Perry, Lake dropping to D-III

The trek to get to the Division III individual state wrestling tournament got a lot more difficult in Northeast Ohio on June 14 when the OHSAA announced wrestling divisions for the 2022-23 season.

Tradition-rich and News-Herald coverage area powerhouses Lake Catholic and Perry have dropped down from Division II to D-III for this coming year. The Lake and Perry programs have placed high in the D-II state team tournament and individual tournament in the past handful of years, with plentiful state placers and state champions.

Now those two programs will be wrestling in D-III.

The OHSAA uses enrollment figures provided by the Ohio Department of Education. The figures — and the corresponding division alignments in all sports — are good for the next two school years. Fall sports breakdowns were announced earlier this week. Spring sports realignments will be announced in September.

Here’s a look at how each division shakes down for area teams as far as the state individual tournament goes.

• There are eight area teams in D-I, which spans from largest (Mason’s 1,300) to smallest (Dover’s 363).

Area teams include Mentor (884), Euclid (653), Riverside (577), North (512), Mayfield (463), South (451), Brush (406) and Chardon (370, up from D-II).

• There are seven area teams in D-II, which spans from largest (Louisville’s 357) to smallest (River Valley’s 196).

Area schools in Division II this coming year are Madison (327, down from D-I), University (311), Geneva (304), Kenston (298, down from D-I), West Geauga (273), NDCL (243) and Benedictine (217).

Madison’s drop from D-I to D-II in wrestling corresponds with the football program’s drop from D-II to D-III this year.

• There are seven area teams in D-III, which spans from largest (Port Clinton’s 194) to smallest (St. John 41).

The seven area schools in D-III are Chagrin Falls (191, down from D-II), Lake Catholic (179, down from D-II), Perry (179, down from D-II), Beachwood (162, down from D-II), Berkshire (159), Kirtland (137) and Cardinal (116).