Central State Conference

The Central State Conference is a former high school athletic conference in central Wisconsin, in operation from 1962 to 1984. Its member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The Central State Conference, originally known as the Central-C Conference, was formed in 1962 by eight small- to medium-sized public high schools and one private Catholic high school in central Wisconsin. Five schools were former members of the Central Lakes Conference (Almond, Necedah, Oxford, Port Edwards and Wild Rose), three belonged to the 7-C Conference (Adams-Friendship, Tri-County and Westfield) and one formerly competed as an independent (Madonna).^[1] Almost immediately, the conference began to lose members to rural school district consolidation and closings. The first such change occurred in 1963, when Oxford was closed^[2] and its students were redistricted to Westfield. In 1966, conference membership was cut in half due to the closing of Madonna High School^[3] and the defection of three schools (Adams-Friendship, Tri-County and Westfield) to the newly formed Vacationland Conference.^[4] Amherst and Iola-Scandinavia joined as football-only members from the Central Wisconsin Conference the next year to bring the football roster to five schools.^[5] In 1968, Bowler joined the conference from the Wolf River Valley Conference as a football-only member,^[6] and the loop changed its name to the Central State Conference.^[7] Rosholt and Tigerton joined the football alignment the next year, and the conference had eight football-playing members.^[8]

In 1970, the Central State Conference underwent a significant expansion with six schools becoming full members. All five football-only members became full members of the conference: three from the shuttered Wolf River Valley Conference (Bowler, Rosholt and Tigerton) and two from the Central Wisconsin Conference (Amherst and Iola-Scandinavia). Tri-County, making their return after the dissolution of the Vacationland Conference, rounded out the expanded group.^[9] Granton and Gresham would join the Central State Conference in 1972; Granton was previously in the Marawood Conference and Gresham competed as an independent for two years after the collapse of the Wolf River Valley Conference.^[10] Granton's stay would be brief, as they would return to the Marawood Conference in 1976.^[11] Shiocton moved over from the Central Wisconsin Conference in 1977 to take their place,^[12] and Necedah left to become a charter member of the Scenic Bluffs Conference in 1979. They were replaced by Menominee Indian High School, who acquired their first ever conference affiliation after opening a few years earlier.^[13] The Central State Conference merged with the Central Wisconsin Conference in 1984, taking the more established conference's name in the process.^[14]

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