Football Class D3 Football Championship Game will be held in Kearney

[Alum-Ni]

New Eight Man-3 football final will be played at UNK, not Memorial Stadium

With the newest high school football class playing in the championship game in Kearney, the NSAA avoids disrupting the existing schedule at Memorial Stadium.

omaha.com

The new Class D3 state championship game will be played at UNK and Cope Stadium, joining the Class D6 title game at that location. The NSAA Board voted unanimously to have the the 6-man and D3 title games in Kearney. There was also an amendment put in place for the 2027 season that could potentially place any of the three 8-man classes in Kearney for that season.

The tentative schedule is for the D3 title game to be held at 1:00 p.m. and then the 6-man title game in its usual 7 p.m. time slot on the Friday before Thanksgiving.

There was an alternative proposal that would have placed all eight state championship games in Lincoln's Memorial Stadium on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, with the first games starting at 9 a.m. each day.

Nebraska Public Media (formerly NET) has the first right of refusal to televise the Kearney games. News Channel Nebraska had been carrying the 6-man game.

 

[Alum-Ni]

In other news from yesterday's NSAA Board meeting

- The NSAA approved a duals state championship for girls wrestling

- Classification cutoffs were adjusted for cross country, wrestling and track and field that will take place in the 2026-27 season (I'm trying to find what those adjustments are)

- Proposals were heard from Lincoln and Omaha to host the boys and girls state tennis championships. The tournaments used to be split, with Class A in Omaha and Class B in Lincoln, but the past three years all tournaments have been in Lincoln due to court conditions in Omaha that have now been rectified. A decision will be made in May or June.

- The board also authorized an 8% raise for Executive Director Jennifer Schwartz, who is serving on a rolling contract

 

[SidelineViewNE]

That is interesting they are only sending the one 8 man game there. I had thought there was a chance to send all 8 and 6 man games to Kearney with Memorial Stadium moving to real grass. Not trying to take anything away from these teams or communities, but Cope would give a much more filled out feel to a lot of these class D schools as opposed to 80,000 empty seats in Lincoln. I figured they would move at least some to Kearney instead of going back to the top seed hosting like they used to. Way more money that way.

 

[JAG164]

Missed a real chance to make this right.. Simple?

Kearney
Friday D6/D3 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Saturday D2/D1 3:00pm & 7:30pm

Memorial
Monday C1/C2 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Tuesday A/B 3:00pm & 7:30pm

 

[Amadevil]

Hot take here. But I’d like to see all games at Cope or Memorial in GI. Not sure if they have the infrastructure but it would be a packed house instead of a huge empty stadium. Might feel different if they let the kids use the old locker room and away locker room instead of a closet and a couple curtains.

 

[Alum-Ni]

NSAA Assembly flips votes, rejects 180-day transfer rule

The NSAA's Representative Assembly rejected a proposal that would have made many transfer students ineligible 180 school days for varsity competition instead of the current 90.

omaha.com

The NSAA's Representative Assembly rejected a proposal Friday that would have made many transfer students ineligible for 180 school days for varsity competition instead of the current 90 days. The vote was 21-32, with 33 ayes needed for passage. This was a flip from the membership, which in January saw this proposal pass with 61% approval in the district meetings.

 

[Husker7562]

No actual kid or coach cares if the stadium is full or empty. A fan watching from the couch in a city is the only one who cares what the stadium seats looks like. Lincoln is the dream of every player and coach to play in. Doesn't matter if it is for college or to win a state championship. To pretend kearney or any stadium is the same or as special is a joke. If it is not at Memorial in Lincoln send it back to the high seed. Then you get the real atmosphere and tradition of the small town. No kid dreams to play at UNK for the Nebraska State Championship.

 

[JAG164]

No actual kid or coach cares if the stadium is full or empty. A fan watching from the couch in a city is the only one who cares what the stadium seats looks like. Lincoln is the dream of every player and coach to play in. Doesn't matter if it is for college or to win a state championship. To pretend kearney or any stadium is the same or as special is a joke. If it is not at Memorial in Lincoln send it back to the high seed. Then you get the real atmosphere and tradition of the small town. No kid dreams to play at UNK for the Nebraska State Championship.

