Wolfrum bristles at implication behind Wyomissing’s forced move up in class
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
Back in the day Wyomissing was a small-school power in District 3, winning the first three of its 12 championships at Class A (or smallest) level.
Much has changed in the decades since. The PIAA expanded from four to six classifications in 2017. A year later the state’s high school athletics governing body unveiled its so-called “Success Formula,” which forced top programs to move up based on their success in the PIAA Tournament.
The move was designed to crack down on transfers but Wyomissing – which made consecutive state final appearances in 2020 and 2021 and reached the semifinals in 2022 – got caught up in that net.
| Football classification | ’24-25 | ’22-23 |
| Reading High | 6 | 6 |
| Wilson | 6 | 6 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 6* | 5 |
| Muhlenberg | 5 | 5 |
| Exeter | 5 | 5 |
| Daniel Boone | 5* | 4 |
| Conrad Weiser | 5* | 4 |
| Fleetwood | 5* | 4 |
| Twin Valley | 4 | 4 |
| Hamburg | 4* | 3 |
| Wyomissing | 4* | 3 |
| Schuylkill Valley | 3 | 3 |
| Berks Catholic | 3 | 3 |
| Kutztown | 3 | 3 |
Following last season Wyomissing was bumped from Class 3A – where it has won five straight district championships – to 4A.
The Spartans are no longer on the “small school” side of the football ledger.
Bob Wolfrum doesn’t mind seeing his team forced to play against larger schools in the postseason; the long-time Spartans coach has always tried to add bigger schools and quality opponents to his schedule.
Adding 14-time state champion Southern Columbia as this year’s season-opener is proof of that.
What Wolfrum doesn’t like about the PIAA’s imposed promotion is the implications behind it.
“It’s telling people that we cheated,” Wolfrum said, bristling at the notion that Wyomissing’s program plays out of bounds. “I don’t mind the (increased) competition, I just didn’t like the inference.”
Postseason wins aren’t the only component of the Competition Formula. It also includes transfers. A football program with three or more transfers and six or more “success points” over a two-year cycle will be bumped up a classification.
Wyomissing did have several transfers on its teams the past few seasons. None were game-changers or all-league picks but some contributed to those 25 victories.
“West Perry (which lost to Wyomissing in the last two district championship games), that’s all their fans could talk about, (that) we recruit, ” Wolfrum said, laughing off the notion.
The Spartans’ roster will include some transfers this season, too. It’s inevitable, Wolfrum said. People want to move into the Wyomissing school district because of its strong academic reputation; kids who play football want to be part of one of the most successful programs in the state and play for a coach so revered they named the field after him.
“We got a bunch of transfers (this year),” Wolfrum said. “We’re always gonna have ’em now. So we will always be forced to move up, if we do well enough (in the state playoffs).”
Wyomissing is one of six Berks program which will play in a higher classification for the next two seasons, along with Gov. Mifflin, Daniel Boone, Conrad Weiser, Fleetwood and Hamburg.
Exeter was slated to move up to Class 6A but opted to end its cooperative sponsorship agreement with Antietam, which would have pushed it over the 6A threshold. Antietam student-athletes will play for Reading High this season.
Conrad Weiser, which co-ops with Tulpehocken; Fleetwood, which co-ops with Oley Valley; and Kutztown, which co-ops with Brandywine Heights, are each bumped up a level because of their agreements. (The PIAA adds 50 percent of the smaller school’s boys enrollment to the hosting school’s enrollment figure.)
Even with its move up in class Wyomissing figures to compete for a championship. Twin Valley appears to be the early favorite for a Class 4A title. Wyomissing is in a small group of top contenders that includes Eastern York and West Perry, maybe East Pennsboro, Susquehanna Township and Lampeter-Strasburg.
Bishop McDevitt and Manheim Central, which met in the Class 4A championship game last season, are now playing in 5A. McDevitt has won three straight Class 4A titles, four in the last six seasons, and has 17 overall titles. Manheim Central has won a record 18 district championships, most recently claiming the 5A title in 2017 and 2018.
Of the 12 teams which qualified for the District 3 Class 4A field last season just seven are back at that level this season.
Wyomissing will be the smallest of 21 Class 4A teams in District 3 with an enrollment of 243. The next-smallest school is Hamburg at 298. The largest is York Suburban, at 423.
Annville-Cleona, which reached the district Class 2A championship game in 2022 and the semifinals last season, is moving up to Class 3A where it will join Section 5 rivals Schuylkill Valley, Berks Catholic, and Kutztown.
Lancaster Catholic, a Section 5 champ the past two seasons, will move down in district play, to 2A. So does Pequea Valley.
In January Wyomissing was one of three football programs which saw its appeal not to be moved up denied by the PIAA Board of Directors. Steel-High and Aliquippa also lost their appeals. Bishop Guilfoyle was granted its appeal and will remain in Class 1A.
Wyomissing was targeted for reclassification two years ago but won its appeal, as did Aliquippa, Southern Columbia, and Redbank Valley.
The PIAA Board of Directors approved a measure earlier this year to apply the Competition Formula to all team sports, starting with the 2024-25 school year. Previously the rule applied only to football and basketball.
