Wisconsin River League

The Wisconsin River League is a former high school athletic conference with its membership roster in southwestern Wisconsin. Founded in 1928 and ended in 1960, its members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

13km
8.1miles
Location of Wisconsin River League Members (1945-1955)

The Wisconsin River League was formed in 1928 by four small high schools near the Wisconsin River: Boscobel, Ithaca, Lone Rock and Muscoda.[1] Original conference members were located in three counties of southwestern Wisconsin's Driftless Area (Grant, Iowa and Richland). Sextonville joined the league in 1929 to bring membership up to five schools.[2] That number was increased to six when Blue River was accepted into the Wisconsin River League in 1930.[3] Boscobel left the conference in 1934 and competed as an independent prior to joining the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League in 1935.[4] They were replaced by Avoca to keep the roster at six member schools.[5] Lime Ridge's entry into the league in 1936 brought the membership tally to seven schools.[6] An eighth school (Cazenovia) was added in 1938 to bring the league to its high water mark of eight members.[7]

After the Wisconsin River League became an eight-member circuit, the closing and consolidation of rural high schools began to eat away at conference membership. Sextonville High School was closed in 1942, and its students were dispersed to other districts in Richland County.[8] North Freedom joined the conference as their replacement,[9] and their membership ran for three years[10] before their district was folded and split between Baraboo and Reedsburg. In 1955, Cazenovia and Lime Ridge merged,[11] with the new Weston High School taking the place of their predecessors.[12]

The Wisconsin River League sponsored eight-player football for the first time in 1956 with five conference members (Blue River, Ithaca, Lone Rock, Muscoda and Weston) participating, along with associate members Kendall of the Monroe-Vernon Conference and La Farge the Kickapoo Valley League.[13] Fellow KVL member Viola joined in 1957 to bring the football roster to eight schools.[14] After football member Kendall consolidated with Elroy of the Scenic Central Conference,[15] Gays Mills was brought over from the Kickapoo Valley League as their replacement for the 1959 season when they fielded their inaugural football squad.[16] The conference continued with six active full members until it ceased operations after the 1960 football season. Five of the displaced schools (Blue River, Ithaca, Lone Rock, Muscoda and Weston) joined with four members formerly of the Iowa County League (Barneveld, Highland, Hollandale and Ridgeway) to form the I-W League.[17] The sixth school (Avoca) was closed and its high school students were redistricted to Muscoda.[18]

Conference membership history

Full members

School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference Joined Current Conference
Boscobel Boscobel, WI Public 212 Bulldogs     1928[1] 1934[4] Independent SWAL
Ithaca Ithaca, WI Public 133 Bulldogs     1928[1] 1960[17] I-W League Ridge & Valley
Lone Rock Lone Rock, WI Public N/A Rockets     1928[1] 1960[17] I-W League Closed in 1962 (merged into River Valley)
Muscoda Muscoda, WI Public N/A Indians     1928[1] 1960[17] I-W League Closed in 1964 (merged into Riverdale)
Sextonville Sextonville, WI Public N/A Tigers     1929[2] 1942[8] Closed (split between Ithaca, Lone Rock and Richland Center)
Blue River Blue River, WI Public N/A Tigers     1930[3] 1960[17] I-W League Closed in 1967 (consolidated into Riverdale)
Avoca Avoca, WI Public N/A Cardinals     1934[5] 1960[17] Independent Closed in 1960 (consolidated into Muscoda)
Lime Ridge Lime Ridge, WI Public N/A Raiders     1936[6] 1955[11] Closed (merged into Weston)
Cazenovia Cazenovia, WI Public N/A Blue Devils     1938[7] 1955[11] Closed (merged into Weston)
North Freedom North Freedom, WI Public N/A Unknown     1942[9] 1945[10] Closed (split between Baraboo and Reedsburg)
Weston Cazenovia, WI Public 84 Silver Eagles     1955[12] 1960[17] I-W League Ridge & Valley

Football-only members

School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Seasons Primary Conference
Kendall Kendall, WI Public N/A Mustangs     1957-1958 Monroe-Vernon
La Farge La Farge, WI Public 66 Wildcats     1956-1960 Kickapoo Valley
Viola Viola, WI Public N/A Blue Jackets     1957-1960 Kickapoo Valley
Gays Mills Gays Mills, WI Public N/A Tigers     1959-1960 Kickapoo Valley

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

School Quantity Years
Muscoda 16 1929, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1941, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
Blue River 6 1944, 1945, 1946, 1954, 1955, 1956
Lone Rock 5 1933, 1938, 1942, 1954, 1955
Avoca 4 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951
Cazenovia 2 1940, 1950
Ithaca 2 1930, 1933
Sextonville 2 1936, 1939
North Freedom 1 1943
Boscobel 0
Lime Ridge 0
Weston 0
Champions from 1931-1932 unknown

Football

School Quantity Years
Muscoda 3 1956, 1958, 1959
Kendall 1 1958
Lone Rock 1 1957
Weston 1 1960
Blue River 0
Gays Mills 0
Ithaca 0
La Farge
Viola 0


References

  1. ^ a b c d e "High School News (see Athletics)". Muscoda Leader-Press. 18 October 1928. p. 2. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Boscobel in Second Place - Ithaca Leads Wisconsin River League". Boscobel Dial. 29 January 1930. p. 4. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Neighborhood News (see Blue River)". Boscobel Dial. 22 October 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Southwest League Adds Two Teams". Wisconsin State Journal. 1 March 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Muscoda Quintet Goes Haywire to Lose League Lead (see Standings)". Muscoda Leader-Press. 24 January 1935. p. 1. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Wisconsin River Loop Names Porter Chief". The Capital Times. 16 September 1936. p. 16. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Cazenovia Defeats North Freedom". Wisconsin State Journal. 8 December 1938. p. 21. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Staff Resigns; School Ended". Wisconsin State Journal. 4 September 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  9. ^ a b "North Freedom Wins Over Cazenovia". Wisconsin State Journal. 12 December 1942. p. 8. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Suburban Prep Cage Standings (see Wisconsin River League)". The Capital Times. 3 March 1946. p. 31. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  11. ^ a b c "New District Is Named Weston Union High School". Baraboo News Republic. 29 April 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Area High School Basketball Standings (see Wisconsin River League)". Wisconsin State Journal. 18 December 1955. pp. 2 (Section 4). Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  13. ^ "Seven Teams in New League". Baraboo News-Republic. 18 February 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Conference Grid Action Steals Area Spotlight". La Crosse Tribune. 11 September 1957. p. 24. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  15. ^ "Kendall-Elroy Now Named Royall High". La Crosse Tribune. 22 September 1959. p. 12. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  16. ^ "News From Our Neighboring Cities (see Gays Mills)". Boscobel Dial. 3 September 1959. p. 2. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g "2 Conferences in New Loop". The Capital Times. 12 March 1960. p. 11. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  18. ^ Thorpe, Harold William. "Avoca School". Harold William Thorpe. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
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