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STATE COLLEGE -- Bishop Guilfoyle Academy, represented by athletic director A.J. Labriola, principal Mike Cacciotti and chief education officer Bob Gildea, attended Wednesday's PIAA meeting at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel to appeal BG's classification as a 3A school in boys basketball for the two-year cycle of 2026-2028.
Following a closed hearing, requested by Cacciotti, the PIAA denied Guilfoyle's appeal.
"Respectfully, based on the information provided and the testimony given, I move to sustain the decision of the executive director," said District 1 chairman Michael Barber before the motion was seconded by District 12 chairman Michael Hawkins and approved by the board unanimously.
Bishop Guilfoyle was seeking to move from Class 3A to Class 2A, and Gildea cited lowered enrollment when exiting the hearing.
"We appreciate the PIAA board for taking the time to review our appeal request," Cacciotti said. "We respect their process and their decision. Bishop Guilfoyle will remain committed to competing at the highest level in 3A."
The Marauders last played in Class 2A during the 2018-2020 cycle when they made it to the PIAA championship game in 2019 and were in the quarterfinals when the PIAA canceled the 2020 tournament after the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of their success and a transfer being on the roster, Guilfoyle was moved up to Class 3A where it has competed since.
Bishop Guilfoyle reached the PIAA Class 3A semifinals this past season before falling to Trinity and had hoped to drop back to 2A, but its original appeal was denied leading to Wednesday's hearing.
"Bishop Guilfoyle is appealing the decision of the PIAA's executive staff determining the competition class in the sport of boys basketball during the 2026-2027 classification period, which is 3A," said PIAA president Francis Majikes in an opening statement on Wednesday. "The decision was made off submitted materials from Bishop Guilfoyle. Correspondence has occurred between the school and the executive director, and the school was informed of its accumulation of classification points and provided the opportunity to submit documents in support of its position.
"After reviewing the documents, a letter was sent to the school detailing the accumulated classification points and the rationale for why this appeal was denied. The school was given an opportunity to provide further information to clarify its position or appeal to the board of directors."
According to PIAA executive director Mark Byers, BG did not do that.
"With the new iteration of (the success formula), if you have four, five or six points (over a two-year period), regardless of whether you have transfers or not, you are identified as a team that has to stay up," Byers said. "If you have fewer than that and don't have transfers, you would have the opportunity to go down. The decision was based on the competition formula outlines the reasons for appeal that should be accepted. None of their reasons that were provided fell within those parameters."
District 6 chairman Ralph Cecere confirmed that after Wednesday's actions, Bishop Guilfoyle will continue to compete at 3A in boys basketball.
In other action related to Guilfoyle and the area's other private schools, an official list of feeder schools was provided.
Feeder schools are academic institutions that do not go past eighth grade from which students graduate and then select a high school path. The PIAA requested all private schools to compile a list of the feeder schools from which they draw, but it does not limit students from schools not listed on the feeder school list from attending the private school.
Bishop Guilfoyle Academy lists St. Matthew's Catholic School in Tyrone and St. Patrick's Catholic School in Newry as its feeder schools.
"It is not intended to prohibit students from coming to Guilfoyle," Byers said. "It's to identify the schools who are 'in the Bishop Guilfoyle school district.' Their coaches have the ability to go down to their defined feeder schools and speak to those students about the benefits of attending Guilfoyle -- no different than in a public school setting of a coach going down and speaking to a junior high or middle school student."
Bishop Carroll Catholic lists Holy Name School in Ebensburg, St. Nicholas Catholic School in Nicktown, St. Michael Catholic School in Loretto, St. Benedict Catholic School in Carrolltown and All Saints Catholic School in Cresson as its feeder schools.
Bishop McCort lists St. Peters Elementary School in Somerset, and Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy lists Our Lady of Victory Catholic School from State College, Lock Haven Catholic School from Lock Haven and St. John the Evangelist Catholic School from Bellefonte.
Other District 6 private schools Tyrone Christian Academy, Seeds of Faith Christian, Blair County Christian and Belleville Christian listed no feeder schools.
The three private schools in District 5 -- Foundations Christian Academy, Johnstown Christian and Somerset Christian, also listed no feeder schools.