I understand feeling this way; however, I bet 90% plus of small rural 8-man kids would pick UNK over their home fields.. And I bet 100% of them pick caring more about a state title than memorial stadium.

Truth of the matter is, the teens I know, almost all of them could not care less about Nebraska. They “care” but it ain’t the 70s-90s. I think adults care more than the kids.

All just my opinion.

 

[Sean Callahan]

In other news from yesterday's NSAA Board meeting

- The NSAA approved a duals state championship for girls wrestling

- Classification cutoffs were adjusted for cross country, wrestling and track and field that will take place in the 2026-27 season (I'm trying to find what those adjustments are)

- Proposals were heard from Lincoln and Omaha to host the boys and girls state tennis championships. The tournaments used to be split, with Class A in Omaha and Class B in Lincoln, but the past three years all tournaments have been in Lincoln due to court conditions in Omaha that have now been rectified. A decision will be made in May or June.

- The board also authorized an 8% raise for Executive Director Jennifer Schwartz, who is serving on a rolling contract

Very interesting that UNL has put in a bid for tennis. I would be shocked if they don't get. The Dillon Tennis Complex has 10 outdoor courts and a full set of indoor courts. This is the first time they've put in.

 

[Sean Callahan]

No actual kid or coach cares if the stadium is full or empty. A fan watching from the couch in a city is the only one who cares what the stadium seats looks like. Lincoln is the dream of every player and coach to play in. Doesn't matter if it is for college or to win a state championship. To pretend kearney or any stadium is the same or as special is a joke. If it is not at Memorial in Lincoln send it back to the high seed. Then you get the real atmosphere and tradition of the small town. No kid dreams to play at UNK for the Nebraska State Championship.

Agree. It's also as much about having the proper set up to air and broadcast the games at a high level. Having it a Memorial allows that to happen with everything NPM brings to the table. We are very lucky to have NPM, as they do as good of a job as any group in the country airing state finals.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Minutes of the NSAA April Board meeting

The NSAA Board of Directors met on April 9, 2026 at the NSAA Office in Lincoln with the following Board members present:

District I - Kara Graham, Lincoln Southeast​

District I - Dade McDonald, McCool Junction​

District II - Dr. Nick Wemhoff, Fort Calhoun​

District II - Thomas Lee, Omaha Westview​

District III - Brad Hoesing, Wausa​

District IV - Darren Tobey, Broken Bow​

District V - Robert Drews, Arapahoe​

District VI - Dr. Troy Unzicker, Alliance​

​

Also in attendance: Bobby Truhe, NSAA Legal Counsel; Dr. Zainab Rida, Nebraska Department of Education Liaison; Kari Vasquez, City of Omaha; Alex Haag, City of Omaha; Kevin Heim, Woods Tennis Center; Carley Damme, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics; and Jake Greco, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics.

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m.

1. It was moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Items on the Consent Agenda included:

• Approval of the Agenda as presented
• Approval of the Minutes of the March 11, 2026 Board of Directors meeting
• Approval of the Minutes of the March 25, 2026 Board of Directors meeting
• Approval of the Minutes of the March 26, 2026 Classification Committee meeting
• Approval of the Financial Statements
• Approval of a new cooperative sponsorship for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school year for Crofton and Bloomfield for Boys Wrestling and Girls Wrestling

Motion Carried: 8-0

2. Moved to sign a Master Facility Lease Agreement with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for NSAA State Championships hosted in UNL facilities. Motion Carried: 8-0

3. Moved to approve the Class D3 State Football Championship Games to be played on Friday of NSAA Week 20 at the University of Nebraska-Kearney in 2026 and 2027. Motion Carried: 8-0

4. NSAA Staff and Board heard presentations from the City of Omaha, Woods Tennis Center and Nebraska Athletics to host the Boys and Girls Tennis Championships.

