West Virginia Supreme Court reinstates classifications for high school sports | News, sports, jobs

CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Supreme Court has reinstated previous high school football classifications after orders caused the playoffs to be postponed while it planned responses in similar cases involving Class A high school volleyball.

The state Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday evening in two combined cases involving the West Virginia Secondary School Activity Commission (WVSSAC) filed in Wood and Mason counties. Judge William Wooten was replaced by Fayette County Circuit Judge Thomas Ewing after Wooten withdrew from hearing the cases last week.

According to the order, the Supreme Court granted the WVSSAC’s request for an injunction, stating that Wood County Circuit Judge J.D. Beane exceeded his authority when he overruled a reclassification system for high school football that had been implemented at the beginning of the season was considered. school year by the WVSSAC, restoring the previous classification system.

“It is undisputed that the WVSSAC had the authority to reclassify under West Virginia Code of State Rules §127-3-10,” is stated in the order. “In our review, we conclude that the Circuit Court’s entry of injunctive relief was not based on the WVSSAC’s lack of authority to reclassify, but rather the timing and manner of that reclassification. We have repeatedly held that the manner in which the WVSSAC applies its rules is not subject to judicial review.”

Attorneys for the WVSSAC filed an injunction in Supreme Court last Thursday, as well as a motion for expedited damages that the court granted, setting deadlines for Monday afternoon for attorneys for the school systems in Wood and Mason counties to respond.

Attorneys for Cabell County Schools and attorneys representing a student at Lincoln High School in Harrison County also filed friend-of-the-court briefs in and against the subpoena.

Attorneys for the Wood County Board of Education obtained a motion for an injunction from Beane on Nov. 9, striking down the reclassification system for high school football. Wood County Schools believes the change in classification and the associated point grading system used to determine playoff brackets and seeding have negatively impacted Williamstown High School, Parkersburg High School and Parkersburg South High School.

In August, the WVSSAC Board of Control decided to move several schools to a lower classification, following a decision by the WVSSAC nearly a year ago to eliminate the three-grade system to a four-grade system, ranging from A to the smallest schools to AAAA for the largest schools.

Attorneys for Wood County Schools claim that the three Wood County schools sought relief by appealing the new classifications through the existing WVSSAC process, but to no avail, and it was impossible to make changes to their schedules due to existing contracts. Attorney Patrick McFarland, representing Wood County, said the WVSSAC did not follow its own rules for revising its new rating system and did not survey its member schools about potential impacts.

In a separate case filed by Point Pleasant High School and a member of the Point Pleasant football team, Fifth Circuit Judge Anita Ashley issued an order on Nov. 11 ordering play-in games for high school football teams that would be unlisted have been left. playoffs based on the classification change caused by Wood County’s order.

They argue that the injunction should be granted and that Wood County’s injunction should be overturned.

The Supreme Court has postponed all high school playoff games indefinitely pending the outcome of these cases. Saturday games between Capitol High School vs. Hampshire High School and Point Pleasant vs. St. Albans High School, mandated by Ashely’s order, were also canceled. Once again, the Supreme Court ruled that Ashley had exceeded her authority.

“Regarding the November 11, 2024 Order of the Circuit Court of Mason County, we

finding that the order was issued in direct response to the unlawful grant of injunctive relief by the Circuit Court of Wood County,‘according to the order. “Be that as it may, the Mason County Circuit Court also lacked the authority to interfere with the internal affairs of the WVSSAC and overrode the law in directing the WVSSAC to schedule play-in games as set forth in the order.

In Class AAAA, Wheeling Park (7-3) finished as the No. 4 seed and will host No. 13 Musselman (2-8) at Wheeling Island Stadium.

“We’ve been practicing for two weeks now without knowing for sure who we’re playing against, so now it’s time to finally find out who,” Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. “It felt so good today when I got the call that we were finally going to play this weekend.

“I found out late today during our training. When I told the kids, you could see the excitement in their eyes.”

“But we’re not sure yet when we’re going to play.”

Since Musselman is the lower seed, it is their choice when they play.

“With the snowstorm that we’re expected to get late in the week, they could get about 6 to 10 inches of snow out there in the eastern panhandle,” Called daughter. “They will make their decision based on the weather.”

The SSAC released times and dates for the first-round playoff games later Tuesday evening. Wheeling Park and Musselman play Friday at Wheeling Island Stadium at 7 p.m.

In Class AA, Wheeling Central (8-2) finished as the No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 Nicholas County (6-4) at Bishop Schmitt Field on Friday at 7 p.m.

“We kind of knew who we were going to play against. The changes did not affect us.” said veteran Wheeling Central head coach Mike Young. “We prepared through scouting reports. We have to secure the ball, defend solidly and put points on the board.”

Young said the week off helped the Maroon Knights get healthier.

“We have been healthy all year,” he said. “When we lost, we had four to five zero starters. When we’re healthy, we’re pretty good.”

In Class A, No. 4 Cameron (9-1) hosts No. 13 Valley (7-2) and No. 11 Tyler Consolidated (7-3) visits No. 6 Sherman (8-2). Both games are Friday evening at 7 p.m.

In a Saturday match, No. 3 Wahama (10-0) entertains No. 14 Madonna (7-3) at 1:30 p.m.

In a similar dispute involving Class A volleyball, the Supreme Court on Monday granted the WVSSAC’s motions for expedited damages as it considers the WVSSAC’s ban on cases filed over Class A volleyball classifications.

While the Class AA, AAA and AAAA playoffs continued, the WVSSAC postponed the Class A playoffs pending the Supreme Court’s decision after conflicting circuit court rulings in cases involving Tyler Consolidated High School and East Hardy High School about reclassifications were brought.

The Tyler County Board of Education submitted a request Oct. 1 to move instruction from Class A to Class AA. That order was granted on October 30. In response, East Hardy High School filed its own injunction asking the court to ban Tyler Consolidated High School from participating in the Class A volleyball tournament originally scheduled for Nov. 12.

Attorneys for the WVSSAC sought expedited relief from the Supreme Court, filing injunctive relief orders Monday for both Tyler County and Hardy County, asking the high court to lift the preliminary injunction that prevented the Class A volleyball tournament from proceeding or to issue guidance as to which order of the lower court will follow.

“In this case, the Circuit Court of Tyler County…exceeded its jurisdiction and substituted its own decisions for those of the WVSSAC and its Board of Directors and the West Virginia Department of Education Board of Review on the classification of schools by its own judgment and acted in a manifestly improper manner when it granted defendant relief in the form of an order classifying Tyler Consolidated as Class A on October 30, 2024, when the Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors and the Review Board classified it as Class AA,” wrote Stephen Gandee, an attorney for the WVSSAC.