History
1932-1957
The Wolf River Valley Conference was formed in 1932 from a split of four schools from the Central Wisconsin Conference. Birnamwood, Rosholt, Tigerton and Wittenberg were all members of the conference's Northern Section and were joined by Mattoon to form a five-member circuit. [1] Four out of the five original members were located in Shawano County, with one (Rosholt) based in Portage County. By the end of the 1930s that number had increased to eight schools as Scandinavia joined in 1934 [2] and two schools (Bowler and Gresham) entered the conference in 1939. [3] The Wolf River Valley Conference would compete with this membership roster for just over a decade before Wittenberg left to compete as an independent in 1948, [4] leaving the conference with seven members. White Lake would join from the Northern Lakes Conference in 1957, [5] bringing membership back up to eight schools.
1957-1970
In the 1960s, rural school district consolidation began to take its toll on Wolf River Valley Conference membership. The first to leave the conference was Scandinavia in 1960 after their merger with Iola of the Central Wisconsin Conference. [6] Mattoon followed them out in 1962 as their district was consolidated into Antigo of the Wisconsin Valley Conference. [7] Bear Creek would join in 1965 after their exit from the Little Nine Conference, [8] but their stay was short-lived as the district was folded into Clintonville of the Mid-Eastern Conference in 1969. [9] The Wolf River Valley Conference was disbanded in 1970, with Bowler, Rosholt and Tigerton becoming charter members of the new Central State Conference. [10] Gresham and White Lake became independents, and both joined conferences in 1972 (Gresham to the Central State, White Lake to the Northern Lakes). [11] [12] Birnamwood was merged with Wittenberg in 1970, and the new Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School inherited Wittenberg's place in the Central Wisconsin Conference. [13]
