MONROE — The WIAA recently released its girls basketball assignments for the 2024-25 season, and Argyle-Pecatonica was one of 10 Division 5 teams bumped up to Division 4.
Todd Clark, Director of Communications at the WIAA, explained that AP’s promotion was based on enrollment and a request from a Division 4 team to move down.
“From the data shared with me, Argyle-Pecatonica’s enrollment placed them in Division 5 with the largest enrollment in the division,” Clark said. “A request from a Division 4 school to be moved down a division was granted, and to make room in the full Division 5 bracket for that program, Argyle-Pecatonica moved up into Division 4.”
According to WisSports.net, there were eight girls basketball teams that requested to be moved down a division, with three of those requests being approved. Travis Wilson, General Manager and Football Editor at WisSports.net, reported May 9 that Sheboygan South was approved to move from Division 1 to Division 2, and Wisconsin Heights will move from Division 4 to Division 5. The third team was unidentified, but their enrollment would place them in Division 5 anyway.
Clark also explained that these movements could not be appealed.
As a result, AP will play in Division 4 for the 2024-25 season. They enter arguably one of the toughest sectionals in the division — which includes Aquinas, Cuba City, Mineral Point and New Glarus. Aquinas was a sectional qualifier in Division 3 in 2023-24 and ended the season ranked No. 7 by the WisSports.net Coaches Poll. Cuba City was the Division 4 runner-up last season, beating Mineral Point in a regional final and New Glarus in a sectional semifinal along the way. Not to mention, Sectional 3 in Division 4 includes Belleville, one of AP’s two losses of the season.
However, AP has shown it is able to hang with teams in Division 4 — and 3 — by beating Turner, Abundant Life Christian School, River Valley, Cambridge, Parkview and Lancaster last season. In fact, Lancaster is in the same sectional as Argyle-Pecatonica for 2024-25.
Other teams that got bumped up to Division 4 include Clear Lake, Glenwood City, Hurley, Marion — which will co-op with Tigerton — Edgar, Iola-Scandinavia, Riverdale, Heritage Christian, University Lake School co-op and Salam.
Although the movement is largely based on enrollment and not the new WIAA competitive balance rule, it is worth noting that AP and Clear Lake earned two points as state qualifiers this season, and Edgar earned one point in 2022-23. All other teams did not earn points.
Looking at enrollment, all but four schools’ population increased from 2022-23 — Clear Lake, Riverdale, University Lake School co-op and AP.
New teams to Division 5 include Princeton-Green Lake, Sheboygan Lutheran, Wisconsin Heights, Boscobel and Williams Bay. Wisconsin Heights is the only school that got moved down whose enrollment increased from 2022-23 to 2023-24. Although its enrollment went down, Sheboygan Lutheran still had a successful 2023-24 season in Division 4. The Crusaders finished 20-6 and fell in the sectional semifinal 69-58 to eventual state champion Laconia, earning one point. They finished the regular season ranked No. 7 in the WisSports.net Coaches Poll.
“The move to Division 4 is definitely frustrating,” AP head coach Jen Krogman said. “We wanted a chance to redeem ourselves in Division 5, but we will just have a new goal in mind. We just need to improve every day. Our sectional is stacked with talent. It’ll definitely be more of a challenge, but we just have to control what we can control.”
