Saturday included a different kind of reveal than the one to which Wisconsin high school football coaches and players have become accustomed.
The WIAA football matrix made its official debut as far as producing brackets as 224 teams across seven divisions learned their postseason fate and sent coaches scrambling for information ahead of Friday’s first round.
The matrix, based on wins over quality opponents and teams that they have been able to beat this season, allowed the cream of the crop to find the best spots — for the most part — in brackets as Wisconsin begins its tournament to crown state champions.
Not everything went exactly as planned for coaches, who learned their divisional assignments before the season began for the first time.
Logan coach Casey Knoble had a good idea his Rangers (6-3) could get a No. 4 seed in Division 3, but they are packaged with different teams than expected.
“I thought we’d be in with the other teams from around here,” Knoble said in reference to one quarter of the bracket that includes Onalaska, Reedsburg, Madison Edgewood and Sauk Prairie.
Logan instead draws fifth-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran (6-3) for a game at Swanson Field. A win likely takes them to top-seeded Waukesha Catholic Memorial (8-1) in the second round.
“So we have a Milwaukee team coming here, and if we win, we go to Waukesha,” he said. “It is what it is.”
The Rangers have to hope for some luck on injuries healing before Friday for their best chance to advance. Thousand-yard senior running back Maxim Roberts is one of those after a shoulder injury in a loss to Holmen in Week 9.
Aquinas is the only couleesports.com team that was awarded a No. 1 seed.
The Blugolds (9-0) have that spot in Division 4 and will host eighth-seeded Amery (4-5). But with Central (6-3), earning a No. 4 seed in Division 2, it will host seventh-seeded Menasha (6-3) at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
Aquinas will have to move its game and could end up at G-E-T.
The RiverHawks missed out on a chance to win the MVC outright in Week 9 when they lost a 20-14 contest to Onalaska. That left Central and Holmen tied for the conference championship.
Central coach Mitch Olson said he hasn’t put in much time looking at film of possible postseason opponents while trying to win the conference.
“I’m just not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze,” he said. “The past few years we’ve looked at it more geographically and figured we’d get a New Richmond or River Falls.
“If we beat Menasha, we probably get River Falls, and we’re a little more familiar with what they do. We had our hands full with the conference, and there are only so many minutes in the day.”
Holmen (8-1) scored with a minute left to score that Week 9 win over Logan and received a No. 2 seed with its only loss coming to Central. The Vikings host seventh-seeded Nicolet (4-5) and host another opponent in the second round if they beat the Knights.
The chance to host two games wasn’t lost on coach Travis Kowalski.
“We haven’t done that since I’ve been here,” said Kowalski, who was hired as an assistant for the team in 2008 before taking it over in 2016. “It’s a brutal division. I mean, so is Division 1, but I look at D2 as just stacked with the addition of three schools that got pulled up from D3.
“There’s going to be some really good football.”
Onalaska (7-2) is also a No. 2 seed in Division 3 and hosts a much more familiar face in seventh-seeded Menomonie (4-5).
The Mustangs have been very successful over the years and present a dangerous matchup for the Hilltoppers, who have won five straight games.
“I was hoping Menomonie would win (against Chippewa Falls in Week 9) and not be a 7 seed,” Yashinsky joked. “It’s a really tough draw when you look at our bracket, but you really only have good teams left anyway.
“But we’ve played a lot of the good games, and the kids are ready.”
Yashinsky was also ready to see the matrix data work its magic after being part of a group of coaches who met with the WIAA weekly throughout the season to check its accuracy against the goals of using it. He said the numbers checked out through the entire process.
West Salem (7-2) was given a No. 6 seed in Division 4 and will travel to third-seeded Berlin (8-1), while fifth-seeded Arcadia (7-2) heads to fourth-seeded Winnebago Lutheran (6-3) in Division 5.
Melrose-Mindoro (5-4)is a No. 8 seed in Division 6 and plays at top-seeded Darlington (9-0).
