Jump to content

Wisconsin Valley Conference

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wisconsin Valley Conference is located in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Valley Conference
Wisconsin Valley Conference
Wisconsin Valley Conference
Wisconsin Valley Conference
Wisconsin Valley Conference
Wisconsin Valley Conference
Wisconsin Valley Conference
class=notpageimage|
Wisconsin Valley Conference Member School Locations in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference composed of the largest public schools in north central Wisconsin. Founded in 1921, it is one of Wisconsin's oldest athletic conferences, and all members belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

[edit]

Founding and Early Years (1921-1956)

[edit]

The Wisconsin Valley Conference was founded in 1921[1] by seven medium- to large-enrollment high schools in north central Wisconsin: Antigo, Marshfield, Merrill, Rhinelander, Stevens Point, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln. The early years brought a lot of membership changes to the conference. In 1922, Edgar, Medford, Nekoosa and Tomahawk joined the conference.[2] Edgar left the following year, and in 1924, Shawano and Wautoma joined the Wisconsin Valley.[3] They would end up staying for two years, and after Medford left the conference in 1928,[4] membership stayed stable at nine schools for just over two decades. Nekoosa left the Wisconsin Valley in 1952 and in 1954, Tomahawk joined the Lumberjack Conference.[5] In addition to losing Tomahawk, the Wisconsin Valley faced an even greater change that year. Citing competitive imbalance in football,[6] the four smallest schools in the conference (Antigo, Marshfield, Merrill and Rhinelander) left the Wisconsin Valley to start a new conference called the Northern Wisconsin Conference.[7] These four schools continued to schedule WVC members Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids as non-conference opponents,[8] but not Wausau, who had been the dominant force in football for decades. Ultimately, Wausau joined the new Big Rivers Conference[9] and the four schools who left rejoined in 1956.[10]

Expansion and the Return of Old Rivals (1956-2008)

[edit]

The revamped Wisconsin Valley Conference began play in 1956 with six schools (Antigo, Marshfield, Merrill, Rhinelander, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln). A seventh school was added to the Wisconsin Valley in 1957 when D.C. Everest High School in Schofield joined the conference.[11] In 1970, Shawano became the eighth school to join the conference after leaving the Mid-Eastern Conference.[12] Wausau East was invited to rejoin the Wisconsin Valley Conference from the Big Rivers in 1973, along with newcomer Wausau West to bring conference membership to ten schools.[13] Shawano would leave the Wisconsin Valley Conference to join the Bay Conference in 1979,[14] and conference membership would remain at nine schools for nearly thirty years.

Present Day (2008-present)

[edit]

In 2008, two of the smaller schools in the conference left to become member of the new Great Northern Conference: Antigo and Merrill.[15] Two years later, Merrill and Rhinelander would swap conferences, with Merrill returning to the Wisconsin Valley and Rhinelander taking their place in the Great Northern Conference.[16][17] Merrill is set to return to the Great Northern Conference after fifteen years of Wisconsin Valley membership in 2025,[18] leaving the conference with six member schools.

List of Member Schools

[edit]

Current Members

[edit]
School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined
D.C. Everest Schofield, WI Public 1,824 Evergreens     1957
Marshfield Marshfield, WI Public 1,250 Tigers     1921[a], 1956
Merrill Merrill, WI Public 801 Bluejays     1921[b], 1956[c], 2010[d]
Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI Public 2,105 Panthers     1921
Wausau East Wausau, WI Public 948 Lumberjacks     1921, 1973
Wausau West Wausau, WI Public 1,535 Warriors     1973
Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln Wisconsin Rapids, WI Public 1,467 Red Raiders     1921

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Left the Wisconsin Valley Conference in 1955, returned in 1956
  2. ^ Left the Wisconsin Valley Conference in 1955, returned in 1956
  3. ^ Left the Wisconsin Valley Conference in 2008, returned in 2010
  4. ^ Joining the Great Northern Conference in 2025

