The Little Ten Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, formed in 1925 and reorganizing into the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference in 1970.
History
1925–1959
The Little Ten Conference was founded in 1925 by ten medium- to smaller-sized schools in south central Wisconsin: Beaver Dam, Berlin, Columbus, Hartford Union, Horicon, Mayville, Portage, Ripon, Watertown and Waupun. The conference went through a few membership changes during its first few seasons, starting with the loss of Portage to the South Central Conference in 1926 and Watertown to the Southern Six in 1928. The conference added West Bend in 1929 and Oconomowoc in 1930 to bring conference membership back up to ten. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, several schools in the northern and western suburbs of the Milwaukee area (Cedarburg, Menomonee Falls, Port Washington and former members Watertown) applied for membership in the Little Ten multiple times, only to be rejected at each attempt over concerns about managing a fourteen-member conference. This series of rejections led to the formation of the Braveland Conference in 1953 by the four failed Little Ten applicants. The Little Ten would finally expand its membership roster in 1959, when Arrowhead joined from the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference and Watertown rejoined from the Braveland Conference.
1959–1970 With conference membership increasing to twelve, the Little Ten subdivided into Northern and Southern Divisions for the 1959-60 school year: +Northern Little TenSouthern Little TenBerlinArrowheadColumbusBeaver DamHoriconHartford UnionMayvilleOconomowocRiponWatertownWaupunWest Bend
In 1965, Arrowhead left to join the Southeastern Badger Conference, bringing conference membership to eleven. By the late 1960s, increasing gaps in enrollment between the smaller schools in the Northern Little Ten and the larger schools in the Southern Little Ten were creating problems with competitive balance, and the schools in the Southern Little Ten began looking to secede from the conference. The conference officially subdivided into two separate conferences in 1966 and both conferences completely disbanded in 1970. The five Southern Little Ten members (six with the split of West Bend into East and West) joined with Waupun, who had the highest enrollment in the Northern Little Ten, to form the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference. The five schools in the Northern Little Ten disbanded to find other conferences with schools more similar in enrollment size.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBeaver DamBeaver Dam, WIPublicGolden Beavers 19251970Wisconsin Little TenBadgerBerlinBerlin, WIPublicIndians 19251970East CentralSouth CentralColumbusColumbus, WIPublicCardinals 19251970Central SuburbanCapitolHartford UnionHartford, WIPublicOrioles 19251970Wisconsin Little TenNorth ShoreHoriconHoricon, WIPublicMarshmen 19251970FlywayTrailwaysMayvilleMayville, WIPublicCardinals 19251970Scenic MoraineWisconsin FlywayOconomowocOconomowoc, WIPublicRaccoons 19301970Wisconsin Little TenClassic EightRiponRipon, WIPublicTigers 19251970East CentralSouth CentralWatertownWatertown, WIPublicGoslings 1925, 19591928, 1970Southern Six, Wisconsin Little TenBadgerWaupunWaupun, WIPublicWarriors 19251970Wisconsin Little TenCapitolWest BendWest Bend, WIPublicBadgers 19291970Wisconsin Little TenGlacier Trails
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceArrowheadHartland, WIPublicWarhawks 19591965Southeastern BadgerClassic EightPortagePortage, WIPublicWarriors 19251926Southern SixBadger
Notes
Membership timeline
List of state champions
Fall sports None
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivisionWatertown1928Single DivisionMayville1935Class BBeaver Dam1937Class B
Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionWest Bend1951Single DivisionOconomowoc1959Single Division +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionBerlin1931Class BWest Bend1934Class BHoricon1937Class CHoricon1938Class CHoricon1939Class CHoricon1954Class CHoricon1959Class CBerlin1961Class BArrowhead1965Class BRipon1968Class B
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsMayville111932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1969, 1970Beaver Dam101927, 1937, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1948, 1960, 1966Oconomowoc91932, 1938, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1968Watertown81928, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970Columbus71929, 1932, 1954, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968Ripon71926, 1931, 1932, 1938, 1949, 1950, 1966Hartford Union61936, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1958Horicon41936, 1940, 1941, 1945Waupun41930, 1944, 1955, 1967West Bend21958, 1965Berlin11946Arrowhead0Portage0
Football SchoolQuantityYearsOconomowoc111942, 1946, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969Beaver Dam101928, 1933, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1963West Bend101933, 1934, 1950, 1951, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1969Mayville91929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1944, 1968Ripon81930, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947Berlin61945, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1961, 1967Waupun61925, 1926, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966Horicon31932, 1959, 1969Columbus21962, 1964Hartford Union21940, 1968Portage11927Watertown11960Arrowhead0
References