Tigers, Cougars moving up a class

Fleetwood up to 5A, Kutztown to 4A in football; Berks Catholic opts to play up at Class 4A

Fleetwood and Kutztown will compete in higher classifications for the next two football seasons, according to the PIAA’s latest enrollment figures, and Berks Catholic, as expected, has opted to play up a class.

Fleetwood, which qualified for the District 3 playoffs for the first time this season, in Class 4A, will be classified 5A for the next cycle, which includes the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.

Kutztown will move up from 3A to 4A – if it fields a team. School officials are in the process of evaluating the viability of the program.

Berks Catholic, which saw its male enrollment for grades 9-11 drop by 51 over the last two years, qualifies at 3A but opted to play at 4A, the level where it has competed since the PIAA expanded to six classes for the 2016 season. Berks Catholic reported the lowest football enrollment in Berks.

Wyomissing, meanwhile, will remain in 3A, meaning the Spartans can’t meet the Saints in the postseason. The rivals are not scheduled to play in the 2020 or 2021 seasons.

Hamburg will move down a class, to 3A; its enrollment dipped from 275 to 264.

Kutztown, with an enrollment of 159, would be classified 2A, but its numbers are boosted by its joint cooperative sponsorship with Brandywine Heights.

Fleetwood, with an enrollment of 310, would be classified 4A, but it has a joint sponsorship with Oley Valley that pushed it up one class.

Gov. Mifflin missed moving up to 6A by one boy. Its enrollment is 582, one short of the cutoff (583) for 6A.

In boys basketball, three Berks programs will move up for the next cycle: Muhlenberg, from 5A to 6A; Fleetwood, from 4A to 5A; and Oley Valley, from 3A to 4A. Exeter will drop to 5A. Muhlenberg’s male enrollment has jumped by 72, second-highest among Berks schools behind Reading High, which saw enrollment grow from 1,813 to 2,148, easily the largest in the state.

Fleetwood’s enrollment has grown by 40; Oley Valley’s enrollment remained the same.

Berks Catholic, with an enrollment of 231, will be the only 4A team and less than half the size of all the other teams in Division 1 of the Berks Conference next season when the BCIAA realigns to four divisions.

Reading High, Wilson and Gov. Mifflin will be 6A; Exeter will be 5A.

Muhlenberg will be the lone 6A in Division II, along with Daniel Boone, Twin Valley and Conrad Weiser in 5A.

In football, Berks 1 will include one 6A (Reading High), four 5As (Mifflin, Exeter, Muhlenberg and Boone) and one 4A (Berks Catholic).

Berks Catholic is one of two District 3 football programs opting to play up in the next cycle. The other is Bishop McDevitt, which it faced in the 4A championship game in 2017 and 2018.

Among the most notable changes in football is Cocalico, the Class 5A champ which will play at 4A next season. York High moves to 6A. Lebanon and Red Lion drop to 5A.

Under the PIAA’s “Success Formula,” which will take effect for the 2020 season, eight football programs will be forced up one classification (pending appeals): Aliquippa, to 4A; Archbishop Wood, to 5A; Erie Cathedral Prep, to 5A; Farrell, to 2A; Imhotep Charter, to 4A; Lackawanna Trail, to 3A; Southern Columbia, to 3A; and Wilmington, to 3A.

Aliquippa has a 1A enrollment, opted to play at 3A and has been bumped up to 4A.

The “Success Formula” combines a program’s win totals in the state playoffs with its number of transfers.

Football

With male enrollment, grades 9-11, and (PIAA classification) for 2020-22:

Reading High 2148 (6A) Boyertown 832 (6A) Wilson 766 (6A)

Gov. Mifflin 582 (5A) *Exeter 564 (5A) Muhlenberg 530 (5A) *Daniel Boone 441 (5A) Twin Valley 424 (5A) *Fleetwood 418 (5A)

Conrad Weiser 325 (4A) *Kutztown 285 (4A) Hamburg 264 (3A) Schuylkill Valley 243 (3A) Wyomissing 238 (3A) Berks Catholic 231 (3A) *Enrollment impacted by join cooperative sponsorship agreement.

Boys basketball

With male enrollment, grades 9-11, and PIAA classification for 2020-22)

Reading High 2148 (6A) Boyertown 832 (6A) Wilson 766 (6)

Gov. Mifflin 582 (6A) Muhlenberg 530 (6A) Exeter 499 (5A)

Daniel Boone 429 (5A) Twin Valley 424 (5A) Fleetwood 418 (5A) Conrad Weiser 325 (5A) Hamburg 264 (4A) Schuylkill Valley 243 (4A) Wyomissing 238 (4A) Berks Catholic 231 (4A) Oley Valley 215 (4A) Brandywine 202 (3A) Kutztown 165 (3A) Tulpehocken 162 (3A) Antietam 130 (2A)

High Point 39 (1A)

Berks Christian 23 (1A)