Wolverine Conference

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Wolverine Conference
Wolverine Conference Logo, High School Sports, Michigan, USA.jpg
Conference Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA)
Founded1952
No. of teams3 Class A, 5 Class B
RegionSouthwest Michigan

The Wolverine "B" Conference (known commonly as the Wolverine Conference) is a high school athletic conference in southwestern Michigan. It is composed of 8 Class A and B schools from the MHSAA in Allegan, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties. Current members include: Edwardsburg, Niles, Otsego, Paw Paw, Plainwell, Sturgis, Three Rivers and Vicksburg.

Contents

Membership

Current members

School [1] CountyEnrollmentMascotColorsClassYear Joined [2] District Website
Edwardsburg Cass761EddiesOrange/Royal BlueB2012 Edwardsburg Public Schools
Niles Berrien/Cass805VikingsNavy Blue/Vegas GoldB2021 Niles Community Schools
Otsego Allegan688BulldogsNavy Blue/Vegas GoldB1952 Otsego Public Schools
Paw Paw Van Buren621Red WolvesRed/WhiteB1961†, 2006 Paw Paw Public Schools
Plainwell Allegan816TrojansRoyal Blue/WhiteB1952 Plainwell Community Schools
Sturgis St. Joseph835TrojansOrange/BlackA2014 Sturgis Public Schools
Three Rivers St. Joseph617WildcatsPurple/WhiteB1967 Three Rivers Community Schools
Vicksburg Kalamazoo727BulldogsRed/WhiteB1954 Vicksburg Community Schools

Former members

School [1] CountyMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference
joined [2]
Allegan AlleganTigersOrange/Black19522022 SAC
Berrien Springs BerrienShamrocksGreen/White20122015 BCS
Coloma BerrienCometsForest Green/Gold20122015 SAC
Comstock KalamazooColtsCarolina Blue/White19662014 Kalamazoo Valley
Dowagiac CassChieftainsOrange/Black20062022 Lakeland
Gull Lake KalamazooBlue DevilsNavy/White19742011 SMAC
Kalamazoo University KalamazooCubsRed/White19521966none (school closed)
Portage Central KalamazooMustangsBlue/Gold19521958 SMAC
South Haven Van Buren/AlleganRamsPurple/Gold19522020 BCS

Membership Timeline (since 1952)

Wolverine Conference

Full members

History

Early Days (1952-1960)

The Wolverine Conference was formed in 1952, consisting of Allegan, Western State High (Kalamazoo), Otsego, Plainwell, Portage, and South Haven. [3] Five boys sports were sponsored by the league that first year: football, basketball, baseball, tennis and track. Girls sports were added in the 1973-74 year with basketball, tennis, softball and track being the sponsored sports. Portage left for the SMAC in 1958. The Wolverine expanded for the first time in 1954, adding Vicksburg to the conference. The Wolverine "B" Conference has always consisted of mostly Class B high schools, but there are bylaws in case a school is Class A for more than two years. In that instance, over 75% of schools must approve said school's membership and the school's case is reviewed every year. [4]

Further Expansion (1960-2005)

The Wolverine began adding more schools beginning in the 1960s. Paw Paw High School was the first to join in this decade, moving from the Kalamazoo Valley Conference in 1961. Kalamazoo University High closed in 1966, with Comstock joining the same year from the Kalamazoo Valley Conference, and Three Rivers from the Twin Valley Conference a year after in 1967. Gull Lake High School joined the conference in 1974. This kicked off a long period of stability within the Wolverine, with the only exception being Paw Paw returning to the Kalamazoo Valley in 1982.

Major Realignment (2006–present)

The new millennium brought major changes to the Wolverine Conference. In 2006, Paw Paw left the Kalamazoo Valley and once again rejoined the Wolverine, while Dowagiac joined the conference from the SMAC. [5] Five years later, Gull Lake, dominant in many sports, left for the SMAC. [6] Looking into expanding, the Wolverine raided the nearby Lakeland Conference, with Berrien Springs, Coloma, and Edwardsburg entering the conference. [7] This, for the first time, created divisions within the Wolverine, with the alignment as follows from 2012 through 2014:

West DivisionEast Division
Berrien SpringsAllegan
ColomaComstock
DowagiacOtsego
EdwardsburgPaw Paw
South HavenPlainwell
Three RiversVicksburg

Then, after the 2014 school year, Comstock left the Wolverine for the Kalamazoo Valley, replaced by Sturgis from the SMAC. [8] To accommodate these changes, Paw Paw and Three Rivers switched divisions, making new divisions for the 2014-15 year as follows:

West DivisionEast Division
Berrien SpringsAllegan
ColomaOtsego
DowagiacPlainwell
EdwardsburgSturgis
Paw PawThree Rivers
South HavenVicksburg

After the 2014–15 school year, Coloma and Berrien Springs, two of the smaller schools in the Wolverine, left for the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the BCS Conference, respectively, after only three seasons in the conference. [4] This created a full 9-game football schedule for the conference, eliminating the need to have divisions after only three seasons. For the next five years, the conference remained the same, until South Haven, one of the founding members of the Wolverine, announced it will leave after 68 years for the BCS after the 2019–20 school year, leaving the conference at 9 teams in 2020. [9] Niles became a member in 2021-22 returning the league membership to ten. [10] This arrangement lasted one year, as Dowagiac decided to leave the conference after the 2021–22 school year, citing its significant enrollment gap with other conference schools. [11]

Current Champions

SeasonSportChampion [12]
Fall 2024Cross Country (boys)Three Rivers
Cross Country (girls)Otsego
FootballNiles
Golf (girls)Otsego
Soccer (boys)Plainwell
Tennis (boys)Vicksburg
VolleyballThree Rivers
Winter 2024-25Basketball (boys)Paw Paw
Basketball (girls)Vicksburg
Bowling (boys)Edwardsburg
Bowling (girls)Three Rivers
Competitive CheerPlainwell
WrestlingThree Rivers
Spring 2025BaseballNiles
Golf (boys)Otsego
Soccer (girls)Otsego
SoftballPaw Paw
Tennis (girls)Edwardsburg
Track and Field (boys)Three Rivers
Track and Field (girls)Sturgis*

¥ Denotes state champion

† All spring 2020 sports were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic [13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Home". Michigan High School Athletic Association.
  2. 1 2 "Michigan High School Football - Data Warehouse of Scores and Analytics". michigan-football.com.
  3. "Growth, rivalries help define Wolverine Conference; See a historical timeline of the league". August 19, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "The Enrollment and Conference Carosel | WSJM Sports". March 24, 2015.
  5. "Dowagiac ready for Wolverine challenge".
  6. "Gull Lake leaving Wolverine Conference, headed for Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference" . Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  7. "Wolverine issues invitations to Berrien Springs, Coloma".
  8. "Wolverine Conference officially extends invite to Sturgis to join league beginning in 2014-15". August 2013.
  9. "South Haven, Parchment to join new athletic conferences in 2020". September 30, 2019.
  10. "Niles to join Wolverine Conference in 2021". June 16, 2020.
  11. "Dowagiac High School to leave Wolverine Conference". December 17, 2021.
  12. "Wolverine Conference". facebook.com. Retrieved September 30, 2023.[ user-generated source ]
  13. "MHSAA Cancels Remainder of 2019-20 Winter & Spring Seasons".