Dual County Conference

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The Dual County Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, inaugurated in 1926 as the Columbia County Little Six Conference and ending competition in 2001. All conference members were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Contents

History

1926-1939

Dual County Conference
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8.1miles
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Location of Original Columbia County Little Six Conference Members

The Dual County Conference opened competition in 1926 as the Columbia County Forensic League. [1] It was started as a league for academic competition before branching out into athletics in 1928. [2] Its membership consisted of six small high schools in south central Wisconsin: five in Columbia County (Cambria, Fall River, Pardeeville, Poynette and Rio) and one just across the county line in Dodge County (Randolph). The conference expanded to seven schools in 1934, adding Fox Lake High School to its membership roster. [3] The name of the conference became the Columbia County Little Seven Conference, despite the fact that the conference now had two schools in Dodge County. [4]

1939-1954

In 1939, the conference added Reeseville High School and changed its name to the Dual County Conference, [5] as the conference now had three member schools in Dodge County instead of one. Reeseville left the conference in 1942 [6] [7] when they suspended their athletic program during World War II and were replaced by Markesan High School three years later. [8] This marked the Dual County Conference's first foray into Green Lake County, but the name remained unchanged. The Dual County Conference sponsored six-man football for the first time in the 1946 season [9] with four members participating (Fall River, Pardeeville, Randolph and Rio). [10] Cambria (formerly of the Suburban Six-Man Football League) and Fox Lake joined the conference for the 1947 season, [11] and all conference members were participating by 1948. [12] In 1952, the Dual County Conference made a transition to sponsoring eight-man football with all member schools participating. [13]

1954-1970

Poynette, which had historically been the largest school in the conference, joined the Tri-County League in 1954 and were immediately replaced by Princeton (previously of the Little 7-C Conference). [14] Two years later, the Dual County Conference gave its member schools the option of sponsoring eleven-man football, which the larger schools adopted in 1956 [15] before the entire conference transitioned in 1959. [16] Fox Lake made its exit that same year to join the Fox Valley Tri-County League [17] for its final three years before consolidating with Waupun in 1962. [18] Montello, formerly a member of the Big 7-C Conference, joined the Dual County Conference in 1961. [19] In 1970, Green Lake and Westfield joined the Dual County Conference from the Fox Valley Tri-County League and Vacationland Conference, respectively. [20]

1970-2001

Dual County Conference
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19miles
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Location of Final Dual County Conference Members

During the final three decades of the Dual County Conference, there were relatively few changes to membership. Markesan left in 1977 to join the Flyway Conference, and were replaced by Poynette, who were previously part of the Capitol Conference and making their return to the Dual County after a nearly quarter century absence. [21] They rejoined the Capitol Conference in 1987, [22] and membership in the Dual County Conference stayed consistent through the rest of the conference's history with the exception of football. Fall River and Rio, citing competitive imbalance and lack of players, joined forces for the 1990 season to create a cooperative football program. [23] The next year, the conference's three schools with the highest enrollment (Montello, Pardeeville and Westfield) swapped places for football with the three lowest-enrollment schools in the Eastern Suburban Conference (Deerfield, Hustisford and Johnson Creek). [24] The end of the Dual County Conference came in 2001, when they merged with another conference of small schools in south central Wisconsin (the Eastern Suburban Conference) to form the new Trailways Conference. [25]

Conference membership history

Full members

SchoolLocationAffiliation Enrollment MascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
Cambria-Friesland Cambria, WI Public100Hilltoppers  1926 [1] 2001 [25] Trailways
Fall River Fall River, WI Public157Pirates  1926 [1] 2001 [25] Trailways
Pardeeville Pardeeville, WI Public263Bulldogs  1926 [1] 2001 [25] Trailways
Poynette Poynette, WI Public310Indians  1926, [1] 1977 [21] 1954, [14] 1987 [22] Tri-County Capitol
Randolph Randolph, WI Public198Rockets  1926 [1] 2001 [25] Trailways
Rio Rio, WI Public111Vikings  1926 [1] 2001 [25] Trailways
Fox Lake Fox Lake, WI PublicN/ALakers  1934 [3] 1959 [17] Fox Valley Tri-County Closed in 1962 [18]
Reeseville Reeseville, WI PublicN/AEagles  1939 [5] 1942 [6] [7] IndependentClosed in 1969 [26]
Markesan Markesan, WI Public254Hornets  1945 [8] 1977 [21] Flyway Trailways
Princeton Princeton, WI Public109Tigers  1954 [14] 2001 [25] Trailways
Montello Montello, WI Public251Hilltoppers  1961 [19] 2001 [25] Trailways
Green Lake Green Lake, WI Public101Lakers  1970 [20] 2001 [25] Trailways
Westfield Westfield, WI Public295Pioneers  1970 [20] 2001 [25] South Central

