New Kansas high school football classifications drastically shake up Class 5A in 2022
There will be some fresh teams deep in the Class 5A high school football playoffs in Kansas starting next season.
The Kansas High School Activities Association released its football classification changes on Friday, detailing the changes that will be coming in the next two-year cycle for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. A full list of changes can be found on the KSHSAA website.
The biggest changes occur with two current Class 5A powerhouses exiting, as Wichita Northwest football will be bumped up to Class 6A beginning in 2022 and St. Thomas Aquinas will drop to Class 4A the same year.
Since moving down to Class 5A in 2018, Wichita Northwest has been unbeatable in the West region. The Grizzlies have reached the state championship game in every season and lost in the finals in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, St. Thomas Aquinas has been a dominant program in the East region. The Saints have reached at least the Class 5A semifinals in every season since 2014, reaching three state championship games and winning the 2018 Class 5A title (over Wichita Northwest).
The good news for Kansas City-area public schools in Class 4A is that a new challenger is coming down to give Bishop Miege some competition. The bad news is that Class 4A East will likely be dominated by private schools Miege, Aquinas and St. James Academy.
There were only six schools affected in the state’s two largest classifications, but half of them were City League teams.
Joining Wichita Northwest in bumping up from Class 5A to Class 6A will be Wichita Heights, while Wichita West falls from Class 6A down to Class 5A.
Other Wichita-area schools affected by the changes were Halstead, which falls from Class 3A to Class 2A, and a host of smaller schools moving to Class 1A in Belle Plaine, Bluestem, Hutchinson Trinity, Marion, Medicine Lodge and Sterling.
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 11:48 AM.
.jpg)