Former Members

[edit]
School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference Joined Current Conference
Antigo Antigo, WI Public 687 Red Robins     1921, 1956 1955, 2008 Northern Wisconsin, Great Northern Great Northern
Rhinelander Rhinelander, WI Public 747 Hodags     1921, 1956 1955, 2010 Northern Wisconsin, Great Northern Great Northern
Edgar Edgar, WI Public 201 Wildcats     1922 1923 Independent Marawood
Medford Medford, WI Public 738 Raiders     1922 1929 3-C Great Northern
Nekoosa Nekoosa, WI Public 295 Papermakers     1922 1952 Independent South Central
Tomahawk Tomahawk, WI Public 371 Hatchets     1922 1954 Lumberjack Great Northern
Shawano Shawano, WI Public 797 Hawks     1924, 1970 1926, 1979 Independent, Bay Bay
Wautoma Wautoma, WI Public 381 Hornets     1924 1926 7-C South Central

List of State Champions

[edit]

Fall Sports

[edit]
Boys Cross Country
School Year Division
Antigo 1965 Large Schools
Rhinelander 1966 Medium Schools
Stevens Point 1980 Class A
Stevens Point 1981 Class A
Stevens Point 1983 Class A
Stevens Point 1985 Class A
Rhinelander 1987 Class A
Stevens Point 1994 Division 1
Stevens Point 1997 Division 1
Stevens Point 1998 Division 1
Stevens Point 2003 Division 1
Stevens Point 2008 Division 1
Stevens Point 2013 Division 1
Stevens Point 2021-22 Alternate Season
Stevens Point 2022 Division 1
Stevens Point 2023 Division 1
Girls Cross Country
School Year Division
Stevens Point 1987 Class A
Stevens Point 2002 Division 1
Stevens Point 2003 Division 1
Wausau East 2009 Division 1
Wausau East 2010 Division 1
Football
School Year Division
Antigo 1976 Division 1
Antigo 1978 Division 1
D.C. Everest 1981 Division 1
Antigo 1982 Division 1
D.C. Everest 1983 Division 1
D.C. Everest 1989 Division 1
Marshfield 1997 Division 1
D.C. Everest 1998 Division 1
Marshfield 2001 Division 1
Marshfield 2002 Division 1
Girls Golf
School Year Division
Wisconsin Rapids 2000 Single Division
Boys Volleyball
School Year Division
Antigo 1967 Single Division
Antigo 1968 Single Division
Girls Volleyball
School Year Division
Shawano 1973 Single Division
Merrill 1981 Class A

Winter Sports

[edit]
Boys Basketball
School Year Division
Stevens Point 1926 Single Division
Wausau 1929 Single Division
Wausau 1938 Class A
Rhinelander 1939 Class A
Wisconsin Rapids 1951 Single Division
Stevens Point 1954 Single Division
Stevens Point 1994 Division 1
Stevens Point 2015 Division 1
Stevens Point 2016 Division 1
Stevens Point 2017 Division 1
Girls Basketball
School Year Division
Stevens Point 1980 Class A
D.C. Everest 1986 Class A
Gymnastics
School Year Division
Antigo 2008 Division 2
Boys Ice Hockey
School Year Division
Antigo 1993 Single Division
Stevens Point 2002 Single Division
Wausau West 2011 Single Division
Girls Ice Hockey
School Year Division
Wausau Co-op 2008 Single Division
Wausau Co-op 2012 Single Division
Wausau Co-op 2017 Single Division
Wausau Co-op 2022 Single Division
Wausau Co-op 2024 Single Division
Skiing
School Year Division
Rhinelander 1963 Single Division
Rhinelander 1965 Single Division
Rhinelander 1967 Single Division
Boys Wrestling
School Year Division
Stevens Point 1949 Single Division
Merrill 1970 Single Division
Wisconsin Rapids 1974 Single Division
D.C. Everest 1978 Single Division
Wisconsin Rapids 1979 Single Division
Wisconsin Rapids 1981 Class A
D.C. Everest 1982 Class A
Antigo 1983 Class A
Wisconsin Rapids 1985 Class A
D.C. Everest 1986 Class A
Wisconsin Rapids 1989 Class A
Merrill 1992 Division 1
Merrill 1993 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 1995 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 1996 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 1997 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 1998 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 1999 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2000 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2001 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2003 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2004 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2005 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2006 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2007 Division 1
Wausau West 2008 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2009 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2010 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2011 Division 1
Wisconsin Rapids 2012 Division 1
Wausau West 2013 Division 1

