, 187
34. Hanna, 168
35. Lusk, 165
36. Saratoga, 152
Class 2A West
26. Kemmerer, 248
27. Lyman, 237
28. Mountain View, 236
29. Lovell, 228
30. Greybull, 192
32. Pinedale, 185
33. Big Piney, 182

Class 1A 11-man East
38t. Seton, 138
41. Sundance, 129
42. Lingle, 123
44. Guernsey, 114
45. Upton, 109
49. Pine Bluffs, 99
50. Burns, 95
52. Southeast, 87
Class 1A 11-man West
37. Tongue River, 145
38t. Wyoming Indian, 138
40. Moorcroft, 131
43. Rocky Mountain, 118
46. Dubois, 107
47t. Basin, 106
47t. Shoshoni, 106
51. Big Horn, 94

Class 1A six-man East
53. Wright, 82
55. Midwest, 78
56. Hulett, 75
Class 1A six-man West
54. Cokeville, 79
57. Burlington, 67
58. Meeteetse, 64
63. Ten Sleep, 57

This actually shapes up pretty close to the state’s first attempt at a five-class structure in 1990. It’s here where we can see the rise of the western middle-sized town (the likes of Evanston, Kemmerer and others growing and Lander shrinking) forcing some uncomfortable alignments in 3A and 2A, where Lander and Wind River are forced into makeshift “East” conferences.

But that’s nothing compared to 1A, where the consolidation out west and the sheer number of smaller schools in the southeast corner has severely reduced the available schools for a “West” conference. Consequently, to get balanced eight-team conferences, we REALLY have to stretch, as Moorcroft heads west to keep things even.

And those six-man conferences look suspiciously like the nine-man conferences of the early 1990s….

Here are the retroactive five-class champions from 1985:

Class 4A: Natrona over Sheridan. Natrona actually beat Cody in the 1985 4A title game, but with Cody in 4A, the Broncs would have been replaced with… well, the Broncs. NC beat Sheridan 17-13 in the regular season in 1985 in Sheridan.
Class 3A: Cody over Evanston. Cody was the 4A runner-up in 1985; Evanston was the 3A champ over Torrington. In this matchup, the Broncs had the advantage; in five games against common opponents in 1985, Cody was 5-0, while Evanston was 3-2.
Class 2A: Lovell over Glenrock. Glenrock’s only losses were to Rawlins and Torrington, making them the top team in the East, while Lovell only lost to state champ Shoshoni. The nod goes to the Bulldogs, because coin flip.
Class 1A 11-man: Shoshoni over Seton. These two actually met in the 2A title game in 1985, and the Wranglers came out on top. Convenient.
Class 1A six-man: Wright over Cokeville. With real 1A champ Big Horn in a different conference, the real runner-up (Wright) would have met semifinalist Cokeville for the state title — and Wright actually would have had the edge in this one.

In both 1976 and 1985, we’ve had to fudge the geographic limits of the state to come up with equitable conference alignments. In 2014, we’ve had to do the same, but the alignments we’ve got in 2014 are actually pretty well suited for the enrollment splits the state has now. I think the biggest failure would be if, in 20 years from now, Wyoming high schools are using the same conference structure they’re using now. Reclassification is an endless process; just about the time we think we have a handle on it, enrollments will change and the process starts again.

–patrick

Several years ago, my dad gave me a stash of old material that he figured I could use more than he could. In that pile was a 1976-77 WHSAA directory, which — much like today’s directory — included the coaches for each sport, phone numbers, addresses and mascots for every school.

But the old WHSAA directories also included enrollment figures alongside each school’s listing, providing a nice glimpse into the makeup of Wyoming’s classification structure for that era.

In 1976, of course, Wyoming had only three classifications of football — Class AA, Class A and Class B. For football, the largest 14 schools were Class AA, the next 15 were Class A and the rest (33 schools in 1976, including 29 11-man schools and four eight-man schools) were Class B. (See the 1976 classifications and conferences here.)

But what if we retroactively applied the 2014 classification structure, with five classifications and the six-man option, to the state with its 1976 enrollments? What would the conferences have looked like back then with today’s conference structures? And if we squint really hard, can we gain some insights into the state’s current classification structure?

