Iowa High School Officially Accepted into New Conference

Red Oak will join Western Iowa Conference in the near future

Red Oak s Dawson Bond helps West Delaware, Manchester s Logan Peyton up after defeating his at 160 pounds during the quarterfinals of the Class 2A of the Iowa high school state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. / Margaret Kispert/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Western Iowa Conference will include Red Oak High School in the coming years, as the Red Oak school board voted to accept an invitation to the league on Wednesday.

According to a report by KMALand.com, six Western Iowa Conference school boards voted to accept both Red Oak and Shenandoah into the league. Just five “yes” votes were required for full approval.

Both Red Oak and Shenandoah currently compete in the Hawkeye 10 Conference in all sports outside of football. High school football in Iowa uses two-year district assignments to determine leagues.

What are the Next Moves for Western Iowa Conference to Accept New Members?

The Western Iowa Conference Board of Control will now vote on both Red Oak and Shenandoah as members during an upcoming meeting. From there, the Iowa Legislature will also need to give approval for the conference change.

As of now, the two schools are expected to join the Western Iowa Conference no later than the 2027-28 school year. 

Current high schools that comprise the Western Iowa Conference are AHSTW, Audubon, IKM-Manning, Logan-Magnolia, Missouri Valley, Riverside, Treynor, Tri-Center and Underwood.

Previously, it was reported that the Western Iowa Conference sent out 10 invitations to high schools around Iowa to potentially join the league. Red Oak was one of the first at the time to consider it and put it towards a vote.

In terms of larger classifications in Iowa high school athletics, Ames High School has already announced plans to leave the Iowa Alliance Conference and join the Little Hawkeye Conference. Lewis Central is another school that is pushing to make a change in league affiliation moving forward.

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