Western Dubuque closer to MVC entrance

If Thursday's public meeting was any indication, Western Dubuque appears to be trending toward a move to the Mississippi Valley Conference.

'The majority of the coaches appears to be for it, and the majority of the public appears to be for it,' Western Dubuque Athletics Director John Hlubek said Monday morning. 'If there's a faction that's against it, they weren't at the meeting.'

Currently a 14-team league, the MVC will add Iowa City Liberty in time for the 2018-19 school year and wants to add one more school to get back to an even number, which would make scheduling easier.

Western Dubuque has been at the top of the list throughout the process.

Hlubek collected a survey from his coaches, and results stated that the majority were for a move, though some 'are absolutely against it,' he said.

More than 75 people attended Thursday's meeting. That included about 20 coaches and 15-20 students.

'A few are against it, but the majority — at least of the ones that attended the meeting — are for the MVC,' Hlubek said.

Hlubek said he would like to have a decision by Thanksgiving, but the next school board meeting isn't until Dec. 12.

Western Dubuque has been a part of the Wamac since 2003, when the Big Bend Conference dissolved. With an enrollment of 724 in grades 10-12 (according to the BEDS Documents, furnished by the Iowa Department of Education), the school is more than twice the size of most of the other schools in the Wamac. It would be the third- or fourth-smallest school in the MVC, ahead of Cedar Rapids Xavier, Dubuque Wahlert and possibly Liberty.

That enrollment puts Western Dubuque at 46th highest in the state, which puts it in the largest class for boys' sports. The Bobcats made the playoffs in their first year as a Class 4A football program.

Most major girls' sports have five classes, and Western Dubuque is a 4A school in that format.

Another school, Anamosa, intends to leave the Wamac and gain admission into the River Valley Conference in time for the 2018-19 school year. Should Western Dubuque and Anamosa leave for their new leagues, it would leave the MVC with 16 schools and the Wamac and River Valley each with 14.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com