The Southern Ten Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, comprising schools in the south central part of the state. It was in operation from 1941 to 1952 and all member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The Southern Ten Conference was formed in 1941 by a group of medium-sized high schools in south central Wisconsin after the breakup of two established conferences: the South Central Conference and the Southern Six Conference. Logan High School in La Crosse had recently been voted out of the South Central by a 5-4 margin for reasons of geography and competitive balance. The three schools that voted with Logan to keep them in the conference (Sparta, Tomah and Viroqua) followed them out, and these four schools formed the new Gateway Conference. The five schools that voted for Logan's forced exit from the South Central (Baraboo, Portage, Reedsburg, Richland Center and Wisconsin Dells) joined with five schools from the Southern Six (Edgerton, Fort Atkinson, Monroe, Stoughton and Wisconsin High) in forming the Southern Ten, and competition was set to begin with the 1941-42 basketball season. Watertown, who was removed from the Southern Six prior to the merger for similar reasons to Logan's removal from the South Central, competed as an independent for twelve years until the Braveland Conference was formed in 1953.
The Southern Ten Conference split in 1952 due to the reformation of the South Central Conference by the five schools that originally competed in that conference. The five remaining schools that were originally part of the Southern Six joined with members of the disbanded Rock River Valley League (Evansville, Jefferson, Lake Mills and Milton) and Middleton (formerly of the Madison Suburban Conference) to form the new Badger Conference.
Conference membership history SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBarabooBaraboo, WIPublicThunderbirds 19411952South CentralBadgerEdgertonEdgerton, WIPublicCrimson Tide 19411952BadgerRock ValleyFort AtkinsonFort Atkinson, WIPublicBlackhawks 19411952BadgerMonroeMonroe, WIPublicCheesemakers 19411952BadgerRock ValleyPortagePortage, WIPublicWarriors 19411952South CentralBadgerReedsburgReedsburg, WIPublicBeavers 19411952South CentralBadgerRichland CenterRichland Center, WIPublicHornets 19411952South CentralSouthwest WisconsinStoughtonStoughton, WIPublicVikings 19411952BadgerWisconsin DellsWisconsin Dells, WIPublicChiefs 19411952South CentralWisconsin HighMadison, WIPublic (University of Wisconsin-Madison)Badger Preps 19411952BadgerClosed in 1964
Membership timeline
List of conference champions Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYears Edgerton31943, 1944, 1952 Monroe31943, 1946, 1947 Reedsburg31943, 1948, 1949 Baraboo21945, 1951 Wisconsin High21944, 1945 Portage11943 Stoughton11950 Wisconsin Dells11942 Fort Atkinson0 Richland Center0
Football SchoolQuantityYears Monroe31945, 1946, 1950 Portage31942, 1944, 1945 Baraboo21943, 1948 Edgerton21947, 1948 Wisconsin Dells11951 Wisconsin High11949 Fort Atkinson0 Reedsburg0 Richland Center0 Stoughton0
References