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WIAA Reviews Spring Sports Classification Changes as Performance Factor Takes Effect

By Brad Williams Jul 23, 2025 | 4:17 PM

STEVENS POINT, WI – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Classification Committee recently held hearings to evaluate school requests and appeals related to the new Performance Factor initiative, which will be implemented for spring sports starting in the 2026 season.

The Performance Factor system adjusts a school’s divisional placement based on postseason success over a three-year period. Programs that reach a six-point threshold are promoted to the next higher enrollment-based division, unless they are in sports like track & field or swimming & diving, which don’t use team advancement formats. Schools may only move up one division from the previous year and are also allowed to request to move down based on enrollment or competitive balance.

This year, the committee reviewed 13 requests from schools hoping to move down for the 2025–26 Tournament Series. Approved requests included:

  • Softball: Fall River, Gibraltar, Sheboygan Lutheran, and Sheboygan South

  • Baseball: Luck and Sheboygan South

  • Girls Soccer and Boys Tennis: Sheboygan South

  • Boys Golf: Spring Valley

Meanwhile, several schools earned enough performance points to warrant a promotion to a higher division:

Baseball:

  • Aquinas

  • Johnson Creek

  • Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic

  • Pacelli

Boys Golf:

  • Cambridge

  • Chetek-Weyerhaeuser

  • Eau Claire Memorial

  • Edgerton

  • Lakeland

  • Marquette

  • Mineral Point

  • Sheboygan North

  • Waunakee

Girls Soccer:

  • Catholic Memorial

  • Cedar Grove-Belgium

  • Edgewood

  • Kiel

  • Muskego

  • Oregon

  • Plymouth

  • Whitefish Bay

Softball:

  • Brodhead

  • Fall Creek

  • Kaukauna

  • Mishicot

  • Kenosha Bradford

  • Oakfield

  • Pacelli

  • Waupun

Boys Tennis:

  • Brookfield Academy

  • Brookfield Central

  • Marquette

  • Middleton

  • University School of Milwaukee

Four schools submitted appeals to contest their promotions: Johnson Creek (baseball), Chetek-Weyerhaeuser and Edgerton (boys golf), and Waupun (softball). None of the appeals were approved.

The Classification Committee overseeing these decisions includes nine athletic directors, two principals, and seven superintendents. The performance factor was approved by WIAA members in a 265–115 vote at the 2023 Annual Meeting and took effect in the 2024–25 school year.

The WIAA plans to release full Tournament Series assignments for 2025–26 spring sports later this summer. More details on the performance factor process are available on the WIAA website.