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. 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. 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, swapping affiliations with the newly reinstated football program at Brookwood. This arrangement was reversed for the 2001 season, with De Soto returning to the conference and Brookwood moving back to the Scenic Bluffs. 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. In 2016, Seneca and Wauzeka-Steuben merged their football teams, along with Weston and Scenic Bluffs members Wonewoc-Center. Riverdale's entry into the Ridge & Valley from the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League kept its football roster at seven schools. 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. Three programs (Kickapoo/La Farge, North Crawford and Wonewoc-Center/Weston) made the switch to eight-player football for the 2020 season, and were replaced by Boscobel of the SWAL and Hillsboro of the Scenic Bluffs. 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. in 2024, the Ridge & Valley Conference made the decision to move to eight-player football, 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. 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. Wonewoc-Center is currently slated to continue as an eight-player program exclusive to that school.
List of member schools
Current members SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoinedDe SotoDe Soto, WIPublic133Pirates 1979IthacaIthaca, WIPublic101Bulldogs 1979KickapooViola, WIPublic156Panthers 1979La FargeLa Farge. WIPublic63Wildcats 1979North CrawfordSoldiers Grove, WIPublic107Trojans 1979SenecaSeneca, WIPublic77Royals 1979Wauzeka-SteubenWauzeka, WIPublic76Hornets 1979WestonCazenovia, WIPublic80Silver Eagles 1979
Current associate members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsPrimary ConferenceSport(s)BelmontBelmont, WIPublicBraves Six RiversFootball (8-player)CassvilleCassville, WIPublicComets Six RiversBoys Cross Country, Girls Cross CountryHighlandHighland, WIPublicCardinals Six RiversFootball (8-player)MonticelloMonticello, WIPublicPonies Six RiversFootball (8-player)River RidgePatch Grove, WIPublicTimberwolves Six RiversBoys Cross Country, Girls Cross CountryShullsburgShullsburg, WIPublicMiners Six RiversBoys Cross Country, Girls Cross CountryWisconsin HeightsMazomanie, WIPublicVanguards CapitolFootball (8-player)Wonewoc-CenterWonewoc, WIPublicWolves Scenic BluffsFootball (8-player)
Notes
Former football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceBoscobelBoscobel, WIPublicBulldogs 2020-2023SWALBrookwoodOntario, WIPublicFalcons 1982-2000Scenic BluffsHillsboroHillsboro, WIPublicTigers 2020-2023Scenic BluffsIowa-GrantLivingston, WIPublicPanthers 2022-2023SWALRiverdaleMuscoda, WIPublicChieftains 2016-2023SWAL
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
Membership map
Sponsored sports +De Soto●●●●●●●●●●●● Ithaca●●●●●●●●Kickapoo●●●●●●●●●●●● La Farge●●●●●North Crawford●●●●●●●●●●●●Seneca●●●●●●●●●Wauzeka-Steuben●●●●●●●●●Weston●●●●●●
Notes
List of state champions Fall sports None
Winter sports None
Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionDe Soto2000Division 3De Soto2001Division 3 Ithaca2016Division 4 Ithaca2023Division 4 +SoftballSchoolYearDivisionSeneca1983Class CSeneca2000Division 3 +Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionNorth Crawford1991Division 3North Crawford1992Division 3
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsNorth Crawford181980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2024, 2025Seneca112001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023Kickapoo71992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2026Wauzeka-Steuben71987, 1991, 2005, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022Weston41982, 1984, 1988, 1990 La Farge21989, 2014 Ithaca12024De Soto0
Girls Basketball SchoolQuantityYears Ithaca141981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2013, 2014Seneca131980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018Kickapoo111988, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025Wauzeka-Steuben72015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025Weston71991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2008, 2009North Crawford41995, 1996, 1997, 1998De Soto22006, 2026 La Farge0
Football SchoolQuantityYears Ithaca151985, 1986, 1992, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019De Soto101979, 1980, 1981, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013Seneca91983, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2010North Crawford81982, 1983, 1984, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2025Highland42020, 2021, 2023, 2024Kickapoo41983, 1984, 1988, 1989Seneca/Wauzeka-Steuben42017, 2018, 2019, 2022Weston41982, 1985, 1993, 1995Kickapoo/La Farge22008, 2012Brookwood11987Belmont0Boscobel0Hillsboro0Iowa-Grant0 La Farge0Monticello0Riverdale0Wauzeka-Steuben0Wisconsin Heights0Wonewoc-Center/Weston0Wonewoc-Center0
References
External links Ridge & Valley Conference (official site)