Iowa County League

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The Iowa County League is a former high school athletic conference in southwestern Wisconsin. Originating in 1927 and ending operations in 1960, the conference and its member schools belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Contents

History

The Iowa County League was formed in 1927 by six small high schools in Iowa County: [1] Barneveld, Cobb, Highland, Linden, Rewey and Ridgeway. [2] Montfort joined the league in 1929, [3] bringing the roster to seven schools. In 1939, Livingston became members of the Iowa County League as its eighth member school. [4] It was around this time that the Iowa County League established a tradition of being the first in Wisconsin to start league play each season for basketball. [5] Membership was relatively stable over the conference's history, but rural school district consolidation began to have its effect on the conference in the 1950s. The first change was the consolidation of Rewey into Platteville's school district in 1951. [6] Hollandale moved over from the State Line League to replace them and maintain an eight-school circuit. [7] In 1959, Linden was consolidated into Cobb, [8] one year before they merged with Livingston and Montfort to form the new Iowa-Grant High School. [9] The larger high school left the conference and competed independently for one year before joining the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League in 1961. [10] Faced with a four-member conference for 1960, the Iowa County League merged with the Wisconsin River League, who were experiencing a similar loss of members. The two leagues joined forces to form the I-W League and continue interscholastic league competition. [11]

Conference membership history

SchoolLocationAffiliation Enrollment MascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
Barneveld Barneveld, WI Public128Golden Eagles  1927 [1] [2] 1960 [11] I-W League Six Rivers
Cobb Cobb, WI PublicN/AKernels  1927 [1] [2] 1960 [9] Closed (merged into Iowa-Grant)
Highland Highland, WI Public105Cardinals  1927 [1] [2] 1960 [11] I-W League Six Rivers
Linden Linden, WI PublicN/ACornish Miners  1927 [1] [2] 1959 [8] Closed (consolidated into Cobb)
Rewey Rewey, WI PublicN/ARockets  1927 [1] [2] 1951 [6] Closed (consolidated into Livingston)
Ridgeway Ridgeway, WI PublicN/ACardinals  1927 [1] [2] 1960 [11] I-W League Closed (consolidated into Dodgeville)
Montfort Montfort, WI PublicN/AHilltoppersUnknown1929 [3] 1960 [9] Closed (merged into Iowa-Grant)
Livingston Livingston, WI PublicN/ALions  1939 [4] 1960 [9] Closed (merged into Iowa-Grant)
Hollandale Hollandale, WI PublicN/APanthers  1951 [7] 1960 [11] I-W League Closed in 1971 (merged into Pecatonica)

Membership timeline

Iowa County League

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "News Happenings of Interest from Livingston and Vicinity (see High School Notes)". Muscoda Leader-Press. 12 May 1927. p. 3. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Close Tilts Feature Iowa County Loop". Wisconsin State Journal. 7 December 1927. p. 20. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Montfort Defeats Rewey 40-12, Takes League Lead". Wisconsin State Journal. 9 December 1929. p. 13. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Iowa County Loop Again Is First to Open Cage Race". Wisconsin State Journal. 9 November 1939. p. 19. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "Ridgeway Cagers Halt Linden, 21-13". Wisconsin State Journal. 11 November 1938. p. 22. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Rewey H.S. Students to Come to Platteville". Platteville Journal and Grant County News. 2 August 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  7. 1 2 "News from the Livingston Area". Platteville Journal and Grant County News. 12 April 1951. p. 10. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Convert High School". Grant County Independent. 23 July 1959. p. 12. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Iowa-Grant to Vote on School". Platteville Journal and Grant County News. 5 February 1959. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  10. ↑ Cornelius, Lew (2 September 1961). "Iowa-Grant, West Grant Join SWAL". The Capital Times. p. 13. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "2 Conferences in New Loop". The Capital Times. 12 March 1960. p. 11. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
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