History
1926-1934
The 7-C Conference was formed in 1926 as the Four-County Conference, named after the four counties where member schools were located (Adams, Marquette, Portage and Waushara). It was initially made up of eleven small schools located in central Wisconsin: Almond, Coloma, Friendship, Hancock, Montello, Oxford, Plainfield, Redgranite, Wautoma, Westfield and Wild Rose. [1] In 1929, Friendship High School merged with neighboring Adams High School to form the new Adams-Friendship High School, which retained Friendship's membership in the conference. [2] That same year, the Four-County Conference added Neshkoro and Princeton to bring membership to thirteen schools. [3] Despite the expansion into Green Lake County, the league did not change its name. Green Lake and Omro joined the 4-C Conference in 1931, and Winneconne became members of the conference in 1932. That same year, the conference's name was changed to the 6-C Conference, representing its expanded geographic footprint: [4]
| Big 6-C Conference | Little 6-C Conference |
|---|---|
| Adams-Friendship | Almond |
| Montello | Coloma |
| Omro | Green Lake |
| Redgranite | Hancock |
| Wautoma | Neshkoro |
| Westfield | Oxford |
| Plainfield | |
| Princeton | |
| Wild Rose | |
| Winneconne |
1934-1942
In 1934 the conference renamed itself the 7-C Conference because of the expansion into Wood County, adding Markesan to the Little 7-C [5] and Port Edwards (formerly of the Wood County League) to the Big 7-C. [6] Winneconne left to join the Little Nine Conference in 1935, [7] and in 1937, the 7-C Conference realigned itself by geography instead of enrollment size: [8]
| Eastern 7-C Conference [9] | Northern 7-C Conference [10] | Western 7-C Conference [11] |
|---|---|---|
| Green Lake | Almond | Adams-Friendship |
| Markesan | Coloma | Montello |
| Omro | Hancock | Plainfield |
| Princeton | Neshkoro | Port Edwards |
| Redgranite | Oxford | Wautoma |
| Wild Rose | Westfield |
Endeavor joined the 7-C Conference in 1938 as its eighteenth overall member, and was assigned to the Northern 7-C. [12] In 1940, Wild Rose moved back to the Eastern 7-C after Omro's exit from the conference: [13]
| Eastern 7-C Conference | Northern 7-C Conference | Western 7-C Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Green Lake | Almond | Adams-Friendship |
| Markesan | Coloma | Montello |
| Princeton | Endeavor | Plainfield |
| Redgranite | Hancock | Port Edwards |
| Wild Rose | Neshkoro | Wautoma |
| Oxford | Westfield |
1942-1946
In 1942, the 7-C Conference disbanded for basketball because of wartime travel issues. [14] The conference was revived for the 1943-44 school year, albeit with a reduced grouping of Adams-Friendship, Almond, Hancock, Plainfield, Port Edwards, Wautoma and Westfield. [15] Former conference member Montello returned to the 7-C in 1944 [16] along with several other schools, and the league split into two divisions by school enrollment size:
| Big 7-C Conference [17] | Little 7-C Conference [18] [19] |
|---|---|
| Adams-Friendship | Coloma |
| Almond | Endeavor |
| Montello | Green Lake |
| Plainfield | Hancock |
| Port Edwards | Markesan |
| Wautoma | Oxford |
| Westfield | Princeton |
In 1945, the league welcomed back former members Omro and Wild Rose after the end of World War II. [20] These two schools, along with Green Lake from the Little 7-C, were placed into the Big 7-C. The Little 7-C was left with five members following Green Lake's move and Markesan joining the Dual County Conference. [21] The 7-C Conference also began sponsoring football with four conference members participating: Adams-Friendship, Omro, Wautoma and Westfield. [22] [23] Neshkoro was reinstated as a sixth member to the Little 7-C before the start of league competition, and the 7-C started the 1945-46 season with a sixteen-member roster: [24]
| Big 7-C Conference [25] | Little 7-C Conference [24] |
|---|---|
| Adams-Friendship | Coloma |
| Almond | Endeavor |
| Green Lake | Hancock |
| Montello | Neshkoro |
| Omro | Oxford |
| Plainfield | Princeton |
| Port Edwards | |
| Wautoma | |
| Westfield | |
| Wild Rose |
1946-1962
After the end of World War II, the 7-C Conference began to lose members to school district consolidation. Coloma was the first to leave the conference for this reason, with their district folded into Westfield in 1946. [26] To offset this loss, the Little 7-C added former members Redgranite and Wild Rose after the latter's shift from the Big 7-C. [27] The next year, Hancock and Plainfield merged to form the new Tri-County High School in Plainfield. [28] Almond moved over from the Big 7-C as their replacement. [29] In 1948, the 7-C Conference lost two high schools to consolidation: Neshkoro (redistricted to Westfield) [30] and Redgranite (redistricted to Berlin and Wautoma). [31] In 1951, Endeavor High School closed its doors when it was consolidated into Oxford. [32] That same year, Green Lake of the Big 7-C joined the four Little 7-C schools in seceding from the conference to form the new Central Lakes Conference. [33] [34] The seven members of what was formerly known as the Big 7-C continued on until Omro left to join the Little Nine Conference in 1956. [35] Membership was whittled down to five schools in 1958 when Port Edwards left to join the Central Lakes Conference. [36] Montello joined the Dual County Conference in 1961, [37] further decreasing conference membership to four schools. Due in part to the rapid decline in membership, the 7-C Conference ceased operations in 1962. Three of its former members (Adams-Friendship, Tri-County and Westfield) aligned with the five Central Lakes Conference schools and Madonna High School in Mauston to form the new Central-C Conference. [38] The fourth school (Wautoma) joined the Central Wisconsin Conference [39] in the aftermath of the 7-C Conference's demise.
