2023 MSHSAA State Championship

The 2023 MSHSAA State Championship was held on May 5-6, 2023. Classes 1-3 competed on Friday and Classes 4-6 played on Saturday.

Questions and Format

Questions for Districts and State were once again provided by NAQT in the 22 tossup-bonus format. All questions are worth 10 points each with no powers or negs.

To produce the question sets for conferences and the state series, IS-212A, IS-214A, and IS-219 were unavailable for use during the regular season in Missouri.

Districts

Eight district tournaments in each of the six classes were held on April 15. District championship game matchups are available on the MSHSAA website.

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal matches on April 25 consisted of best two-of-three matchups between the winners of two adjacent districts. The winner of each quarterfinal advanced to the remaining rounds of the state championship.

Class 1

• Golden City def. Richland (Essex) (2-0)
• North Shelby def. St. Elizabeth (2-0)
• Union Star def. Linn County (2-0)
• Mound City def. South Nodaway (2-0)

Class 2

• New Haven def. Bernie (2-0)
• Thomas Jefferson Independent def. Eugene (2-1)
• Weaubleau def. Harrisburg (2-0)
• Schuyler County def. West Platte (2-1)

Class 3

• St. Mary's def. Thayer (2-0)
• Skyline def. Spokane (2-0)
• Columbia Independent def. South Shelby (2-0)
• Lutheran (Kansas City) def. Lathrop (2-0)

Class 4

• Houston def. Arcadia Valley (2-0)
• Fair Grove def. Eldon (2-0)
• Winfield def. Lutheran South (2-1)
• St. Pius X def. Oak Grove (2-0)

Class 5

• Ladue def. Farmington (2-0)
• Mexico def. Priory (2-1)
• Sullivan def. Nevada (2-0)
• Savannah def. Rockhurst (2-0)

Class 6

• Parkway West def. Poplar Bluff (2-0)
• Kickapoo def. Branson (2-0)
• Rock Bridge def. Lee's Summit West (2-1)
• St. Joseph Central def. North Kansas City (2-0)

State Finals

The Class 1-3 state finals on May 5 and the Class 4-6 state finals on May 6 were held at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The state finals consisted of a preliminary round robin, with the top two teams advancing to the championship game and the bottom two teams advancing to the consolation game.

Class 1

Round 1
Mound City 170, Golden City 150
North Shelby 270, Tarkio 120

Round 2
North Shelby 290, Golden City 150
Mound City 240, Union Star 190

Round 3
Union Star 220, Golden City 160
North Shelby 320, Mound City 130

Preliminary Round Standings
1. North Shelby 3-0, 880 pts.
2. Mound City 2-1, 540 pts.
3. Union Star 1-2, 530 pts.
4. Golden City 0-3, 460 pts.

Entering the final preliminary round, Mound City and North Shelby were 2-0 and Golden City and Union Star were 0-2. Because MSHSAA insists on having one championship game and a third place game, the format used for the state championship resulted in the third round having no direct statistical impact on placement in the tournament even before it was played.

Consolation
(3) Union Star 200, (4) Golden City 110

Championship Game
(1) North Shelby 260, (2) Mound City 220

Class 2

Round 1
Schuyler County 250, New Haven 180
Thomas Jefferson Independent 270, Weaubleau 250

Round 2
Thomas Jefferson Independent 240, New Haven 200
Weaubleau 380, Schuyler County 220

Round 3
Weaubleau 270, New Haven 220
Schuyler County 260, Thomas Jefferson Independent 250

Preliminary Round Standings
1. Weaubleau 2-1, 900 pts.
2. Thomas Jefferson Independent 2-1, 760 pts.
3. Schuyler County 2-1, 730 pts.
4. New Haven 0-3, 600 pts.

Consolation
(3) Schuyler County 210, (4) New Haven 160

Championship Game
(1) Weaubleau 270, (2) Thomas Jefferson Independent 230

Class 3

Round 1
Lutheran (Kansas City) 320, St. Mary's 140
Columbia Independent 300, Skyline 250

Round 2
Skyline 280, St. Mary's 130
Columbia Independent 380, Lutheran (Kansas City) 260

Round 3
Columbia Independent 400, St. Mary's 160
Lutheran (Kansas City) 320, Skyline 190

Preliminary Round Standings
1. Columbia Independent 3-0, 1080 pts.
2. Lutheran (Kansas City) 2-1, 900 pts.
3. Skyline 1-2, 720 pts.
4. St. Mary's 0-3, 430 pts.

