![New Prague wrestler Lawson Eller grabs the leg of Simley wrestler Austin Grzywinski during the MSHSL wrestling state tournament championships Saturday, March 4, 2023 at Xcel Energy Arena in St. Paul, Minn. ]](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/XOVRGKX3D2M7PH4MZ6BNSADSXI.jpg?&w=1080)
Section assignments released Friday by the MSHSL make two matters abundantly clear:
1. Most high schools don't face significant changes.
2. The ones that do are likely to need some time to adjust.
The Minnesota State High School League's Athletic/Activities Director Advisory committee undertook the arduous process of updating section alignments to reflect changes in enrollment. The MSHSL board of directors approved the new section placements for the next two school years Thursday and revealed them Friday.
Among the schools with the most to absorb is New Prague.
According to figures provided by the league at www.mshsl.org, New Prague's enrollment is up to 1,255, the 55th largest in the state. Being classified among the state's largest 64 schools will bump New Prague into the big-school classes.
In hockey, New Prague and Northfield will move up to Class 2A. Northfield beat New Prague in the Class 1A, Section 1 in early March to qualify for the state tournament. Both have now been placed in Class 2A, Section 1, where among their challengers will be the three Rochester public high schools, Century, John Marshall and Mayo, as well as Lakeville North and Lakeville South.
In wrestling, New Prague's reward for a successful postseason — the Trojans were runners-up to Simley in the Class 2A team competition and had four individual champions — was to get moved into Class 3A, Section 1 alongside such top-flight programs as Apple Valley, Eastview, Farmington and Prior Lake.