5. The Board considered all NSAA Approved Ruling Proposals:

1. Baseball Contest Limitations - "Out of State Series" Motion Carried; 7-1 (Against: McDonald)
   
   
2. Baseball Pitch Count Discrepancy: Motion Carried: 6-2 (Against: Wemhoff, Tobey)
   
   
3. Cross Country Classification Alignment for Classes B, C, and D. Motion Carried: 5-3 (Against: McDonald, Lee, Drews)
   
   
4. Class B Cross Country - Four Geographic Districts. Motion Failed due to lack of Second
   
   
5. Balance number of Cross Country Individual Qualifiers per District: Motion Failed due to lack of Second
6. Football Wildcard Points - 5 Divisions. Motion Failed: 2-6 (For: Tobey, Unzicker)
7. Football 40-point running clock. Failed (No Motion)
   
   
8. Football 40-point running clock (additional stoppages). Motion Failed: 4-4 (For: Hoesing, Tobey, Drews, Unzicker | Against: Graham, McDonald, Wemhoff, Lee)
   
   
9. Football 40-point running clock (Class D) Failed (No Motion)
10. Football 40-point running clock (Class D, additional stoppages). Motion Failed: 4-4 (For: Hoesing, Tobey, Drews, Unzicker | Against: Graham, McDonald, Wemhoff, Lee)
11. Football 60-point Mercy Rule. Motion Failed: 3-5 (For: Hoesing, Tobey, Unzicker)
    
    
12. Extend Girls Golf Regular Season. Motion Carried: 7-1 (Against: Unzicker)
    
    
13. Adding Girls State Dual Wrestling Championships. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
14. Girls Wrestling Classification of Schools. Motion Carried: 6-2 (Against: Lee, Tobey)
15. Journalism -- Adding more Photography Categories. Motion Failed: 3-5 (For: Graham, McDonald, Unzicker)
    
    
16. State Journalism Classification Judging. Motion Failed: 3-5 (For: Graham, McDonald, Unzicker)
    
    
17. Music - Outstanding Performance Awards for Large Ensemble. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
18. State Play Production -- 3rd Place Recognition. Motion Failed: 4-4 (For: McDonald, Wemhoff, Tobey, Drews | Against: Graham, Lee, Hoesing, Unzicker)
    
    
19. Play Production - District Assignments Procedure. Motion Carried: 7-1 (Against: Unzicker)
    
    
20. Soccer Schedule Change -- Allow for Round Robins. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
21. Speech - District Assignments Procedure. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
22. Speech Districting -- Top Six. Motion Failed (No Motion)
    
    
23. Clarifying POI Ballot Language. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
24. Speech -- Remove Language from Humorous & Serious Prose Rules. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
25. Speech -- Eliminate "Ghost Ranks" in Speech Tabulation. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
26. Tennis Seeding -- Seed up 16 players in Class B. Motion Carried: 8-0
    
    
27. Track & Field Classifications. Motion Carried: 5-3 (Against: McDonald, Wemhoff, Lee)
    
    
28. Volleyball District Finals -- NSAA Assign Line Judges. Motion Failed (No Motion)

6. The Board entered into closed session at 3:44 p.m. to hear an appeal of a denied hardship waiver from Lincoln Northwest High School.

7. The Board exited Closed Session at 4:44 p.m.

8. It was moved to decline the hardship waiver for Lincoln Northwest High School. Motion Carried: 8-0

9. Informational items from NSAA Staff reports included:

• The 2026 NSAA Officials Summit will be on August 1st in Kearney
• Spring Sport Officials Webinars will take place in April for Baseball, Track & Field and Soccer
• The NSAA has applied to the NFHS to experiment with one-way communication for Softball for the 2026 season
• The application deadline for competitive equity waivers for fall activities will be due on June 1. The application will be made available to member schools later this month.
• Members of the NSAA Student Advisory Committee (Kara Brockman, Elwood; Josh Miller, Hemingford; Abigail Lindsley, David City; Kylie Roeber, Pender; and Evelyn Meyer, Fillmore Central) will be attending the National Student Leadership Summit this summer in Indianapolis.

