Ridge & Valley Conference

The Ridge & Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. Founded in 1979, its members are small schools concentrated in the southern part of the state's Driftless Area. All conference members belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

The Ridge & Valley Conference was formed in 1979 when the larger Scenic Central Conference split into two smaller conferences from its existing Northern and Southern divisions. ^[1] All seven schools in the Southern Division (De Soto, Ithaca, Kickapoo, La Farge, North Crawford, Seneca and Wauzeka-Steuben) plus Weston from the Northern Division formed the Ridge & Valley Conference's membership roster. ^[2] Membership has not experienced any changes over the history of the conference among full members.

Football

1979-2020

The Ridge & Valley Conference began football sponsorship along with all other sports after its split from the Scenic Central Conference in 1979, with all members participating. After winning the first three R&V football titles, De Soto was moved to the Scenic Bluffs Conference in 1982, ^[3] swapping affiliations with the newly reinstated football program at Brookwood. ^[4] This arrangement was reversed for the 2001 season, with De Soto returning to the conference and Brookwood moving back to the Scenic Bluffs. ^{[5] [6]} By this time, some of the conference members started to consolidate their programs due to lack of available players. The first two schools to do so were Kickapoo and La Farge, who combined their programs beginning with the 2004 season. ^[7] In 2016, Seneca and Wauzeka-Steuben merged their football teams, ^[8] along with Weston and Scenic Bluffs members Wonewoc-Center. ^[9] Riverdale's entry into the Ridge & Valley from the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League kept its football roster at seven schools. ^[10] The 2019 season saw an eighth school, Highland of the Six Rivers Conference, join as associate members in football.

2020-present

In February 2019, the WIAA and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association released a comprehensive realignment for Wisconsin's high school football conferences, set to begin with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle. ^[11] Three programs (Kickapoo/La Farge, North Crawford and Wonewoc-Center/Weston) made the switch to eight-player football for the 2020 season, ^[12] and were replaced by Boscobel of the SWAL and Hillsboro of the Scenic Bluffs. ^[13] For the 2022-2023 competition cycle, De Soto made the switch to eight-player football with Iowa-Grant moving over from the SWAL as their replacement. ^[14] in 2024, the Ridge & Valley Conference made the decision to move to eight-player football, ^[15] welcoming four former members back into the conference (De Soto, Kickapoo/La Farge, North Crawford and Wonewoc-Center/Weston) along with newcomers Belmont, Monticello and Wisconsin Heights joining Highland (the only holdover from 2023) to form its initial roster. ^[16] In 2026, Wonewoc-Center and Weston are planning to dissolve their cooperative agreement for football, and Weston will partner with Ithaca's eleven-player program. ^[17] Wonewoc-Center is currently slated to continue as an eight-player program exclusive to that school. ^[18]

List of member schools

Current members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined
De Soto	De Soto, WI	Public	127	Pirates		1979 [2]
Ithaca	Ithaca, WI	Public	133	Bulldogs		1979 [2]
Kickapoo	Viola, WI	Public	157	Panthers		1979 [2]
La Farge	La Farge. WI	Public	66	Wildcats		1979 [2]
North Crawford	Soldiers Grove, WI	Public	124	Trojans		1979 [2]
Seneca	Seneca, WI	Public	102	Royals		1979 [2]
Wauzeka-Steuben	Wauzeka, WI	Public	78	Hornets		1979 [2]
Weston	Cazenovia, WI	Public	84	Silver Eagles		1979 [2]

Current football-only members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Primary Conference
Belmont	Belmont, WI	Public	121	Braves		2024	Six Rivers
Highland	Highland, WI	Public	105	Cardinals		2019	Six Rivers
Kickapoo/ La Farge	Viola, WI	Public	223	Predators		2004, 2024	Ridge & Valley
Monticello	Monticello, WI	Public	98	Ponies		2024	Six Rivers
Wisconsin Heights	Mazomanie, WI	Public	228	Vanguards		2024	CYTBN (2025)
Wonewoc-Center/ Weston	Wonewoc, WI	Public	199	SilverWolves		2016, 2024	Scenic Bluffs, Ridge & Valley

Future football-only members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joining	Primary Conference
Wonewoc-Center	Wonewoc, WI	Public	115	Wolves		2026	Scenic Bluffs

