The Black Hawk League is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin. Formed in 1930 and in operation until 1997, its membership consisted primarily of small high schools in the southwest corner of Wisconsin. All members (with the exception of two) were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1930–1959
The Black Hawk League was founded in 1930 by six small high schools in southwestern Wisconsin: Belmont, Benton, Hazel Green (now Southwestern), New Diggings, Shullsburg and South Wayne. It was named after the portion of southwestern Wisconsin (then Michigan Territory) where the Black Hawk War had been fought a century earlier. Darlington joined the conference in 1936, who maintained dual membership with the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League for one season before leaving the Black Hawk League in 1938. Six-player football was sponsored for the first time in 1939, with State Line League members Argyle joining five conference members (Belmont, Benton, Hazel Green, Shullsburg and South Wayne) in the initial roster. Membership grew to eight schools after World War II with the addition of Gratiot High School in 1946 and Scales Mound High School in 1947. In 1953, New Diggings High School was closed when their district was consolidated into Hazel Green, and Scales Mound left two years later to rejoin their former home in the U.S. Grant Conference, an IHSA-sponsored conference in Illinois. The Black Hawk League also transitioned from six-player to eight-player football in 1955, with six participants.
1959–1979 The consolidation of rural school districts and folding of smaller athletic conferences in southwestern Wisconsin continued to affect Black Hawk League membership into the 1960s and 1970s. Cassville and Potosi joined from the West Grant League in 1959, and Bloomington joined the next year when the conference disbanded after all other members were lost to consolidation. South Wayne left to join the State Line League in 1962 and were replaced by Highland, who joined from the I-W League in 1963, one year before that conference's demise. The Black Hawk League lost Gratiot when it consolidated with South Wayne to form Black Hawk High School in 1967, and they took South Wayne's place in the State Line League. That same year, the Black Hawk League shifted to eleven-player football, and all members from the previous season participated with the exception of Potosi, who joined the league for the 1968 season. West Grant moved over from the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League in 1969, and the conference added a tenth member (and its only private school) in 1979 when Martin Luther Prep moved their campus from New Ulm, Minnesota to the former Campion High School campus in Prairie du Chien.
1979–1997
Southwestern High School's exit for the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League brought conference membership in the Black Hawk League to nine in 1983. 1995 saw an even more drastic change to membership, with a net loss of two schools in the process. Martin Luther Prep merged with Northwestern Prep in Watertown to form Luther Prep, closing the Prairie du Chien campus in the process. In addition, Bloomington and West Grant were consolidated into River Ridge High School, repurposing the West Grant High School campus for their new home. For the final two years of the conference, the Black Hawk League added former State Line members Black Hawk and Pecatonica/Argyle for football when the league ended sponsorship of that sport after the 1993 season. In 1997, the seven members of the Black Hawk League merged with the nine members of the State Line League to form the new Six Rivers Conference.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBelmontBelmont, WIPublicBraves 19301997Six RiversBentonBenton, WIPublicZephyrs 19301997Six RiversCassvilleCassville, WIPublicComets 19591997Six RiversHighlandHighland, WIPublicCardinals 19631997Six RiversPotosiPotosi, WIPublicChieftains 19591997Six RiversRiver RidgePatch Grove, WIPublicTimberwolves 19951997Six RiversShullsburgShullsburg, WIPublicMiners 19301997Six Rivers
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBloomingtonBloomington, WIPublicBlue Jays 19601995Closed (consolidated into River Ridge)DarlingtonDarlington, WIPublicRedbirds 19361938SWALGratiotGratiot, WIPublicGolden Eagles 19461967Closed (consolidated into Black Hawk)Martin Luther PrepPrairie du Chien, WIPrivate (Lutheran, WELS)Rams 19791995Merged with Northwestern Prep (Luther Prep)New DiggingsNew Diggings, WIPublicMidgets 19301953Closed (consolidated into Hazel Green)Scales MoundScales Mound, ILPublicHornets 19471955U.S. Grant (IHSA)Northwest Upsate Illini (IHSA)South WayneSouth Wayne, WIPublicVandals 1930,1962State LineClosed (consolidated into Black Hawk)SouthwesternHazel Green, WIPublicWildcats 19301983Southern EightSWALWest GrantPatch Grove, WIPublicFalcons 19691995Closed (consolidated into River Ridge)
Football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceArgyleArgyle, WIPublicOrioles 1939-1943State LineHanoverHanover, ILPublicRed Devils 1952-1971U.S. Grant (IHSA)Black HawkSouth Wayne, WIPublicWarriors 1994-1996State LinePecatonica/ArgyleBlanchardville, WIPublicVikings 1994-1996State Line
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
List of state champions
Fall sports +FootballSchoolYearDivisionMartin Luther Prep1979WISAA Class BMartin Luther Prep1982WISAA Class BMartin Luther Prep1987WISAA Class B
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivisionBloomington1972Class BShullsburg1991Division 4Cassville1994Division 4Cassville1995Division 4
Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionPotosi1993Division 3 +SoftballSchoolYearDivisionMartin Luther Prep1989WISAA Class B +Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionBloomington1975Class C
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsBloomington131961, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989Cassville111965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1979, 1982, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997Belmont101935, 1936, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1979, 1996, 1997(Hazel Green) Southwestern101933, 1934, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1968, 1969, 1978, 1981Shullsburg91950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1974, 1990, 1991 South Wayne81930, 1931, 1932, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1960 Benton61938, 1939, 1949, 1954, 1956, 1985 West Grant41975, 1980, 1985, 1986 New Diggings31946, 1947, 1948 Highland21966, 1992 Scales Mound11952 Gratiot11964 Darlington0 River Ridge0Martin Luther Prep0Potosi0
Girls Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsBloomington71976, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1994, 1995 West Grant51982, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1991 Benton21988, 1989Cassville11985 Highland11993Potosi11997Shullsburg11996Southwestern11981Belmont0Martin Luther Prep0 River Ridge0Champions from 1977-1980 unknown
Football SchoolQuantityYearsShullsburg131939, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1973, 1974, 1984, 1990, 1991Cassville111966, 1969, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994 South Wayne91940, 1943, 1944, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960Belmont81944, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1995 Benton71949, 1950, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1985Bloomington61970, 1971, 1972, 1981, 1988, 1993(Hazel Green) Southwestern51944, 1945, 1948, 1955, 1981Potosi31975, 1976, 1993Argyle21941, 1942 Highland21990, 1992 Black Hawk11995Hanover11963Martin Luther Prep11986Pecatonica/Argyle11996 River Ridge11995 Gratiot0 West Grant0
References