More classes

By Will Johnson, Sports Editor
Posted 7/1/20

In last week’s Republican , a story was published that the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) is going up a class in 10 sports.

Looking for feedback from Owensville …

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More classes

Posted

In last week’s Republican, a story was published that the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) is going up a class in 10 sports.

Looking for feedback from Owensville High School head coaches, two more responded after press time and their responses are below.

Dutchmen head baseball coach Tyler Ahring believes that adding a class will even the playing field no matter what.

“As far as my thoughts on adding a class goes, it is hard for me to say how this will affect our ability to advance in districts,” Ahring said. “I think anytime you add a class, it evens the playing field more no matter what.”

Ahring went on to analyze who might be in or out of Owensville’s district.

“As far as who that bumps out of or into our district, that’s hard to say,” Ahring said. “In years past, we have had Sullivan, Union, Pacific, St. Clair and (St. Francis) Borgia. An argument could be made that we are the smallest school in that bunch. The only one we are close to in size is St. Clair. I think of any change, how private schools are put into their classes is most intriguing to me.”

Dutchgirl head basketball coach Ryan Flanagan also offered his perspective on the upcoming 2020-21 season with six classes.

“Since basketball is going to six classes next year, that most likely means we will go from being one of the smallest in class 4 to one of the largest in class 3,” Flanagan said. “That is not set in stone. However, I believe we have a team that could compete into the state playoffs regardless of our classification. We return everything and our players have a full year of varsity ball under their belt to be better prepared for the 2020-21 season.”

Flanagan also went on to mention that even a drop from Class 4 to Class 3 will not make the road any easier for OHS.

“Just because we could potentially go from (Class) 4 to 3 doesn’t mean we have a cakewalk,” Flanagan said. “We could potentially go from playing in a district with Union, St. Clair, Sullivan, Rolla or Helias to playing in a district with Hermann, St. James, Steelville, Borgia, Helias, Southern Boone, Blair Oaks, Fatima, South Callaway or Montgomery County.”

“There is no easy road in our little pocket of the state, as it pertains to girls basketball,” Flanagan said. “Everyone is good and coached up really well.

From Flanagan’s perspective, he feels his team will be prepared no matter where the Dutchgirls are put.

“Regardless of where we fall, our kids will be battle tested as we have strengthened our regular season schedule to better prepare us for whatever the postseason entails,” Flanagan said.