Little Chute moves up Division 4 list in WIAA football playoff standings

There was movement in Division 4 among area teams in the WIAA playoff matrix as we head into Week 9 of the Wisconsin high school football season.

There are 16 teams from the Appleton area in the postseason, according to the matrix. In Division 4, Little Chute has overtaken Winneconne as the top area team and is in fifth place after being 11th last week. Winneconne, which beat Little Chute in Week 1, is seventh.

There are seven divisions in the 11-player football playoffs, with 32 teams in each division and 224 total. The top four teams in each division are the No. 1 seeds, with the four teams that follow representing the next seed.

The formula for the matrix assigns points for each win a team has during the season. Wins against teams that are in a higher division are given more points and are considered Tier 1. Points are also added for each opponent that a team defeats and considered Tier 2.

Neenah leads area teams with a third-place standing in Division 1. That would give the Rockets a No. 1 seed.

Here is the list of area teams currently in the playoffs, their position in their respective 32-team division and their overall record.

Division 1: 3, Neenah (7-1); 14, Kimberly (6-2); 18, Appleton North (5-3).

Division 2: 20, Menasha (5-3); 29, Kaukauna (3-5).

Division 3: 23, Fox Valley Lutheran (5-3).

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Division 4: 5, Little Chute (7-1); 7, Winneconne (8-0); 13, Freedom (7-1); 15, Seymour (7-1); 25, Wrightstown (5-3).

Division 5: 14, Brillion (6-2); 30, Chilton (3-5).

Division 6: 16, Weyauwega-Fremont (4-4); 29, St. Mary Catholic (4-4).

Division 7: 6, Hilbert (6-2).

A few teams are just outside the top 32 heading into Week 9. Appleton East is 38th in Division 1, Appleton West is 40th in Division 2, Waupaca is 40th in Division 3, Xavier is 37th in Division 4, and Manawa and Shiocton are 35th and 40th, respectively, in Division 7.

WIAA football pairings release to be televised

The WIAA plans on releasing the 11-player 2025 football playoff field and pairings during a one-hour live show on the WIAA state tournament network stations. It will also be streamed on the station websites on Saturday, Oct. 18.

The show will air at 10 a.m. live on WKOW, WAOW, WQOW and WXOW, as well as WVTV in Milwaukee. It will also air on tape delay on WCWF in the Green Bay/Appleton markets.

Complete brackets and the first-round matchups will be available on the WIAA website (www.wiaawi.org) following the live broadcast at 11 a.m.

Kaukauna hires softball coach to replace Tim Roehrig

Kyle Dunphy is the new Kaukauna softball coach, according to a news release from the school.

Dunphy, who has been an educator in the district the past 21 years, led the program's JV team the past 10 seasons. He's also the high school's student council adviser and has experience coaching middle school boys and girls basketball as well as track and field, according to the release.

Dunphy takes over for Tim Roehrig, who retired as the Kaukauna head coach after 27 years. Roehrig led the Ghosts to six WIAA Division 1 state titles, including four in the past five years. He was a Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee in 2024.

This and that

∎ Seymour's Morgan Lewis placed eighth overall at the WIAA Division 2 state girls golf tournament. She shot a two-day total of 169 (85-84). Seymour finished fourth as a team with a score of 743. Spooner won the D2 title with a total of 694. Hortonville finished ninth in Division 1 with a score of 734. Olivia Kernen and Paige Clausen led the Polar Bears, with Kernen finishing in a tie for 54th (89-91-180) and Clausen in 56th (88-93-181). Divine Savior Holy Angels won the D1 title with a 621.

∎ Did you know Hortonville's Marco Delbecchi, an assistant coach with the Fox Valley Association co-champion Hortonville boys soccer team, was a player on the program's 2013 FVA title team? This year's Polar Bears are 16-0-3 and tied Neenah for first place in the FVA with a 7-0-2 mark. Hortonville is the top seed in its regional and hosts Wausau West at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 in a WIAA Division 1 regional opener.

∎ Xavier setter Sydney Neilitz recently eclipsed the 1,500 mark for assists in her volleyball career. The 5-foot-7 senior has 677 assists this season and 1,585 for her career going into play this week.

∎ Waupaca's Peyton Carlson had 43 kills, 12 digs and seven aces in Waupaca's 3-2 victory over Luxemburg-Casco on Oct. 14. Her 534 kills are the second-highest total in Wisconsin and also ranks 60th overall in the nation.

∎ Appleton North is ranked seventh in the latest Wisconsin Boys Volleyball state poll. The Lightning, which is 24-6 overall and 7-0 in the Fox Valley Association, also got a first-place vote. Middleton is the top-ranked team with 20 first-place votes, followed by Germantown (2), Sussex Hamilton, Marquette, New Berlin United, Catholic Memorial, Appleton North, Kimberly, Muskego and Cedarburg.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: High school football, softball, golf, soccer and volleyball news