Spring Sports

[edit]
Baseball
School Year Division
Stevens Point 1979 Class A
Stevens Point 1989 Class A
Stevens Point 1994 Division 1
Boys Golf
School Year Division
Merrill 1964 Single Division
Rhinelander 1969 Single Division
Stevens Point 1981 Single Division
Stevens Point 1983 Single Division
Girls Soccer
School Year Division
D.C. Everest 2015 Division 1
Softball
School Year Division
Stevens Point 1986 Class A
Marshfield 1991 Division 1
Marshfield 1997 Division 1
Stevens Point 2001 Division 1
Stevens Point 2002 Division 1
Stevens Point 2003 Division 1
Stevens Point 2004 Division 1
Stevens Point 2008 Division 1
Stevens Point 2009 Division 1
Stevens Point 2011 Division 1
Stevens Point 2016 Division 1
Boys Track & Field
School Year Division
Stevens Point 1955 Class A
D.C. Everest 1994 Division 1
D.C. Everest 1996 Division 1
Stevens Point 2023 Division 1
Girls Track & Field
School Year Division
D.C. Everest 1991 Division 1
Wausau West 1995 Division 1
D.C. Everest 1999 Division 1
D.C. Everest 2021 Division 1

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Antigo Giants Here Saturday for First Game". Marshfield News-Herald. 30 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Antigo Trims Wausau, Stevens Point Preps Tie for League Lead". Stevens Point Journal. 19 February 1923. p. 7. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Medford in Nearly Invincible Position in Conference, Point Slips Notch Below in Cage Race". Stevens Point Journal. 2 February 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Sport Ink-Lings". Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. 10 January 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  5. ^ McCormick, Henry J. (3 April 1955). "Playing the Game with Henry J. McCormick". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 53. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Expect Discussion on Valley's Future". Stevens Point Journal. 28 March 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  7. ^ Associated Press (30 June 1954). "Northern Wisconsin Conference Formed". Stevens Point Journal. p. 13. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Point, Rapids Domination of Valley Cage Race Threatened". Marshfield News-Herald. 11 November 1954. p. 16. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  9. ^ Associated Press (24 April 1956). "Wausau, Four Other Schools to Play Next Fall". The Rhinelander Daily News. p. 6. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  10. ^ Lewis, Ben (13 April 1956). "WVC Reorganization Is Almost Certainty". The Rhinelander Daily News. p. 6. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  11. ^ "D.C. Everest Admitted Into Valley Circuit". Stevens Point Journal. 13 November 1956. p. 1. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  12. ^ Kloppenburg, Dick (19 December 1969). "Valley Conference takes in Shawano". Wausau Daily Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  13. ^ Associated Press (24 February 1970). "Wausau Schools Will Join WVC". Manitowoc Herald-Times-Reporter. p. 14. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  14. ^ Lee, John (12 February 1978). "Realignment pleases New London officials". Appleton Post-Crescent. pp. E6. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  15. ^ Miller, Jake (12 December 2006). "Changes will strip Valley of tradition". Marshfield News-Herald. p. 11. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  16. ^ Hernandez, Rob (26 June 2009). "Five-division basketball plan among two going to fall area meetings". Baraboo News Republic. p. 10. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Merrill moving back to WVC". Marshfield News-Herald. 27 June 2009. p. 9. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Board acts on conference plans; Merrill's move to GNC becomes official". Medford Star News. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Wisconsin_Valley_Conference&oldid=1265782484"