10. It was moved to extend the Executive Director's contract and approve an 8% salary increase for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Motion Carried: 8-0

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

The next meeting of the NSAA Board of Directors will be May 22, 2026 at the Embassy Suites in La Vista.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Results of the Representative Assembly meeting:

https://nsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/textfile/leg/repminutes.pdf

Some of the highlights:

1. Proposal for 180-day transfer sitout rule. Failed: (21-32)

2. Outside participation for Boys & Girls Bowling: Failed (24-29)

3. Track & Field/Cross Country: Boys and Girls Practice Simultaneously. Passed (53-0)

4. Track & Field/Cross Country: Genders running simultaneously in Non-Varsity competitions. Passed (53-0)

5. Allow 7th and 8th grade students to practice with high school softball teams. Passed (38-15)

6. Volleyball. Change the competition point values for "Two or Three Day Tournaments" into tow smaller subsets. "Two or Three Day Tournaments (3 or less matches)" would have a point value of 3 for scheduling purposes. "Two or Three Day Tournaments (4 or more matches)" would have a point value of 4 for scheduling purposes. Passed (52-1)

 

[WeHaveTheMeats]

Does UNK's stadium have the ability for replay review like UNL? My guess is yes but wasn't sure since it's only used in the state finals.

 

[CoachSloup]

Missed a real chance to make this right.. Simple?

Kearney
Friday D6/D3 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Saturday D2/D1 3:00pm & 7:30pm

Memorial
Monday C1/C2 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Tuesday A/B 3:00pm & 7:30pm

IMO, I couldn't agree more. To say you played/coached in Memorial Stadium is a great honor but ask the group that played at the home sites during Covid and how amazing those atmospheres were. Another thought I had...The 8man/6man coaches kind of hang out with other 8man/6man coaches (myself included). A weekend of getting together in Kearney, watching state championship football, and the fellowship (cheers!) that would take place would be a hell of a good time.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Does UNK's stadium have the ability for replay review like UNL? My guess is yes but wasn't sure since it's only used in the state finals.

I would assume yes, as replay is used in Division II. They probably would not have all the angles and views that Memorial Stadium has, however.

 

[Amadevil]

No actual kid or coach cares if the stadium is full or empty. A fan watching from the couch in a city is the only one who cares what the stadium seats looks like. Lincoln is the dream of every player and coach to play in. Doesn't matter if it is for college or to win a state championship. To pretend kearney or any stadium is the same or as special is a joke. If it is not at Memorial in Lincoln send it back to the high seed. Then you get the real atmosphere and tradition of the small town. No kid dreams to play at UNK for the Nebraska State Championship.

When we played at home sites in 2020 due to covid and then went back to Lincoln in 2021, I can assure you we enjoyed the home site much more. We had actual locker rooms, our fans were closer and it felt more like high school football.

 

[just_average32]

Would love to hear feedback on why none of the 40 point running clock rules got passed.. has TJ be some schematics and verbiage they didn’t like?

 

[bigredguy23]

I've heard from a few different 8 man coaches that say they would have preferred for all of the 8 man games to move to Kearney, and had the same idea as JAG164 regarding scheduling. Could still be something the state goes to down the road, especially if they move to grass at Memorial

 

[o_GI Husker]

IMO, I couldn't agree more. To say you played/coached in Memorial Stadium is a great honor but ask the group that played at the home sites during Covid and how amazing those atmospheres were. Another thought I had...The 8man/6man coaches kind of hang out with other 8man/6man coaches (myself included). A weekend of getting together in Kearney, watching state championship football, and the fellowship (cheers!) that would take place would be a hell of a good time.

