North Iowa Cedar League

Last updated

North Iowa Cedar League
North Iowa Cedar League logo.jpg
Conference IHSAA / IGHSAU
Founded1936
Sports fielded
  • 21
No. of teams15
RegionNorth Central, Northeast Iowa
Official website www.northiowacedarleague.org
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North Iowa Cedar League school locations

The North Iowa Cedar League (NICL) is a high school athletic conference made up of 15 high schools in north central and northeast Iowa. Most of the schools compete as 2A schools, (the second-smallest classification). The conference's most recent expansions included: Columbus Catholic (2013), Sumner-Fredericksburg (2014), and Oelwein (2021). With the addition of Oelwein in the 2021 academic year, the conference will split into three divisions: East, Central, and West.

Contents

History

The formation of the North Iowa Cedar League dates back to 1936, when the Iowa Cedar Conference (consisting of Belle Plaine, Brooklyn, Eldora, Grundy Center, Montezuma, Reinbeck, Tama, Teachers' High, Traer, & Toledo) split into the North Iowa Cedar League and South Iowa Cedar League. Founding members of the newly formed NICL include Ackley, Eldora, Grundy Center, Reinbeck, Teachers' High (NU High), and Traer.

In 1992, the Big Marsh Conference disbanded, with most of its schools joining the NICL, creating a 16 team conference. With the new members, the NICL split into two divisions, east and west. The east division included Aplington–Parkersburg, Denver, Dike–New Hartford, Gladbrook–Reinbeck, Hudson, North Tama, NU High, and Union. The west division included Ackley–Geneva, BCLUW, East Marshall, Eldora–New Providence, GMG, Grundy Center, Hubbard–Radcliffe, and Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock. In 1998, Wapsie Valley High School and Jesup High School joined the conference, bringing the membership up to 18.

In 2000, Ackley–Geneva and Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock merged districts to become AGWSR. The next membership change came in 2002 when Green Mountain–Garwin (GMG) departed for the Iowa Star Conference. The next year, North Tama left for the Iowa Star Conference. In 2007, Eldora–New Providence and Hubbard–Radcliffe joined districts to become South Hardin High School. For the 2008 year, West Marshall was added to the conference, making it a 15-team league. In 2011, South Tama joined after leaving the Little Hawkeye Conference and started in the West Division. It became the 16th member of the conference. Northern University High School (Cedar Falls) played its final season in 2011–12, due to the University of Northern Iowa closing Malcolm Price Lab, which houses Northern University High. [1] Waterloo Columbus joined in 2013 to replace the recently defunct NU High.

With the departure of South Tama, Sumner-Fredericksburg joined in 2014 which brought the total number of schools to 16 once again. In 2020, West Marshall left the conference for the Heart of Iowa Conference. Oelwein joined soon after to replace West Marshall and a new three-division structure ensued. Starting in the 2021–22 school year, the east division will comprise Jesup, Oelwein, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Union, and Wapsie Valley, the central division will include Aplington–Parkersburg, Columbus Catholic, Denver, Dike–New Hartford, and Hudson, and the west will remain the same with AGWSR, BCLUW, East Marshall, Gladbrook–Reinbeck, Grundy Center, and South Hardin.

In 2022, BCLUW left for the Iowa Star Conference, bringing total membership to 15. [2] [3]

Members

Eastern Pod

InstitutionLocationMascotColorsAffiliationEnrollment [4] ClassAdmitted
Jesup Jesup J-Hawks  Public1932A1998
Oelwein Oelwein Huskies  Public2512A2021
Sumner-Fredericksburg Sumner Cougars   Public1742A2014
Union La Porte City Knights   Public2112A1988
Wapsie Valley Fairbank Warriors  Public1511A1998

Central Pod

InstitutionLocationMascotColorsAffiliationEnrollment [5] ClassAdmitted
Aplington–Parkersburg Parkersburg Falcons   Public1792A1992
Columbus Catholic Waterloo Sailors  Private1882A2013
Denver Denver Cyclones  Public2082A1988
Dike–New Hartford Dike Wolverines  Public2202A1992
Hudson Hudson Pirates  Public1702A1977

Western Pod

InstitutionLocationMascotColorsAffiliationEnrollment [6] ClassAdmitted
AGWSR Ackley Cougars  Public1391A1999
East Marshall Le Grand Mustangs  Public1542A1992
Gladbrook–Reinbeck Reinbeck Rebels  Public981A1929
Grundy Center Grundy Center Spartans  Public1822A1929
South Hardin Eldora Tigers  Public1822A1936

Membership timeline

[7]

Oelwein Community School DistrictNortheast Iowa ConferenceSumner-Fredericksburg Community School DistrictUpper Iowa ConferenceIowa Star ConferenceColumbus Catholic High School (Waterloo, Iowa)WaMaC ConferenceWaMaC ConferenceSouth Tama Community School DistrictLittle Hawkeye ConferenceWaMaC ConferenceHeart of Iowa ConferenceWest Marshall Community School DistrictHeart of Iowa ConferenceWapsie Valley Community School DistrictUpper Iowa ConferenceIowa Star ConferenceGMG Community School DistrictEast Marshall Community School DistrictAplington–Parkersburg Community School DistrictDenver Community School DistrictIowa Star ConferenceBCLUW Community School DistrictHudson High School (Iowa)Dike–New Hartford Community School DistrictBig Eight Conference (Iowa)Union High School (Iowa)Jesup Community School DistrictTri-Rivers ConferenceJesup Community School DistrictIowa Star ConferenceNorth Tama Community School DistrictGladbrook–Reinbeck Community School DistrictNorthern University High SchoolGrundy Center Community School DistrictHubbard–Radcliffe Community School DistrictEldora–New Providence Community School DistrictHubbard–Radcliffe Community School DistrictAGWSR Community School DistrictNorth Iowa Cedar League

References

  1. "UNI plans for life after Price Lab". February 24, 2012.
  2. "A new NICL for now". August 11, 2021.
  3. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02kpe813FJZnsvodQe6i2DgXpz5w8SQTfy7xMMryYTEhSdvNBYC5W4Vx9J9ac5tij2l&id=137650329600987&refid=17&__tn__=%2AW-R [ user-generated source ]
  4. "IHSAA: Classifications".
  5. "IHSAA: Classifications".
  6. "IHSAA: Classifications".
  7. "North Iowa Cedar League" . Retrieved August 24, 2020.