2023 marks the first time that the district tournaments will not dictate the teams that advance through the postseason. Up until this year, districts on the boys side would not only determine the individual state tournament qualifiers, but also determine which teams stayed alive in the hunt for a team state championship. Now, the team tournament will be a separate bracket where all teams have a chance to win the team state tournament. All teams in each division being placed into a bracket. The best part now is the fact that there doesn't need to be any thought about where teams go to set it up for substate play, since this is strictly impacting individual tournament berths. That being said, below I lay out my predictions for the 2023 edition of districts and their assignments.
Different classifications this year
Moving from 1A to 2A - Western Dubuque, Dallas Center Grimes
Moving from 2A to 1A - DM Hoover, Lewis Central
1A Predictions
Boone
#6 Boone
Grinnell
Iowa Falls-Alden
Newton
#7 North Polk
South Hardin
South Tama
Webster City
Nevada
Columbus
Aplington-Parkersburg
Camanche
Central Dewitt
Columbus
Grundy Center
Maquoketa
Union
#5 Wahlert
Decorah
Clear Lake
#3 Decorah
Osage
Marion
Hampton-Dumont
Independence
Oelwein
#9 Waverly-Shell Rock
Denison
Atlantic
Audubon
Bishop Heelan
#8 Denison
Harlan
DM Hoover
Saydel
St. Albert
Fairfield
#10 Assumption
Fairfield
Fort Madison
Keokuk
Maharishi
Mount Pleasant
West Burlington
#2 Xavier
Kuemper
Cherokee
Estherville
LeMars
Sergeant Bluff
#4 Spencer
Spirit Lake
Kuemper
Storm Lake
Pella Christian
Albia
Centerville
Chariton
Davis County
Knoxville
Oskaloosa
#1 Pella
Pella Christian
Red Oak
Ballard
Clarinda
Clarke
Creston
Glenwood
Red Oak
Shenandoah
Southwest Valley
Lewis Central
1A is pretty similar to last year. With DM Hoover moving down to 1A, that made it a bit difficult to figure out where they can go as now there will be districts with more than 8 teams again.
2A Predictions
Ames
Ames
Waukee NW
Urbandale
Ankeny
DM Lincoln
DM North
Bettendorf
Bettendorf
Clinton
Davenport Central
Davenport North
Davenport West
Pleasant Valley
Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls
Waterloo West
Mason City
CR Jefferson
CR Kennedy
Dubuque Hempstead
Liberty
IC Liberty
IC West
IC City
Burlington
Ottumwa
Muscatine
Marshalltown
Waukee
Marshalltown
Norwalk
Dowling
DM East
Southeast Polk
Prairie
Prairie
North Scott
Linn-Mar
CR Washington
Dubuque Senior
Western Dubuque
Sioux City North
Sioux City East
Sioux City North
Sioux City West
CBAL CBTJ
Fort Dodge
Valley
Dallas Center Grimes
Valley
Roosevelt
Johnston
Ankeny Centennial
Indianola
2A I think is a bit more straight forward. A lot of it being similar to last year, however, the challenge this year is the fact that central Iowa has two host sites instead of three. Sioux City North is a host site this year, where all of those teams will go over there (which is great for them) but creates a bit more challenges in separating the top players from central Iowa who occupy the top 3 spots in the individual rankings currently.
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