Red Oak to leave Hawk 10 for WIC

This time next year, Red Oak will be an official member of its new athletic league: the Western Iowa Conference.    
In an Oct. 9 press release, the Hawkeye 10 Conference announced it had waived its two-year notice clause and is allowing Red Oak – along with Shenandoah and Council Bluffs Lewis Central – to leave the league at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season.
Red Oak, along with Shenandoah, will begin play in the Western Iowa Conference following next summer’s baseball and softball season and begin competitive play in their new conference for the 2026-2027 season.
Lewis Central is moving to the Missouri River Conference.
The Hawkeye 10 also announced it will welcome new addition Carroll to the league for next season as well.
With the Hawkeye 10 Board of Control signing off on Red Oak’s departure, the only hurdle remaining is the approval of the move by the new State Conference Realignment Committee. The challenge to the final signature on the move is the fact the state mandated committee can’t officially meet until the administrative rules that govern it are adopted, which isn’t like to happen before February 2026.
To help speed that process along, Red Oak Superintendent Ron Lorenz has reached out to state Senator Tom Shipley and state Representative Tom Moore, who have elevated the issue to Iowa Speaker of the House Pat Grassley. He’s also written to all members of the State Board of Education, asking them to consider the school’s application ahead of the formal rule adoption.
“Our concern is that the delay between the law’s passage and the rulemaking timeline could unintentionally put schools like ours in a holding pattern, limiting student opportunities and delaying important planning for next year,” Lorenz said.
At this point, Lorenz added, the school district is moving forward in “good faith” and working alongside the WIC athletic directors to build schedules, plan events, and contract officials with the full intent approval will be granted. But contingency plans are in place, just in case the state process takes longer than expected.
“Our working plan, however, remains to transition into the Western Iowa Conference beginning next school year,” Lorenz said.
The decision to leave the Hawkeye 10 Conference wasn’t an easy one, Lorenz said.
Red Oak and Shenandoah are both founding members of the original Hawkeye 6 Conference, along with Atlantic, Creston, Clarinda and Villisca. The conference was formed in 1930 when those six schools broke away from the former Little 10 Conference, which at that time included Glenwood, Bedford, Corning and Sidney.
The admission of Corning in 1946 and Glenwood in 1951 turned the Hawkeye 6 into the Hawkeye 8 Conference. Villisca and Corning left the conference in the 1960s to join the Tall Corn Conference, but Lewis Central and Harlan were added in the early 1970s to give the league eight schools.
The conference became the Hawkeye 10 Conference in 1993 when Kuemper Catholic and Denison were added. Council Bluffs St. Albert came aboard in 2013 as the 11th school, but the conference has retained its name as the Hawkeye 10.
“There’s nearly a century of shared history there, and we have great respect for that tradition,” Lorenz said.
But over time, the superintendent added, the conference has changed.
While some schools have grown significantly in enrollment, others have seen declining enrollments, and that’s created a widening gap in both school size, resources and competitive balance.
High school enrollment-wise, Red Oak and Shenandoah rank near the bottom of the Hawkeye 10 Conference with 220 and 231 students respectively. Only Council Bluffs St. Albert has fewer students than Red Oak with 135. In contrast, Lewis Central has 792 students, Denison-Schleswig has 587 and Glenwood has 438.
As members of the WIC, Red Oak will be in athletic competition with school districts of comparable size. Red Oak and Shenandoah will join an existing WIC that includes AHSTW, Logan-Magnolia, Missouri Valley, Riverside, Treynor, Tri-Center and Underwood.
“We realized that while history matters, what matters most is doing what’s best for our students, now and in the years ahead,” Lorenz said. “We also know that rivalries aren’t defined by conference lines. We’ll continue to schedule those traditional matchups. But when the opportunity came to join the Western Iowa Conference, it just made sense. It’s a better fit for where we are as a district today and for the kind of opportunities we want our student-athletes to have moving forward.”
In June, Red Oak was among a handful of schools invited to join the WIC. The invitation came as Audubon and IKM-Manning elected to leave the WIC for the Rolling Valley Conference.
Over the summer, Red Oak held a community forum gauging interest in the move. Lorenz called that response “very positive.” The school board voted in August to approve the conference move.
There were many things that made the WIC the right fit for Red Oak.
Lorenz pointed to tradition, existing rivalries and community spirit as well as general competitiveness among the member schools as factors. Geography also was an issue. The average trip for Red Oak is approximately 49 miles, according to Lorenz, with the longest trip being 92 miles. In the WIC, the average is about the same, but the farthest trip drops to 75 miles. Most WIC schools are also closer, which means less time on the road and more time for students to focus on academics and family.
“Ultimately, this decision was about finding the right fit for our students,” Lorenz said. “The WIC offers a more balanced level of competition, closer travel, and a chance to renew excitement and opportunity around Red Oak athletics.”