Football-only members

SchoolLocationAffiliation Enrollment MascotColorsSeasonsPrimary Conference
Rio/
Fall River
Rio, WIPublic268Rebels  1990-2000 [23] Dual County
Deerfield Deerfield, WI Public216Demons  1991-2000 [24] Eastern Suburban
Hustisford Hustisford, WI Public105Falcons  1991-2000 [24] Eastern Suburban
Johnson Creek Johnson Creek, WI Public180Bluejays  1991-2000 [24] Eastern Suburban

Membership timeline

Dual County Conference

Football-only membersNon-football members

List of state champions

Fall sports

None

Winter sports

Boys Basketball
SchoolYearDivision
Pardeeville1936Class C
Randolph1996Division 4
Randolph1998Division 4
Curling
SchoolYearDivision
Pardeeville1964Single Division
Gymnastics
SchoolYearDivision
Fall River1981Class B
Fall River1982Class B

Spring sports

Girls Track & Field
SchoolYearDivision
Pardeeville1980Class C
Poynette1984Class C

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

SchoolQuantityYears
Randolph291933, 1939, 1940, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
Pardeeville141934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1945, 1964, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1990, 1991
Rio141942, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1976, 1977
Poynette71929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1938, 1948, 1982
Cambria-Friesland41941, 1972, 1973, 1984
Fall River31967, 1999, 2000
Markesan31946, 1966, 1974
Westfield31982, 1983, 1986
Green Lake12001
Montello11985
Fox Lake0
Princeton0
Reeseville0

Football

SchoolQuantityYears
Randolph171950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1965, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 2000
Pardeeville111946, 1947, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1990
Cambria-Friesland81948, 1972, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
Poynette71977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986
Montello51968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975
Hustisford41991, 1992, 1993, 1999
Westfield41973, 1975, 1976, 1989
Fall River31952, 1966, 1975
Markesan31949, 1957, 1964
Princeton21973, 1974
Rio21953, 1969
Deerfield0
Fox Lake0
Green Lake0
Johnson Creek0
Reeseville0
Rio/
Fall River
0

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Plan Oratory Circuit in Columbia County". Fox Lake Representative. March 4, 1926. p. 1. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  2. "Poynette H.S. Commencement Activities Will Start Friday". Wisconsin State Journal. May 18, 1928. p. 23. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Poynette Prep Five Trims Fox Lake, 16-13". Wisconsin State Journal. November 26, 1934. p. 9. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  4. "Pardeeville Tops Little 7 League". Wisconsin State Journal. December 12, 2024. p. 16. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Columbia-Little 7 Changes Name to Dual County Loop". The Capital Times. September 16, 1939. p. 7. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Rio, Cambria, Pardeeville Share Lead in Dual County League". Wisconsin State Journal. January 14, 1942. p. 16. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Suburban Cage Standings". The Capital Times. January 17, 1943. p. 14. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Prep Notes". Wisconsin State Journal. November 22, 1945. p. 29. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  9. Cornelius, Lew (October 25, 1946). "Notes from the Scorebook Margin (see Pardeeville)". The Capital Times. p. 7. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  10. "Pardeeville Takes Dual County Loop Lead by Beating Rio, 28 to 12". The Capital Times. October 9, 1946. p. 18. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  11. "Pardeeville In Title Tie For Dual County Loop". The Capital Times. October 25, 1947. p. 6. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  12. "Prep Standings (see Dual County)". The Capital Times. October 24, 1948. p. 36. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  13. "Duerst Hopes for Greatly Improved Season for Black Earth's Gridders". The Capital Times. September 8, 1952. p. 17. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 "Dual County Loop Admits Princeton". Portage Daily Register. February 17, 1954. p. 6.
  15. "Dual County Gridders Open League Play". Portage Daily Register. September 22, 1956. p. 6. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  16. "Dual County Loop Names All-Stars". The Capital Times. November 5, 1959. p. 32. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  17. 1 2 "High School Cage Standings". Wisconsin State Journal. December 20, 1959. p. 38. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  18. 1 2 "Victim of Progress". Fox Lake Representative. August 30, 1962. p. 2. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  19. 1 2 "Thrillers Played in Dual County". The Capital Times. September 16, 1961. p. 13. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  20. 1 2 3 "Westfield, Green Lake join, Dual Conference slates program for changes". Portage Daily Register. February 25, 1970. p. 13. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  21. 1 2 3 "Prep Conference Realignment: Madison area changes". The Capital Times. August 17, 1977. p. 69. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  22. 1 2 Kitkowski, Dan (August 26, 1987). "Poynette powerhouse moves to Capitol". Portage Daily Register. p. 18. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  23. 1 2 Pepper, Carol (October 27, 1990). "Rio-Fall River merger offers best of both worlds". Beaver Dam Daily Citizen. p. 12. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Lynn, Adam (August 29, 1991). "ESC-Dual County trade affects 6". The Capital Times. pp. 5B. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hernandez, Rob. "Realignment falls right into place". Wisconsin State Journal. pp. 4B. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  26. Marolla, Ed (March 6, 1969). "Hello Horicon". The Horicon Reporter. p. 1. Retrieved December 9, 2024.