Change is coming throughout the state of Wyoming in the next reclassification cycle, with the Wyoming High School Activities Association voting for a new structure during the October and November meetings that, amongst other moves, puts Cody in 4A for every sport except football.

As part of a continual two year reclassification cycle the WHSAA examined the current Average Daily Membership (ADM) for the upcoming 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. The association noticed a discrepancy that would leave approximately 29 schools in the threshold for 1A with 11 at the 2A level based on the model that was adopted for the current cycle.

That current cycle places schools with over 700 students in 4A, 210-699 students are 3A, 110-209 are 2A and any schools below 109 are 1A.

After passing two readings in October and November, the WHSAA is reverting back to the previous standard that stood from 2018-24.

That means the 16 biggest schools from Kelly Walsh (1989.33) all the way down to Cody (610.9) will compete in 4A in all sports, the next 16 biggest from Powell (531.49) to Tongue River (191.34) will compete in 3A, 18 schools from Moorcroft (184.95) to Southeast (78.94) will compete in 2A and 20 schools from Upton (78.76) to Arvada Clearmont (25.46) will compete in 1A.

With those new changes, Tongue River will move up to 3A to replace Cody, meaning that Rawlins will likely shift over to the 3A West in sports.

The difference between the previous approval and this one is a complete overhaul for all sports, not just specific ones, as in the previous approval Cody moved up in only basketball, volleyball and track and field but competed in 3A for every other sport.

The changes mean the 16 biggest schools will compete in 4A for every sport apart from football, meaning the structure for volleyball, basketball and track will be 16-16-18 and then the rest for 1A; golf, cross country and wrestling’s structure will be 16-16 and then the rest for 2A; swimming, indoor track and soccer will be 16 in 4A and then the rest in 3A; while there will remain one class in tennis, skiing and softball.

Football will still be under the current five class standard at least through the 2026 season of 10 biggest in 4A, next 12 biggest in 3A, the next 16 in 2A, 12 schools in 1A 9-man and the rest in 1A 6-man.

Also under discussion during the two board meetings included a striking down of the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) approval for Wyoming high school athletes, with the original proposal being struck down on second reading on October and a new proposal not being brought up in November.

There will also be specific changes in a few sports, including soccer, where the scoring system is changing should teams go to a shootout during the regular season. The winning team will be awarded two points and the losing team one point in the standings — currently winning teams get three points and teams losing in a shootout one point. That change will take place in the 2026-27 school year and will not impact the upcoming season.

Swimming will see a change in event order for the state meet in 2026-27, placing the 200 freestyle relay immediately after diving to ensure that racers have a break before every relay at the meet.

Swimming will also have a change in scoring, as no more than four athletes will be able to score in finals events at the state meet. Currently additional athletes who score for a team have their points vacated after making finals, which takes away opportunities from other teams to score points.

The state approved a first reading for state golf to take place no later than the Wednesday of week 12 of the WHSAA calendar allowing for additional days for the tournaments to take place.

Lander had a softball team approved for the 2026-27 school year to compete in softball at the junior varsity level in 2026-27 and the varsity level in 2027-28.

