Scenic Bluffs Conference

The Scenic Bluffs 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 Scenic Bluffs Conference was formed in 1979 when the larger Scenic Central Conference split into two smaller conferences from its existing Northern and Southern divisions. ^[1] The core of the Scenic Bluffs membership came from the Northern Division of the former Scenic Central (Bangor, Brookwood, Cashton, Hillsboro, New Lisbon and Wonewoc-Center). Necedah joined from the Central State Conference, and Royall (who had previously been a Scenic Central member) joined from the Coulee Conference to round out the Scenic Bluffs Conference's membership roster. ^[2] The roster of full members has not experienced any changes over the history of the conference.

Football

The Scenic Bluffs Conference has sponsored football throughout its history, starting with the eight original members of the conference. After Brookwood dropped their football program after the 1979 season, ^[3] the conference dropped to seven members for football until De Soto moved over from the Ridge & Valley Conference as football-only members for the 1982 season. ^[4] They would play in the conference until the 2001 season, by which time Brookwood reinstated their football program and the two schools swapped affiliations to their primary conferences. ^{[5] [6]} Wonewoc-Center left the Scenic Bluffs football conference after the 2015 season to join the Ridge & Valley Conference as part of a cooperative program with R&V members Weston. ^[7] The Scenic Bluffs Conference remained at seven football members until the 2020 season, when a comprehensive realignment plan of Wisconsin's football conferences courtesy of the WIAA and WFCA took effect. ^[8] Hillsboro left to join the Ridge & Valley Conference for football and was replaced by Luther, longtime members of the Coulee Conference members of the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League for the 2019 football season. ^[9] This alignment remained in place through the 2022-2023 competition cycle. ^[10] In 2024, Luther rejoined the Coulee Conference as football member after a six-year absence. They were replaced by Hillsboro and Ithaca of the Ridge & Valley League, with Hillsboro making their return to the Scenic Bluffs after four seasons in the Ridge & Valley. ^[11] For the 2026-2027 realignment cycle, Ithaca will be entering into a cooperative agreement with Weston to take effect after their arrangement with Wonewoc-Center ends after the 2025 season. ^[12]

List of conference members

Current members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined
Bangor	Bangor, WI	Public	203	Cardinals		1979 [2]
Brookwood	Ontario, WI	Public	175	Falcons		1979 [2]
Cashton	Cashton, WI	Public	191	Eagles		1979 [2]
Hillsboro	Hillsboro, WI	Public	163	Tigers		1979 [2]
Necedah	Necedah, WI	Public	203	Cardinals		1979 [2]
New Lisbon	New Lisbon, WI	Public	156	Rockets		1979 [2]
Royall	Elroy, WI	Public	154	Panthers		1979 [2]
Wonewoc-Center	Wonewoc, WI	Public	115	Wolves		1979 [2]

Current football-only members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Primary Conference
Ithaca	Ithaca, WI	Public	133	Bulldogs		2024	Ridge & Valley

Future football-only members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joining	Primary Conference
Ithaca/Weston	Ithaca, WI	Public	217	TBD	TBD	2026	Ridge & Valley

Former football-only members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Seasons	Primary Conference
De Soto	De Soto, WI	Public	127	Pirates		1982-2000	Ridge & Valley
Luther	Onalaska, WI	Private (Lutheran, WELS)	228	Knights		2020-2023	Coulee

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

Membership map

Scenic Bluffs Conference

13km
8.1miles

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

   

Location of Scenic Bluffs Conference full members:

1

Bangor

2

Brookwood

3

Cashton

4

Hillsboro

5

Necedah

6

New Lisbon

7

Royall

8

Wonewoc-Center

List of state champions

Fall sports

Girls Cross Country

School	Year	Division
Brookwood	1992	Division 3
Brookwood	1993	Division 3
Brookwood	2003	Division 3

Football

School	Year	Division
Cashton	1981	Division 6
Bangor	2015	Division 7
Bangor	2017	Division 7

Girls Volleyball

School	Year	Division
Wonewoc-Center	2023	Division 4

Winter sports

Boys Basketball

School	Year	Division
Bangor	2018	Division 5

Girls Basketball

School	Year	Division
Bangor	1997	Division 4
Bangor	2018	Division 5

Spring sports

Baseball

School	Year	Division
Cashton	1981	Class C
Bangor	1996	Division 3
Royall	1998	Division 3

Girls Track & Field

School	Year	Division
Royall	2021	Division 3

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

School	Quantity	Years
Bangor	16	1987, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Royall	11	1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1998, 2000, 2012, 2013, 2024, 2025
Hillsboro	10	1989, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016
Necedah	6	1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000
New Lisbon	4	1983, 1986, 1996, 1997
Brookwood	3	1985, 1988, 2005
Cashton	2	1986, 1987
Wonewoc-Center	2	2001, 2007

Girls Basketball

School	Quantity	Years
Bangor	27	1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Royall	9	1992, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2013
Hillsboro	7	1980, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013
New Lisbon	5	1994, 1995, 1996, 2009, 2012
Brookwood	2	2013, 2014
Cashton	2	1998, 2005
Necedah	1	1991
Wonewoc-Center	1	1999

Football

School	Quantity	Years
Bangor	12	1996, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Cashton	12	1979, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2022, 2023
De Soto	9	1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1998, 1999
Necedah	6	1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2011
Royall	4	1991, 1992, 1993, 1997
New Lisbon	3	2002, 2003, 2013
Hillsboro	2	2005, 2006
Brookwood	1	2013
Ithaca	1	2024
Luther	0
Wonewoc-Center	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 will be challenged by Scenic Bluffs opponents". Wisconsin State Journal. August 31, 1980. pp. 68 (Football '80 insert). Retrieved July 1, 2025.
4. "Cashton must contend with an old nemesis". Wisconsin State Journal. August 29, 1982. pp. 60 (Football '82 insert). Retrieved July 1, 2025.
5. "Scouting the Bluffs". La Crosse Tribune. August 24, 2001. pp. 30 (Prep Kickoff 2001 insert). Retrieved July 1, 2025.
6. Ramsden, Ben (August 24, 2001). "De Soto takes on new challenge". La Crosse Tribune. pp. 33 (Prep Kickoff 2001 insert). Retrieved July 1, 2025.
7. "New Weston-Wonewoc football Silver Wolves debut Friday". Reedsburg Independent. August 18, 2016. p. 21. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
8. "Revised Football-Only Conference Plan Released". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 9, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
9. "WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
10. "Proposed Football Only Conference Alignment - 11-Player" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 11, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
11. "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 14, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
12. "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 10, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2025.

External links

• Scenic Bluffs Conference (official site)