Should Panguitch be a 2A school? No, they just play that way.
Editor’s Note, Feb. 15, 2024: The author revised language in the 17th and 19th paragraphs.
In a January 25 boys basketball game at Escalante, the Panguitch Bobcats thrashed the Moquis, ending the night with a score of 68 – 45. Such a mauling by Panguitch has practically become routine. Earlier in the month, the Panguitch boys beat both Bryce Valley and Wayne by even larger margins.
Such wins at Panguitch have led some parents in other communities to wonder whether Panguitch should actually be reclassified up — from 1A to 2A.
Indeed, the Panguitch boys are ranked #1 among Utah’s twenty-two 1A teams, and the Panguitch girls are ranked #2. Last year the boys were also ranked #1, and the girls were ranked #7. The boys went on to take State, while the girls’ championship went to Wayne.
But Panguitch is a 1A school for a good reason — and a reclass to 2A is highly unlikely.
The Utah High School Athletics Association (UHSAA) is the body that unilaterally decides how to classify each of Utah’s high schools, which happens every other year. UHSAA classifies schools by size, from the smallest 1A school to the largest 6A school.
Their methodology for classification is outlined in their Handbook. That Handbook states that the Board first classifies all 1A, 2A and 3A schools by school enrollment figures. Then the Board may make adjustments for other minor factors such as competitiveness (across all of that school’s teams), and the number of students receiving free and reduced lunches. UHSAA also looks at the number of youth living in the school’s boundaries but are not enrolled at the school.
We wanted to see how consistently UHSAA splits schools between 1A and 2A by enrollment, so we compiled a list of those schools showing total enrollment in grades 9 – 12. This table shows all competing 1A and 2A school enrollments, excluding private schools.
| Class | School | 9-12 Enrollment |
| 1A | Dugway | 33 |
| 1A | Escalante | 45 |
| 1A | Green River | 49 |
| 1A | Tabiona | 53 |
| 1A | Manila | 64 |
| 1A | Bryce Valley | 92 |
| 1A | Tintic | 93 |
| 1A | Piute | 94 |
| 1A | Valley | 100 |
| 1A | Wayne | 114 |
| 1A | Wendover | 122 |
| 1A | Monument Valley | 124 |
| 1A | Pinnacle | 141 |
| 1A | Milford | 141 |
| 1A | Monticello | 143 |
| 1A | Panguitch | 145 |
| 1A | Altamont | 166 |
| 1A | Rich | 168 |
| 1A | Whitehorse | 196 |
| 2A | Water Canyon | 146 |
| 2A | Parowan | 238 |
| 2A | Duchesne | 278 |
| 2A | North Sevier | 289 |
| 2A | Beaver | 316 |
| 2A | Kanab | 328 |
| 2A | Gunnison Valley | 335 |
| 2A | North Summit | 360 |
| 2A | Enterprise | 374 |
| 2A | South Sevier | 414 |
| 2A | Millard | 419 |
| 2A | San Juan | 427 |
| 2A | Grand County | 453 |
Fortunately for UHSAA, there is actually a good gap in enrollment figures between 1A and 2A schools. Panguitch is the 4th largest 1A school with 145 students, essentially identical to the three next schools that follow it. In 1A, it is Whitehorse that is on the very brink between the two classifications with 196 students, not Panguitch.
In the entire list, it is Water Canyon in Hildale that is the extreme outlier, as the smallest school among 2A schools. The average 2A school has an enrollment of 337, and Water Canyon is just 61% the size of the 2nd-smallest 2A school on the list (Parowan).
How did that happen? Think of that special carve-out for schools with large populations of unenrolled students inside the school boundaries. Because of Hildale’s unique religious and cultural values, Census data reveals that more than a quarter of high school-age kids there are not actually attending school. Too bad for Water Canyon!
By enrollment, Panguitch is clearly a 1A school. But could Panguitch be forced up to 2A on grounds that they are so competitive? Even in this measure, Panguitch falls short.
Just looking at Panguitch’s boys basketball, the team has won the State 1A Championship four times in the last 20 years. By comparison, Bryce Valley took the title in three of those years, and even Escalante enjoyed 1st place three times.
In wrestling, it was Altamont, Monticello and Duchesne (now 2A) that overperformed. In baseball, medium-sized Piute has dominated, winning five of the last six years.
If struggling teams out there want to admit to Panguitch’s domination, for the sake of arguing they are too competitive, then they have to look at the Panguitch girls teams. In basketball, the girls took the title seven times in the last 20 years, and in volleyball, nine times (Rich took six). These girls clearly do more with less.
That of course is no consolation to the athletes at our smallest schools struggling for a championship. There are 22 teams, and only one of them wins. UHSAA does about as good a job as they can classifying teams for fairness (see if you can do better) — but the problem is not schools that are too big. It’s schools that are too small.
Escalante is the second smallest school competing this year, yet both of their basketball teams are outperforming their size.
And it’s always worse somewhere else: Dugway. Dugway is by far the smallest 1A school, and yet they had the audacity to assemble a boys basketball team this year. Why, why, why? some might ask. This season Dugway had lost every game — until two weeks ago when they beat, 60 – 38, the Utah School for the Deaf & Blind.
USDB has not won a single game this season. If you can’t win, then why play?
Dugway and USDB teach us a There is a lesson here, and one we want our young athletes to heed: Your purpose in playing is to win. But your value in playing is to grow. So, change what you are playing for.
Chase the trophy. Play your best. Be tough, and lose gracefully.
– AJ Martel
Feature image caption: Nacho Libre declares, “I wanna whhhin!” Soon after, Nacho’s buddy Steven paves the way to Nacho to make it into the final competition — not by making Nacho a better fighter, but by grounding his formidable rival Silencio with an injury. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.