Consolation
(4) St. Mary's 220, (3) Skyline 160

Championship Game
(1) Columbia Independent 410, (2) Lutheran (Kansas City) 220

Class 4

Round 1
St. Pius X 370, Houston 290
Fair Grove 650, Winfield 120

Round 2
Fair Grove 560, Houston 230
Winfield 350, St. Pius X 270

Round 3
Houston 470, Winfield 190
Fair Grove 540, St. Pius X 170

Preliminary Round Standings
1. Fair Grove 3-0, 1750 pts.
2. Houston 1-2, 990 pts.
3. St. Pius X 1-2, 810 pts.
4. Winfield 1-2, 660 pts.

Consolation
(3) St. Pius X 360, (4) Winfield 260

Championship Game
(1) Fair Grove 470, (2) Houston 250

Class 5

Round 1
Ladue 600, Savannah 200
Sullivan 390, Mexico 310

Round 2
Ladue 460, Mexico 280
Sullivan 470, Savannah 180

Round 3
Ladue 510, Sullivan 250
Mexico 590, Savannah 90

Preliminary Round Standings
1. Ladue 3-0, 1570 pts.
2. Sullivan 2-1, 1110 pts.
3. Mexico 1-2, 1180 pts.
4. Savannah 0-3, 470 pts.

Like the previous year in Class 5 and the previous day in Class 1, two teams were 2-0 and two teams were 0-2 entering round 3, resulting in the third round having no direct statistical impact on placement in the tournament even before it was played.

Consolation
(3) Mexico 460, (4) Savannah 170

Championship Game
(1) Ladue 480, (2) Sullivan 290

Class 6

Round 1
Parkway West 430, St. Joseph Central 320
Kickapoo 510, Rock Bridge 200

Round 2
Parkway West 410, Kickapoo 310
St. Joseph Central 520, Rock Bridge 120

Round 3
Parkway West 410, Rock Bridge 260
St. Joseph Central 360, Kickapoo 350

Preliminary Round Standings
1. Parkway West 3-0, 1250 pts.
2. St. Joseph Central 2-1, 1200 pts.
3. Kickapoo 1-2, 1170 pts.
4. Rock Bridge 0-3, 580 pts.

Consolation
(3) Kickapoo 430, (4) Rock Bridge 270

Championship Game
(1) Parkway West 410, (2) St. Joseph Central 320

Notes

• With 650 points in round 1, Fair Grove became the fifth school in the twenty-seven year history of the MSHSAA State Championship to reach 650 points in any game.

Class changes among state finalists

This season continued a trend in state finalists from the previous season changing classes, which has occurred more frequently than during the four class era:

• The previous season's Class 2 champion, Columbia Independent, moved up to Class 3 because their championship in 2022 gave them enough points to move up an additional class due to the championship factor that MSHSAA applies to private schools. By winning this year's Class 3 championship, Columbia Independent became the first school to win state championships in multiple classes during the six class era. No school accomplished this when there were four classes from 1996-2019; however, note that during that time, private schools had their enrollments inflated by a constant multiplier rather than being moved up one or two classes year-to-year based on recent performance in the state series.
• In the opposite direction, a reduction in Thomas Jefferson Independent's championship factor dropped them from Class 3 to Class 2, due to their 2016 state championship (4 points) being replaced by their 2022 districts loss (0 points).
• Three of the four finalists in Class 5 (Mexico, Sullivan, and Savannah) were among the seven smallest schools in Class 5, each having competed as some of the largest schools in Class 4 the previous season. This was due to a combination of growing enrollment at these schools and MSHSAA assigning a few more schools to Classes 5 and 6.
• In addition to the above mentioned Class 5 schools, the previous season's Class 3 champion, Houston, moved up to Class 4. This put them in the same class as Fair Grove, which had similarly moved up to Class 4 the season after winning Class 3 in 2021. By winning this year's Class 4 championship, Fair Grove became the first public school to win state championships in multiple classes during the six class era.

External References

• 2023 District Results
• 2023 State Results

2023 MSHSAA State Championship
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