Midwest Classic Conference (Wisconsin)

The Midwest Classic Conference is a high school athletic conference made up primarily of private high schools in southeastern Wisconsin. Founded in 1983, all of its member schools belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The Midwest Classic Conference was formed in 1983 out of the merger between two previously established conferences in the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association. Seven schools came from the Midwest Prep Conference (Martin Luther, Northwestern Prep, Racine Lutheran, St. John's Military Academy, St. Mary's, University School of Milwaukee and Wayland Academy) while the other nine came from the Classic Conference (Central Wisconsin Christian, Kettle Moraine Lutheran, Notre Dame, Sheboygan Christian, Sheboygan Lutheran, Shoreland Lutheran, St. Lawrence Seminary, The Prairie School and Winnebago Lutheran).^[1] This was done in part to cut transportation costs and create for opportunities for girls in interscholastic athletics.^[2] For the first few seasons of the conference, they were organized into two eight-member divisions:

The first change to conference membership came in 1988, when Notre Dame High School in Milwaukee closed its doors after the end of the school year.^[3] They were replaced in 1989 by Heritage Christian School and St. Joan Antida (both in Milwaukee), and they took Notre Dame's place in the Southern Division.^[4] In 1993, Messmer joined the Midwest Classic Conference's Southern Division after working their way back from near oblivion a decade earlier.^[5][6] University School moved to the Northern Division to accommodate this move. Wayland Academy left the Midwest Classic to join the Indian Trails Conference as a full member in 1994,^[7] and in 1995, Northwestern Prep was merged with Martin Luther Prep in Prairie du Chien by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Their successor school, Luther Prep,^[8] took Northwestern's place in the conference's Northern Division. The conference subdivided into three divisions in 1996 when Brookfield Academy joined^[9] and Wayland Academy returned as a full member:^[10]

In 1997, WISAA approved a merger with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association that would be finalized in time for the 2000-01 school year.^[11] This led to some changes in conference membership, as schools could more easily join with established WIAA conferences within their geographic footprint and enrollment size. Martin Luther was the first school to leave the conference post-merger, and they joined the Parkland Conference in 1997.^[12] The next year, two more Midwest Classic schools followed Martin Luther into the Parkland: Kettle Moraine Lutheran and Luther Prep.^[13] To replace the four schools lost to realignment, three schools joined the Midwest Classic in 1998: Lourdes Academy in Oshkosh, NEW Lutheran in Green Bay and St. Mary Catholic in Neenah.^[14] These three schools would only stay for a single season, as all left the conference along with five other Fox Valley schools (Central Wisconsin Christian, Sheboygan Christian, Sheboygan Lutheran, St. Lawrence Seminary and Winnebago Lutheran) in 1999.^{[15][16][17][18]} This exodus left an eleven-member conference spread out over two divisions with a more concentrated catchment in southeastern Wisconsin:^[19]

This alignment lasted for four years before Martin Luther rejoined the conference in 2003,^[20] and the Midwest Classic competed as a single-division conference for the first time in its history. They would keep this alignment for two years before adding three schools in 2005: Christian Life in Kenosha, Lake Country Lutheran in Hartland and Living Word Lutheran in Jackson.^[21] The conference subdivided into Classic and Midwest Divisions with this expansion:^[22]

Dominican joined the Midwest Classic Conference in 2006 after the Parkland Conference ceased operations.^[23] They joined the Classic Division to bring membership to sixteen schools in two eight-member divisions. Heritage Christian changed divisions the following year before more schools were added to the conference before the 2008-09 school year. St. Catherine's in Racine and St. Joseph in Kenosha joined after the demise of the Lakeshore Conference,^[24] and HOPE Christian in Milwaukee joined after competing as an independent in their formative years. The conference changed their alignment again to accommodate these additions, and it lasted for four years before the conference had another mass exodus of members:^[25]

In 2012, eight schools left the Midwest Classic Conference: Catholic Central, Dominican, Martin Luther, Racine Lutheran, Shoreland Lutheran, St. Catherine's, St. Joseph and The Prairie School. These eight schools, along with Thomas More of the Woodland Conference, formed the Metro Classic Conference, named so because several of its members were part of the old Metro Conference in WISAA before its breakup.^[26] The eleven remaining schools began competition as a single division, an alignment they currently maintain. Wayland Academy left the Midwest Classic for membership in the Trailways Conference in 2014,^[27] and were replaced by the conference's first (and to date, only) public school member: St. Francis High School.^[28] St. Joan Antida also left the Midwest Classic in 2014^[29][30] to compete as an independent before joining the new Lake City Conference in 2022.^[31] That same year, HOPE Christian left the conference when it eliminated high school grades from its curriculum.^[32] These schools were replaced in 2023 by one newcomer and two returning members. Kingdom Prep Lutheran in Wauwatosa made its Midwest Classic debut,^[33] and Catholic Central and Luther Prep rejoined from the Metro Classic Conference and Capitol Conference, respectively.^[34][35]

 Northern Division  Southern Division  Central Division  Classic Division  Midwest Division

• Midwest Classic Conference (official website)