Wisconsin River League

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The Wisconsin River League is a former high school athletic conference with its membership roster in southwestern Wisconsin. Founded in 1928 and ended in 1960, its members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Contents

History

The Wisconsin River League was formed in 1928 by four small high schools near the Wisconsin River: Boscobel, Ithaca, Lone Rock and Muscoda. [1] Original conference members were located in three counties of southwestern Wisconsin's Driftless Area (Grant, Iowa and Richland). Sextonville joined the league in 1929 to bring membership up to five schools. [2] That number was increased to six when Blue River was accepted into the Wisconsin River League in 1930. [3] Boscobel left the conference in 1934 and competed as an independent prior to joining the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League in 1935. [4] They were replaced by Avoca to keep the roster at six member schools. [5] Lime Ridge's entry into the league in 1936 brought the membership tally to seven schools. [6] An eighth school (Cazenovia) was added in 1938 to bring the league to its high water mark of eight members. [7]

After the Wisconsin River League became an eight-member circuit, the closing and consolidation of rural high schools began to eat away at conference membership. Sextonville High School was closed in 1942, and its students were dispersed to other districts in Richland County. [8] North Freedom joined the conference as their replacement, [9] and their membership ran for three years [10] before their district was folded and split between Baraboo and Reedsburg. In 1955, Cazenovia and Lime Ridge merged, [11] with the new Weston High School taking the place of their predecessors. [12] The Wisconsin River League continued with six active members until it ceased operations in 1960. Five schools from the disbanded conference (Blue River, Ithaca, Lone Rock, Muscoda and Weston) joined with four members formerly of the Iowa County League (Barneveld, Highland, Hollandale and Ridgeway) to form the I-W League. [13]

Conference Membership History

SchoolLocationAffiliation Enrollment MascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
Boscobel Boscobel, WI Public212Bulldogs  1928 [1] 1934 [4] Independent SWAL
Ithaca Ithaca, WI Public133Bulldogs  1928 [1] 1960 [13] I-W League Ridge & Valley
Lone Rock Lone Rock, WI PublicN/ARockets  1928 [1] 1960 [13] I-W League Closed in 1962 (merged into River Valley)
Muscoda Muscoda, WI PublicN/AIndians  1928 [1] 1960 [13] I-W League Closed in 1964 (merged into Riverdale)
Sextonville Sextonville, WI PublicN/ATigers  1929 [2] 1942 [8] Closed (split between Ithaca, Lone Rock and Richland Center)
Blue River Blue River, WI PublicN/ATigers  1930 [3] 1960 [13] I-W League Closed in 1967 (consolidated into Riverdale)
Avoca Avoca, WI PublicN/ACardinals  1934 [5] 1960 [13] IndependentClosed in 1964 (merged into Riverdale)
Lime Ridge Lime Ridge, WI PublicN/ARaiders  1936 [6] 1955 [11] Closed (merged into Weston)
Cazenovia Cazenovia, WI PublicN/ABlue Devils  1938 [7] 1955 [11] Closed (merged into Weston)
North Freedom North Freedom, WI PublicN/AUnknownUnknown1942 [9] 1945 [10] Closed (split between Baraboo and Reedsburg)
Weston Cazenovia, WI Public84Silver Eagles  1955 [12] 1960 [13] I-W League Ridge & Valley

Membership timeline

Wisconsin River League

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "High School News (see Athletics)". Muscoda Leader-Press. 18 October 1928. p. 2. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Boscobel in Second Place - Ithaca Leads Wisconsin River League". Boscobel Dial. 29 January 1930. p. 4. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Neighborhood News (see Blue River)". Boscobel Dial. 22 October 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Southwest League Adds Two Teams". Wisconsin State Journal. 1 March 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Muscoda Quintet Goes Haywire to Lose League Lead (see Standings)". Muscoda Leader-Press. 24 January 1935. p. 1. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Wisconsin River Loop Names Porter Chief". The Capital Times. 16 September 1936. p. 16. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Cazenovia Defeats North Freedom". Wisconsin State Journal. 8 December 1938. p. 21. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Staff Resigns; School Ended". Wisconsin State Journal. 4 September 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  9. 1 2 "North Freedom Wins Over Cazenovia". Wisconsin State Journal. 12 December 1942. p. 8. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Suburban Prep Cage Standings (see Wisconsin River League)". The Capital Times. 3 March 1946. p. 31. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 "New District Is Named Weston Union High School". Baraboo News Republic. 29 April 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Area High School Basketball Standings (see Wisconsin River League)". Wisconsin State Journal. 18 December 1955. pp. 2 (Section 4). Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2 Conferences in New Loop". The Capital Times. 12 March 1960. p. 11. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
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