The Tri-County League is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, operational from 1923 to 1963 with its membership concentrated in south central Wisconsin. All members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The Tri-County League began in 1923 as an oratorical and forensics conference between five small high schools in south central Wisconsin: Arena, Black Earth, Mazomanie, Prairie du Sac and Sauk City. These five schools were concentrated in the lower Wisconsin River Valley across three counties: Dane, Iowa and Sauk. The loop began sponsorship of athletic competition in 1926, and in 1928 added two new members: Spring Green and Waunakee. The Tri-County League started sponsorship of eleven-man football in 1930 with four members: Arena, Mazomanie, Sauk City and Spring Green. Lodi joined the Tri-County League in 1932 from the Madison Suburban Conference, and the conference maintained a steady eight-school roster for the next two decades. Poynette and Verona joined from the Dual County and Madison Suburban Conferences in 1954, bringing conference membership to ten schools.
Over the next decade, consolidation of rural school districts in south central Wisconsin hit Tri-County League membership hard, leading to its eventual demise. In 1962, River Valley High School was created from the consolidation of high schools in Spring Green, Arena and Lone Rock. They took the place of Arena and Spring Green in the conference. The next year, two new school districts affecting Tri-County League membership were created: Sauk Prairie (from Prairie du Sac and Sauk City) and Wisconsin Heights (from Black Earth and Mazomanie). The new Sauk Prairie High School joined the South Central Conference in the same year it was created, leaving only six schools in the conference for the 1963-64 school year. Because of the decline in member schools, the Tri-County League merged with the Madison Suburban Conference, with all six schools (Lodi, Poynette, River Valley, Verona, Waunakee, and Wisconsin Heights) comprising the Western Section of the conference.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBlack EarthBlack Earth, WIPublicEarthmen 19231963Closed (consolidated into Wisconsin Heights)LodiLodi, WIPublicBlue Devils 19321963Madison SuburbanCapitolMazomanieMazomanie, WIPublicMidgets 19231963Closed (consolidated into Wisconsin Heights)PoynettePoynette, WIPublicIndians 19541963Madison SuburbanCapitolPrairie du SacPrairie du Sac, WIPublicIndians 19231963Closed (consolidated into Sauk Prairie)River ValleySpring Green, WIPublicBlackhawks 19621963Madison SuburbanSouthwest WisconsinSauk CitySauk City, WIPublicCardinals 19231963Closed (consolidated into Sauk Prairie)VeronaVerona, WIPublicIndians 19541963Madison SuburbanBig EightWaunakeeWaunakee, WIPublicWarriors 19281963Madison SuburbanBadger
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceArenaArena, WIPublicPurple Knights 19231962Closed (consolidated into River Valley)Spring GreenSpring Green, WIPublicShamrocks 19231962Closed (consolidated into River Valley)
Membership timeline Full members
Football members
List of state champions
Fall sports None
Winter sports +CurlingSchoolYearDivision Lodi1962Single Division Poynette1963Single Division
Spring sports +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivision Prairie du Sac1929Class C Prairie du Sac1930Class C Prairie du Sac1931Class C
List of conference champions Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYears Spring Green101932, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1944, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1958 Prairie du Sac81935, 1940, 1941, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959 Lodi71933, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1950, 1963 Mazomanie61932, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948 Sauk City51949, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960 Waunakee31931, 1961, 1962 Black Earth11954 Verona11963 Arena0 Poynette0 River Valley0Champions from 1929-1931 unknown
Football SchoolQuantityYears Prairie du Sac91939, 1940, 1941, 1944, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1957 Sauk City71936, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1956 Spring Green71930, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1938, 1942, 1943 Waunakee61953, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 Arena21945, 1946 Mazomanie21934, 1937 Lodi11939 Verona11955 Black Earth0 Poynette0 River Valley0Champions from 1932 unknown
References