Waverly-Shell Rock rescinds Mississippi Valley Conference application

[cigaretteman]

Waverly-Shell Rock is changing its strategy in hopes of finding a new home for its high school sports teams.


The Gazette learned Tuesday that WSR will rescind its motion to apply for the Mississippi Valley Conference. This is according to notes obtained from a school board meeting held Monday.


Instead, Waverly-Shell Rock will apply to the Wamac Conference for all sports except for boys’ and girls’ wrestling, and will seek membership in the MVC for wrestling only.


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According to the release:


“(Athletics director Greg) Bodensteiner presented to the board information on the majority of the coaches’ preference to join the Wamac Conference rather than the MVC.


“He suggested that we could apply to the MVC for wrestling and the Wamac for other sports.”


The motion passed unanimously.


According to one Wamac athletics director, there has been “no formal inquiry” from Waverly-Shell Rock as of Wednesday afternoon and the expectation is that the application “will get zero support.”


Waverly-Shell Rock has been a member of the Northeast Iowa Conference for 90 years. Citing an imbalance in size, the other five NEIC schools (Charles City, Crestwood, Decorah, New Hampton and Waukon) voted to remove WSR from the league effective June 30, 2023.

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Those five schools hope to expand the league, and have extended invitations to MFL MarMac, North Fayette Valley, Oelwein, Osage and Sumner-Fredericksburg.


The Wamac currently is home for 13 schools — Benton Community, Center Point-Urbana, Clear Creek Amana, Dyersville Beckman, Independence, Maquoketa, Marion, Mount Vernon, Solon, South Tama, Vinton-Shellsburg, West Delaware and Williamsburg.


Beckman and Maquoketa will depart for the River Valley Conference following this school year, and Grinnell will join in time for the 2023-24 school year.


That will give the new 12-team conference an average BEDS enrollment of 381. Waverly-Shell Rock’s BEDS number (students in grades 9-11 in the 2020-21 school year) is 555, which would make it the largest school in the league.

Waverly-Shell Rock rescinds Mississippi Valley Conference application

Waverly-Shell Rock rescinded its application into the Mississippi Valley Conference and now plans to apply to the MVC for wrestling only, to the Wamac Conference for all other sports.

www.thegazette.com

 

[MitchLL]

I will guarantee you the WAMAC will reject the application. Makes no logistical sense. Sitting at 13 schools... losing two... then adding one gets the conference to 12. Adding WSR gets em back to odd number.

WSR wants to remain a big dog and be the largest school. The karma is awesome.

WTF???? They think they're Notre Dame?

 

[Jcchawk]

Did they just realize that they would get their ass handed to them in every sport but wrestling in the MVC?

 

[Tom Paris]

I will guarantee you the WAMAC will reject the application. Makes no logistical sense. Sitting at 13 schools... losing two... then adding one gets the conference to 12. Adding WSR gets em back to odd number.

WSR wants to remain a big dog and be the largest school. The karma is awesome.

WTF???? They think they're Notre Dame?

WAMAC probably doesn't want the headache. Who is joining the WAMAC to replace Maquoketa and Beckman, which are joining the River Valley.

 

[MitchLL]

WAMAC probably doesn't want the headache. Who is joining the WAMAC to replace Maquoketa and Beckman, which are joining the River Valley.

Grinnell in two years.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

Can the state force a conference to accept them?

they have to play somewhere don’t they ?

the new 4A conference with all the large blue collar 4A schools is where I assumed they would end up. Mason City Fort Dodge Marshalltown ect..

 

[Jim Grizzly]

Talk about hubris thinking they could join the MVC and their kids would compete. Probably wouldn't hurt as bad in football since I'd imagine they would still be in district play outside of the largest schools. (I might be wrong, been a while). Otherwise, yikes.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

They should consider the Little Hawkeye (Replace Grinnell) or the Racooon River Conference. Both south and west so it would include some trips.

 

[InsaneHawkJJP]

If their stupid racist fans would have just kept their mouths shut, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Good riddance.

 

[StormHawk42]

They should consider the Little Hawkeye (Replace Grinnell) or the Racooon River Conference. Both south and west so it would include some trips.

No way either would accept them for the geographic reasons alone. Carroll to Carlisle is already a stretched out conference.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

If their stupid racist fans would have just kept their mouths shut, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Good riddance.

It fast forwarded it but I am not sure this wouldn’t happen anyway. Waverly is getting bigger and the rest are dying rural towns for the most part.

 

[EasyHawk]

They should consider the Little Hawkeye (Replace Grinnell) or the Racooon River Conference. Both south and west so it would include some trips.

I missed the Grinnell news, that's a blow to the Little Hawkeye. Knoxville left when my kids were still in school so it was a 7 team conference until Indianola joined a few years ago.

 

[MitchLL]

Can the state force a conference to accept them?

they have to play somewhere don’t they ?

the new 4A conference with all the large blue collar 4A schools is where I assumed they would end up. Mason City Fort Dodge Marshalltown ect..

This makes the most sense since that new conference currently only has 11 teams. But they'll be the smallest school and I think that's what they don't want.

They kinda screwed themselves by pulling their application to the MVC...can't go begging back.

One other thing I'll add...lots of talk at WAMAC track meet that CCA is growing so fast that their time in the WAMAC might be nearing an end. Likely heading to MVC within 5 years.

 

[Chuck C]

That doesn’t surprise me. All those new housing developments going up west of 380 and north of 80 are in Tiffin which is CCA I think.

 

[cigaretteman]

That doesn’t surprise me. All those new housing developments going up west of 380 and north of 80 are in Tiffin which is CCA I think.

Yep, fastest growing community in Iowa per capita wise.

 

[Chuck C]

Yep, fastest growing community in Iowa per capita wise.

I see they just set some new high voltage transmission poles that look to be headed to a new sub station over there. Getting ready to bring more power to the area.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

I see they just set some new high voltage transmission poles that look to be headed to a new sub station over there. Getting ready to bring more power to the area.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Did they just realize that they would get their ass handed to them in every sport but wrestling in the MVC?

They’d still be a force in MVC girls’ soccer too, but not nearly unbeatable in conference like they are now.