History
Origins (1927-1945)
The Cloverbelt Conference, originally known as the Wisconsin Clover Belt Interscholastic League, was formed in 1927 by five small high schools in west central Wisconsin: Boyd, Cadott, Owen, Stanley and Thorp. [1] Original member schools were located in Chippewa County and Clark County. Cornell joined the Cloverbelt Conference in 1928, [2] bringing the loop to six members. In 1933, the conference added Gilman and Lake Holcombe to its membership roster, and subdivided into Eastern and Western divisions: [3]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Gilman | Boyd |
| Owen | Cadott |
| Stanley | Cornell |
| Thorp | Lake Holcombe |
Withee became the ninth member of the Cloverbelt Conference in 1938 and were assigned to the Eastern Cloverbelt. Gilman moved to the Western Cloverbelt that same year. [4] Neillsville accepted conference membership in 1945 [5] and joined the Eastern Cloverbelt, giving each division five member schools: [6]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Neillsville | Boyd |
| Owen | Cadott |
| Stanley | Cornell |
| Thorp | Gilman |
| Withee | Lake Holcombe |
Post-war realignment (1945-1964)
After World War II, rural school district consolidation began to affect members of the Cloverbelt Conference. Lake Holcombe left the Western Cloverbelt to join the new Flambeauland Conference in 1946, [7] with Altoona replacing them after having previously competed in the Little Eight Conference. [8] In 1948, Boyd was consolidated into Stanley [9] (though the school wouldn't be renamed until 1965), and another former Little Eight member (Fall Creek) took their place in the Western Cloverbelt. [10] The Cloverbelt Conference remained a ten-school league until 1955, when Owen and Withee merged, [11] with the new school inheriting Owen's membership in the Eastern Cloverbelt. Elk Mound joined the next year from the Dunn-St. Croix Conference as the Cloverbelt's tenth school, [12] becoming members of the Western Cloverbelt with Gilman shifting back to the Eastern Cloverbelt: [13]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Gilman | Altoona |
| Neillsville | Cadott |
| Owen-Withee | Cornell |
| Stanley | Elk Mound |
| Thorp | Fall Creek |
Elk Mound's stay in the Cloverbelt would be brief, as they returned to the Dunn-St. Croix Conference in 1961. [14] In 1962, the Cloverbelt Conference accepted four new members who were displaced by the dissolution of the nearby 3-C Conference: Colby, Dor-Abby, Greenwood and Loyal. [15] All four schools joined the Eastern Cloverbelt with Gilman and Stanley moving over to the Western Cloverbelt: [16]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Colby | Altoona |
| Dor-Abby | Cadott |
| Greenwood | Cornell |
| Loyal | Fall Creek |
| Neillsville | Gilman |
| Owen-Withee | Stanley |
| Thorp | |
Conference expansion (1964-1982)
Dor-Abby would become the new Abbotsford High School in 1964 after the merger between Dorchester and Abbotsford that had taken place three years earlier was ended. [17] Lake Holcombe rejoined the Western Cloverbelt in 1965, [18] giving each division seven schools. This alignment would be short-lived, as Abbotsford left in 1966 to join the Marawood Conference. [19] Lake Holcombe exited in 1970 to become a member of the Lakeland Conference, [20] and the conference competed as a twelve-member league for the first half of the 1970s:
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Colby | Altoona |
| Greenwood | Cadott |
| Loyal | Cornell |
| Neillsville | Fall Creek |
| Owen-Withee | Gilman |
| Thorp | Stanley-Boyd |
Colby left the Cloverbelt Conference in 1976 to join an expanded Lumberjack Conference, [21] but their membership only lasted for two seasons. They returned in 1978, bringing three former Lumberjack members with them: Auburndale, Mosinee and Nekoosa. [22] All four schools took up residence in the Eastern Cloverbelt with Thorp moving to the Western Cloverbelt to accommodate the expansion: [23]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Auburndale | Altoona |
| Colby | Cadott |
| Greenwood | Cornell |
| Loyal | Fall Creek |
| Mosinee | Gilman |
| Neillsville | Stanley-Boyd |
| Nekoosa | Thorp |
| Owen-Withee | |
Minor adjustments and WISAA merger (1982-2008)
Nekoosa was only a Cloverbelt member for four years before they left to join the South Central Conference in 1982, [24] leaving the conference with fourteen member schools. Osseo-Fairchild would move over from the Dairyland Conference in 1986 [25] with Thorp returning to their former home in the Eastern Cloverbelt. [26] Augusta's entry to the Western Cloverbelt from the Dairyland in 1990 gave the conference sixteen members: [27]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Auburndale | Altoona |
| Colby | Augusta |
| Greenwood | Cadott |
| Loyal | Cornell |
| Mosinee | Fall Creek |
| Neillsville | Gilman |
| Owen-Withee | Osseo-Fairchild |
| Thorp | Stanley-Boyd |
This alignment would remain in place for most of the 1990s, the first change was Cornell's exit in 1998 to join the Lakeland Conference. [28] In 2000, Auburndale left to rejoin the Marawood Conference, [29] and two schools who were former members of WISAA and the Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference joined the Cloverbelt: McDonell Central Catholic in Chippewa Falls and Regis in Eau Claire. [30] Both schools took up residence in the Western Cloverbelt with Stanley-Boyd shifting to the Eastern Cloverbelt:
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Colby | Altoona |
| Greenwood | Augusta |
| Loyal | Cadott |
| Mosinee | Fall Creek |
| Neillsville | Gilman |
| Owen-Withee | McDonell Central Catholic |
| Stanley-Boyd | Osseo-Fairchild |
| Thorp | Regis |
Present day (2008-present)
In 2008, the Cloverbelt Conference added three former Marawood Conference members to its stable: Columbus Catholic in Marshfield, Granton and Spencer. [31] All three schools joined the Eastern Cloverbelt, with Stanley-Boyd and Thorp moving to the Western Cloverbelt and Augusta shifting to the Eastern Cloverbelt. With the loss of Mosinee to the new Great Northern Conference, [32] the Cloverbelt Conference now had eighteen member schools on its roster: [33]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Augusta | Altoona |
| Colby | Cadott |
| Columbus Catholic | Fall Creek |
| Granton | Gilman |
| Greenwood | McDonell Central Catholic |
| Loyal | Osseo-Fairchild |
| Neillsville | Regis |
| Owen-Withee | Stanley-Boyd |
| Spencer | Thorp |
Augusta would make its return to the Dairyland Conference in 2014, [34] and Gilman shifted to the Eastern Cloverbelt after six decades as Western Cloverbelt members. [35] In 2021, Altoona accepted an invitation to join larger schools in the Middle Border Conference, with Bloomer moving over from the Heart O' North Conference to replace them. [36] Currently, the Cloverbelt Conference has seventeen member schools, with Elk Mound planning to rejoin the Cloverbelt Conference in 2025 [37] to replace Osseo-Fairchild after they leave to reenter the Dairyland Conference: [38]
| Eastern Cloverbelt | Western Cloverbelt |
|---|
| Colby | Bloomer |
| Columbus Catholic | Cadott |
| Gilman | Fall Creek |
| Granton | McDonell Central Catholic |
| Greenwood | Osseo-Fairchild |
| Loyal | Regis |
| Neillsville | Stanley-Boyd |
| Owen-Withee | Thorp |
| Spencer | |
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