Former football-only members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Seasons	Primary Conference
Brookwood	Ontario, WI	Public	175	Falcons		1982-2000	Scenic Bluffs
Riverdale	Muscoda, WI	Public	202	Chieftains		2016-2023	SWAL
Seneca/ Wauzeka-Steuben	Seneca, WI	Public	180	Blue-Golds		2016-2023	Ridge & Valley
Boscobel	Boscobel, WI	Public	212	Bulldogs		2020-2023	SWAL
Hillsboro	Hillsboro, WI	Public	163	Tigers		2020-2023	Scenic Bluffs
Iowa-Grant	Livingston, WI	Public	204	Panthers		2022-2023	SWAL

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

Membership map

Ridge & Valley Conference

13km
8.1miles

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

   

Location of Ridge & Valley Conference full members:

1

De Soto

2

Ithaca

3

Kickapoo

4

La Farge

5

North Crawford

6

Seneca

7

Wauzeka-Steuben

8

Weston

List of state champions

Fall sports

Football

School	Year	Division
De Soto	1983	Division 6
De Soto	1984	Division 6

Winter sports

None

Spring sports

Baseball

School	Year	Division
De Soto	2000	Division 3
De Soto	2001	Division 3
Ithaca	2016	Division 4
Ithaca	2023	Division 4

Softball

School	Year	Division
Seneca	1983	Class C
Seneca	2000	Division 3

Girls Track & Field

School	Year	Division
North Crawford	1991	Division 3
North Crawford	1992	Division 3

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

School	Quantity	Years
North Crawford	18	1980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2024, 2025
Seneca	11	2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023
Wauzeka-Steuben	7	1987, 1991, 2005, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Kickapoo	6	1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
Weston	4	1982, 1984, 1988, 1990
La Farge	2	1989, 2014
Ithaca	1	2024
De Soto	0

Girls Basketball

School	Quantity	Years
Ithaca	14	1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2013, 2014
Seneca	13	1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018
Kickapoo	11	1988, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025
Wauzeka-Steuben	7	2015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025
Weston	7	1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2008, 2009
North Crawford	4	1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
De Soto	1	2006
La Farge	0

Football

School	Quantity	Years
Ithaca	15	1985, 1986, 1992, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019
De Soto	10	1979, 1980, 1981, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013
Seneca	9	1983, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2010
North Crawford	7	1982, 1983, 1984, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2013
Highland	4	2020, 2021, 2023, 2024
Kickapoo	4	1983, 1984, 1988, 1989
Seneca/ Wauzeka-Steuben	4	2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
Weston	4	1982, 1985, 1993, 1995
Kickapoo/ La Farge	2	2008, 2012
Brookwood	1	1987
Belmont	0
Boscobel	0
Hillsboro	0
Iowa-Grant	0
La Farge	0
Monticello	0
Riverdale	0
Wauzeka-Steuben	0
Wisconsin Heights	0
Wonewoc-Center/ Weston	0

References

1. "Area high schools form two new conferences". Wisconsin State Journal. August 12, 1979. p. 22. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
2. "Wonewoc-Center is Scenic Bluffs pick". Wisconsin State Journal. August 26, 1979. pp. 55 (Football '79 insert). Retrieved December 16, 2024.
3. "Cashton must contend with an old nemesis". Wisconsin State Journal. August 29, 1982. pp. 60 (Football '82 insert). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
4. "Without De Soto, parity's back". Wisconsin State Journal. August 29, 1982. pp. 62 (Football '82 insert). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
5. "Scouting the Bluffs". La Crosse Tribune. August 24, 2001. pp. 30 (Prep Kickoff 2001 insert). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
6. Ramsden, Ben (August 24, 2001). "De Soto takes on new challenge". La Crosse Tribune. pp. 33 (Prep Kickoff 2001 insert). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
7. "Preps: Other Area Teams (see Ridge & Valley)". Wisconsin State Journal. August 29, 2004. pp. 59 (Football 2004 insert). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
8. Preusser, Charley (January 23, 2015). "Seneca and Wauzeka-Steuben approve a co-op football team". SWNews4u.com. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
9. "New Weston-Wonewoc football Silver Wolves debut Friday". Reedsburg Independent. August 18, 2016. p. 21. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
10. Martin, Erin (October 15, 2015). "Riverdale approves football conference change". SWNews4u.com. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
11. "Revised Football-Only Conference Plan Released". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 9, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
12. "WFCA Eight Player Conference Alignment – Recommendation" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. May 20, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
13. "WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
14. "Proposed Football Only Conference Alignment - 11-Player" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 11, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
15. "Six Rivers Conference football will survive". SWNews4u.com. May 1, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
16. "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 8-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
17. "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 10, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
18. "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 8-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 10, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2025.

External links

• Ridge & Valley Conference (official site)