2026-27 | 2027-28 ADM’s

School Name — 2026-2027 — 2027-2028 — Average

4A

Kelly Walsh High School — 1889.989 — 2088.668 — 1989.33

Natrona County High School — 1790.923 — 2036.747 — 1913.83

East High School  — 1656.299  — 1637.641  — 1646.97

Rock Springs High School — 1472.241  — 1471.665  — 1471.95

Central High School  — 1361.066  — 1392.293  — 1376.68

Campbell County High School  — 1308.919  — 1347.103  — 1328.01

South High School  — 1249.503  — 1288.573  — 1269.04

Thunder Basin High School  — 1207.325  — 1142.929  — 1175.13

Laramie High School  — 1128.380  — 1125.510  — 1126.95

Sheridan High School  — 1065.929  — 1030.880  — 1048.40

Jackson Hole High School  — 869.399  — 883.067  — 876.23

Star Valley High School — 858.428 — 846.265  — 852.35

Evanston High School — 822.568 — 833.418 — 827.99

Riverton High School  — 727.600  — 730.244  — 728.92

Green River High School  — 720.664  — 671.537  — 696.10

Cody High School  — 616.812  — 604.981  — 610.90

3A

Powell High School  — 532.666  — 530.319  — 531.49

Douglas High School  — 513.297  — 523.099  — 518.20

Lander Valley High School  — 496.400  — 460.313  — 478.36

Rawlins High School  — 442.169  — 430.280  — 436.22

Worland High School — 336.959 — 348.309  — 342.63

Buffalo High School — 328.079 — 322.188 — 325.13

Torrington High School  — 334.198  — 312.312  — 323.26

Pinedale High School  — 307.741  — 327.977  — 317.86

Wheatland High School  — 259.018 — 253.820 — 256.42

Newcastle High School  — 248.966  — 259.057  — 254.01

Lyman High School  — 249.587  — 239.488  — 244.54

Lovell High School  — 234.068  — 230.728  — 232.40

Mountain View High School — 234.078  — 223.183  — 228.63

Burns High School  — 218.577  — 213.638  — 216.11

Glenrock High School  — 208.001  — 193.694  — 200.85

Tongue River High School  — 190.175  — 192.500  — 191.34

2A

Moorcroft High School  — 184.543  — 185.349  — 184.95

Hot Springs County High School  — 181.400  — 176.040  — 178.72

Big Horn High School  — 174.754  — 178.727 — 176.74

Kemmerer High School  — 179.472  — 169.022 — 174.25

Wyoming Indian High School*  — 211.200  — 199.994  — 143.92

Greybull High School  — 139.651  — 138.937  — 139.29

Sundance High School  — 133.248  — 142.214  — 137.73

Big Piney High School  — 130.901  — 129.174  — 130.04

Pine Bluffs High School  — 125.947  — 121.594  — 123.77

Wright High School  — 109.925  — 106.659  — 108.29

Rocky Mountain High School  — 106.244  — 110.174  — 108.21

Shoshoni High School — 111.031 — 103.339 — 107.19

Wind River High School — 109.390 — 100.591 — 104.99

Lingle-Ft. Laramie High School — 99.665 — 99.905 — 99.79

Saratoga High School — 96.471 — 97.773 — 97.12

Niobrara County High School — 91.000 — 90.000 — 90.50

Ft. Washakie High School* — 114.720 — 131.806 — 86.28

Southeast High School — 78.794 — 79.081 — 78.94

1A

Upton High School  — 81.000  — 76.517  — 78.76

Riverside High School  — 65.988  — 77.154  — 71.57

Guernsey-Sunrise High School  — 60.498  — 71.178  — 65.84

Burlington High School  — 66.303  — 62.063  — 64.18

Cokeville High School  — 63.682  — 59.440  — 61.56

Dubois High School  — 60.001  — 61.107  — 60.55

Arapaho Charter High School*  — 108.892 — 143.063 — 60.00

Hulett High School — 53.074 — 58.738 — 55.91

Casper Christian High School  — 59.000  — 52.000  — 55.50

Little Snake River Valley High School — 53.927  — 51.940  — 52.93

St. Stephens Indian School — 52.000 — 51.000 — 51.50

Farson-Eden High School — 47.184  — 54.769 — 50.98

HEM High School  — 49.635  — 48.390  — 49.01

Rock River High School  — 44.797  — 42.670  — 43.73

Midwest High School  — 36.691  — 40.637  — 38.66

Ten Sleep High School  — 36.223  — 38.240  — 37.23

Meeteetse High School  — 30.845  — 31.863  — 31.35

Encampment High School  — 33.774  — 27.585  — 30.68

Kaycee High School  — 27.015  — 24.494  — 25.75

Arvada Clearmont High School  — 22.919  — 27.993  — 25.46