The IHSAA released its official set of enrollment figures for member schools Wednesday, a few weeks after the Indiana DOE released enrollment figures for public and private schools across the state.
The data has been used to set the classes for the various team sports which are classed by the IHSAA.
Because of the use of the Success Factor, the classes across each sport vary, with teams like Adams Central football and Norwell girls’ basketball moving up. Bellmont girls’ volleyball will head back down to 3A for the 2026 season.
We at the WZBD sports department will break down the new information specifically by sport, beginning with the 2026 fall sports.
FOOTBALL
Everyone who considers themselves a fan of local high school football will already have known that the Adams Central Flying Jets would be playing 3A football next year, so it comes as no surprise to see the Jets in a different division yet again. They will face a significant challenge playing against teams double their size, but anyone who counts out coach Mosser’s team will be begging to get beat in 2026.
There are, however, other significant changes across the area.
Football is a six-class sport, with the 32 largest schools joining up next season with Decatur Central to play in 6A next year. Both 6A and 5A will actually have 33 schools, meaning one sectional will need to have five teams and play a quarterfinal game while the other 62 teams have the week off.
Fort Wayne Snider will play in 5A next year after playing in 6A the last two years with little success. Coach Tippmann’s team won the 5A title in 2023.
5A will look extremely different locally, with Snider coming back down and joining Wayne, South Side and Huntington North, who all move up from 4A.
The North Side Legends will play 4A next year after playing in 5A for the last 20 years.
Local 6A Teams: Carroll (FW), Homestead, Northrop
Local 5A Teams: Snider, Huntington North, South Side, Wayne
Local 4A Teams: North Side, New Haven, East Noble, Bishop Dwenger, DeKalb, Leo, Jay County, Bishop Luers
Another SAC team will be joining 4A as Bishop Luers moves up from 3A after winning the 2A title in 2023 and losing in the 3A championship game in 2024 and 2025.
The changes will leave Norwell as the sixth-largest school in 3A football. They’ll be joined by rivals Bluffton and will very likely be paired with the Adams Central Flying Jets. The Tigers and Jets have met in the postseason in each of the last two campaigns.
Local 3A Teams: Norwell, Concordia Lutheran, Bellmont, Heritage, Bluffton, Garrett, Woodlan, Adams Central
Local 2A Teams: Blackford, Central Noble
Local 1A Teams: Churubusco, Whitko, South Adams, Monroe Central, Fremont, Northfield, Blackhawk Christian, Madison-Grant, Southwood, Southern Wells, Wes-Del, Union City
The South Adams Starfires ended up nowhere near the cutoff for 2A, as they’ll stay in 1A for two more years as the 12th-largest school in the state’s smallest football division. They were 26 students below Eastern Greene, who moved up.
Attica will be the smallest school playing football in next year’s IHSAA tournament with 167 students, while Carmel will continue to lead with 5206 students.
New schools into the football ranks include Trinity Lutheran, Faith Christian, Henryville and Illiana Christian, giving Indiana 316 football-playing schools.
62 teams will play in 1A, 63 in 2A and 62 in 3A. 63 will play in 4A.
Four-Class Sports
The sports of Girls Volleyball, Softball, Basketball (boys and girls), and Baseball will use four classes once again this season. The individual changes in regards to success factor will be announced at a later date.
The biggest changes came in the teams moving up to 3A from 2A and vice versa.
Bluffton, Bishop Luers and Woodlan all will play up a class next year in those sports, while Maconaquah and Peru dropped down.
On a larger scale, Evansville Mater Dei will also move up to 3A, where they are often competitive in most sports.
South Adams teams were just eight students from the threshold of dropping down to 1A for the next two years.
Local 4A Schools: Carroll (FW), Homestead, Northrop, Snider, Huntington North, South Side, Wayne, North Side
Local 3A Schools: Columbia City, New Haven, East Noble, Bishop Dwenger, DeKalb, Leo, Jay County, Norwell, Concordia Lutheran, Mississinewa, West Noble, Bellmont, Heritage, Bluffton, Garrett, Bishop Luers, Woodlan
Local 2A Schools: Maconaquah, Eastbrook, Oak Hill, Peru, Wabash, Blackford, Adams Central, Manchester, Central Noble, Eastside, Churubusco, South Adams
Local 1A Schools: Monroe Central, Daleville, Northfield, Blackhawk Christian, Madison-Grant, Southwood, Southern Wells, Canterbury
BOYS SOCCER
Locally, the Bellmont Braves will potentially benefit from a shuffle of teams that will see Bishop Dwenger move up to 3A. Could that shift Bellmont and Norwell south and away from some of the top teams in the state from the Fort Wayne area?
Local 3A Teams: Carroll (FW), Homestead, Northrop, Snider, Huntington North, South Side, Wayne, North Side, Columbia City, New Haven, Marion, East Noble, Bishop Dwenger, DeKalb
Local 2A Teams: Leo, Jay County, Norwell, Concordia Lutheran, Mississinewa, West Noble, Bellmont, Heritage, Garrett, Bishop Luers, Woodlan, Maconaquah, Eastbrook, Oak Hill, Peru
Local 1A Teams: Blackford, Manchester, Central Noble, Eastside, Blackhawk Christian, Canterbury
GIRLS SOCCER
The road to a state title for the Bellmont girls will not go through Mishawaka Marian this year, as the nemesis of the Braves will move up, along with Lawrenceburg, to 3A for the next two seasons.
Instead, the Braves will have to deal once again with Leo, as the Lions move back down to 2A.
The defending sectional champion Bellmont Braves will likely instead have to contend with South Bend St. Joe. Mishawaka Marian and St. Joe were ranked #1 and #2 last year when they met in the opening round of the sectional.
Local 3A Schools: Carroll (FW), Homestead, Northrop, Snider, Huntington North, South Side, Wayne, North Side, Columbia City, New Haven, Marion
Local 2A Schools: East Noble, Bishop Dwenger, DeKalb, Leo, Jay County, Norwell, Concordia Lutheran, Mississinewa, West Noble, Bellmont, Garrett, Bishop Luers, Woodlan, Maconaquah, Eastbrook
Local 1A Schools: Oak Hill, Peru, Wabash, Blackford, Manchester, Central Noble, South Adams, Blackhawk Christian, Southern Wells, Canterbury,
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