Well, first things first: Since 1976, we’ve lost some schools and we’ve gained some schools. In all, 11 high schools that were open in 1976 are no longer open (St. Mary’s, Medicine Bow, Byron, Goshen Hole, Jeffrey City, Cowley, Deaver-Frannie, Albin, La Grange, Huntley, Manderson). They’re included here. On the flipside, since 1976, Wyoming has had six schools opened or renamed due to consolidation (Cheyenne South, NSI, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Southeast, Wright). They’re not included here.

Here’s how the conferences would have looked in 1976 if we had used the 2014 conference structure:

Class 4A
1. Natrona, 2,126
2. Cheyenne East, 1,577
3. Cheyenne Central, 1,309
4. Kelly Walsh, 1,301
5. Laramie, 1,196
6. Rock Springs, 1,152
7. Sheridan, 1,112
8. Riverton, 970
9. Gillette, 923
10. Lander, 854

Class 3A East
12. Rawlins, 696
16. Torrington, 554
19. Newcastle, 414
20. Thermopolis, 390
21. Buffalo, 388
22. Douglas, 360
Class 3A West
11. Cody, 733
13. Powell, 645
14. Worland, 582
15. Green River, 556
17. Star Valley, 486
18. Jackson, 434

Class 2A East
24. Wheatland, 322
28. Glenrock, 217
29. Lusk, 203
30. St. Mary’s, 190
31. Sundance, 181
35. Pine Bluffs, 150
36. Tongue River, 146
Class 2A West
23. Evanston, 355
25. Lovell, 266
26. Kemmerer, 262
27. Greybull, 227
32. Pinedale, 178
33. Big Piney, 177
34. Saratoga, 157

Class 1A 11-man East
37t. Upton, 145
41. Lingle, 129
44. Guernsey, 121
45. Moorcroft, 111
47. Big Horn, 104
48. Burns, 102
50. Midwest, 93
51. Medicine Bow, 90
Class 1A 11-man West
37t. Lyman, 145
39. Wind River, 144
40. Wyoming Indian, 138
42t. Basin, 126
42t. Mountain View, 126
46. Hanna, 109
49. Dubois, 97
52. Meeteetse, 84

Class 1A six-man East(ish)
53. Shoshoni, 83
54. Hulett, 80
57. Cokeville, 68
59. Goshen Hole, 62
65. Glendo, 55
Class 1A six-man West (but really Northwest)
56. Burlington, 70
58. Byron, 66
62. Ten Sleep, 56
63. Cowley, 55
64. Deaver-Frannie, 55

Other schools without football programs, with their 1976 enrollments, included Snake River (72), Encampment (59), Jeffrey City (58), Albin (50), Kaycee (48), La Grange (48), Huntley (46), Arvada-Clearmont (45), Manderson (39), Rock River (36), Chugwater (35) and Farson (29). St. Stephens was not a WHSAA member in 1976.

In this scenario, the conference alignments actually line up pretty well. The only place where it gets messy is in six-man, where a predominance of Bighorn Basin teams makes up half the teams in the classification. Splitting those up into two even conferences would be an exercise in futility — so we end up with a “conference” that has Goshen Hole, Cokeville and Hulett all under one umbrella.

We’re stretching it a bit in Class 2A; we’ve got Evanston and Saratoga — two schools that have never played each other in football — in the same conference. And we’ve had to split up some natural geographic rivals to fit them into classifications and conferences. (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)

That 3A West sure looks familiar, though.

If we retroactively did some playoff brackets in 1976 with these alignments, we’d likely get championship games that look like this:

Class 4A: Laramie over Cheyenne Central. Without pesky Cody there to ruin it, Laramie coach John Deti Sr. finishes his career with a state title. Laramie beat Central 16-9 in the regular season.
Class 3A: Cody over Green River. Cody was the Class AA champ in 1976, while Green River won the Class A crown. Cody had the edge, thanks to a 2-0 record against common opponents (Green River was 1-1).
Class 2A: Glenrock over Kemmerer. Glenrock didn’t lose to any of the schools classified in this scenario as “2A” schools, while Kemmerer only lost to Evanston and had avenged that loss with a victory earlier in the season. They only had one common opponent, Thermopolis — a team Glenrock beat but Kemmerer didn’t.
Class 1A 11-man: Lyman over Guernsey-Sunrise. This was actually the Class B title game. It’s so nice when we have actual playoff brackets to reference….
Class 1A six-man: Byron over Cokeville. Byron was the Northwest’s representative in the Class B playoffs in 1976 but would have gotten a big challenge from Cokeville, which nearly knocked eventual Class B state champ Lyman from the playoffs.

Next week: 1985 in five classes.

–patrick