Having a son who played in the state title game last year, I think the thoughts on playing in Lincoln versus home stadiums are mixed. I can tell you that the atmosphere for the semi-final game which we played at home was as good of an atmosphere that I have ever seen for a high school game. Playing in memorial stadium was cool but the wind was the worst I have ever experienced. At least if that game would have been played at home it would not have been swirling throughout the stadium which would have been much better. As far as replay, I don't think it should be used in a state title game when it wasn't used all year. It was used randomly in our game and the call on review was wrong at least once.

 

[Dynasty Dreaming]

Would love to hear feedback on why none of the 40 point running clock rules got passed.. has TJ be some schematics and verbiage they didn’t like?

We have a 35 point running clock. The reason 40 was purposed was to make it similar to basketball, so that the number didn't change from sport to sport.

 

[Dynasty Dreaming]

Agree. It's also as much about having the proper set up to air and broadcast the games at a high level. Having it a Memorial allows that to happen with everything NPM brings to the table. We are very lucky to have NPM, as they do as good of a job as any group in the country airing state finals.

So many people fail to realize how important this has become. The amount of work that goes into broadcasting the semifinals on NCN is remarkable. Then the product isn't always the best. In today's world people would throw a fit if they don't have a good broadcast of the state championship games.

 

[just_average32]

We have a 35 point running clock. The reason 40 was purposed was to make it similar to basketball, so that the number didn't change from sport to sport.

I'm aware of the current rule. I just want to know why the board chose not approve any of the new proposals when it was clear that people wanted the change. There are teams that are losing that put the teams leading in awkward positions. Get up 35, running clock starts. Dips below, it stops. Do you leave your starters in and get to 42? I've seen losing teams leave their starters in for a couple more possessions to score and all of a sudden its a 2-3 possession game. If I'm the coach of the team leading, if I take my starters out, I don't want to put them back in.

The new proposals would have limited larger lopsided scores and shortened the game up like basketball does by making the running clock permanent.

 

[Dynasty Dreaming]

I'm aware of the current rule. I just want to know why the board chose not approve any of the new proposals when it was clear that people wanted the change. There are teams that are losing that put the teams leading in awkward positions. Get up 35, running clock starts. Dips below, it stops. Do you leave your starters in and get to 42? I've seen losing teams leave their starters in for a couple more possessions to score and all of a sudden its a 2-3 possession game. If I'm the coach of the team leading, if I take my starters out, I don't want to put them back in.

The new proposals would have limited larger lopsided scores and shortened the game up like basketball does by making the running clock permanent.

Valid point. I had forgotten about the clock stoppage when it goes under 35.

 

[Amadevil]

Having a son who played in the state title game last year, I think the thoughts on playing in Lincoln versus home stadiums are mixed. I can tell you that the atmosphere for the semi-final game which we played at home was as good of an atmosphere that I have ever seen for a high school game. Playing in memorial stadium was cool but the wind was the worst I have ever experienced. At least if that game would have been played at home it would not have been swirling throughout the stadium which would have been much better. As far as replay, I don't think it should be used in a state title game when it wasn't used all year. It was used randomly in our game and the call on review was wrong at least once.

Oh man, that's another issue. That wind was brutal! It would be an incredible luxury to have a place like Northern Iowa with a dome to play those state championships like Iowa does. I believe South Dakota plays in the Dakota Dome and North Dakota plays in the FargoDome. Those atmospheres would be incredible. Someone fork up the money and build a dome for Nebraska Wesleyan!!

 

[o_GI Husker]

Oh man, that's another issue. That wind was brutal! It would be an incredible luxury to have a place like Northern Iowa with a dome to play those state championships like Iowa does. I believe South Dakota plays in the Dakota Dome and North Dakota plays in the FargoDome. Those atmospheres would be incredible. Someone fork up the money and build a dome for Nebraska Wesleyan!!

I have been to over 100 games in Memorial Stadium and nothing comes remotely close to how bad that wind was in the C2 title game last year. And because it was swirling, neither team ever had the wind at their back. The design of the stadium made it even worse. Now I know why Tom Osborne was always concerned about having to rely on the passing game in November in Lincoln.