The long-awaited classifications for Iowa high school football programs were released recently. The numbers helped determine the districts for the next two seasons for teams. The Nodaway Valley/OM Wolverines will be in Class A for the next two years. NV/OM is the 206th biggest program out of 329 that field a football team with a BEDS number of 167 (BEDs numbers are the number of students in grades 9-11).
Members of Class A, District 7, are ACGC; AHSTW, Avoca; Central Decatur; Mount Ayr; Nodaway Valley/OM; Oakland Riverside and Southwest Valley.
The Pride of Iowa Conference is nearly split down the middle between teams in Class A and the 8-Man class. There are five schools in Class A, including Nodaway Valley, Mount Ayr, Central Decatur, Southwest Valley and Martensdale-St. Marys. Schools that will field 8-Man teams the next two years are Wayne, Lenox, Southeast Warren and East Union.
The largest 36 schools in the state will be in Class 5A with the next 36 largest in 4A and the next 36 largest in 3A. After 3A, the next 48 largest schools are in 2A and the next largest 48 schools are in 1A. Any remaining 11-player schools playing football after that will make up Class A. 8-Man classifications this cycle include schools with a BEDS number of 105 or fewer.
The top-3 largest schools, according to BEDS documents, are West Des Moines Valley 2,236; Des Moines Roosevelt 2,161 and Johnston 1,792. The smallest three are Remsen St. Marys at 32, Mormon Trail 49 and Ar-We-Va, Westside 51.