The Midwest Prep Conference is a former high school athletic conference in competition from 1940 to 1983. Consisting entirely of private schools, most were located in Wisconsin and had membership in the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association.

History 1940–1952

The Midwest Prep Conference began play in 1940 as the Wisconsin Prep Conference with five private high schools in southeastern Wisconsin. Three were located in the Milwaukee area (Lutheran High, Milwaukee Country Day, and Milwaukee University), one in Watertown (Northwestern Prep) and one in Beaver Dam (Wayland Academy). Northwestern Military & Naval Academy in Lake Geneva had a brief stint in the conference from 1945 to 1949, and their entry coincided with the addition of football as a sponsored sport. They were replaced by Racine Lutheran High School in 1950.

1952–1964

In 1952, the Wisconsin Prep Conference added two schools to bring the membership roster to eight. Both schools were located in Illinois (Lake Forest Academy and North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka). With the addition of Illinois-based schools to the loop came a new name: the Midwest Prep Conference. North Shore Country Day School's tenure in the conference would be brief, as they left in 1954. The next year, Lutheran High School in Milwaukee was split up by the two ecclesiastical organizations running the school. Milwaukee Lutheran High School was opened by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Lutheran High School was established by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, both in 1955.

1964-1970 The year 1964 saw numerous changes to Midwest Prep Conference membership with a net loss of two members. Milwaukee Country Day School and Milwaukee University School (along with the all-girls Milwaukee-Downer Seminary) merged to form the University School of Milwaukee. The new school took over both MCDS’'s campus in Whitefish Bay and MUS's River Hills campus, along with both predecessor schools' conference membership. The Midwest Prep also lost Lake Forest Academy and Wayland Academy, becoming a Wisconsin-only conference in the process. The entry of Concordia College Prep in Milwaukee to the conference brought its membership roster to six members. St. John's Military Academy in Delafield applied for membership along with Concordia but was rejected because of scheduling issues. Fox Valley Lutheran High School in Appleton joined the Midwest Prep Conference in 1965 accompanied with Wayland Academy's return to the circuit, bringing the total number of members back up to eight schools. In 1968, seven of the eight member schools of the Midwest Prep Conference joined the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association, an organization for interscholastic athletics composed entirely of parochial and private schools. Northwestern Prep was the only holdout, not joining WISAA until 1974.

1970–1983

In 1970, Martin Luther High School in Greendale joined the Midwest Prep Conference, replacing Concordia Prep, which had left the conference to compete as an independent before closing its doors the next year. Fox Valley Lutheran left the Midwest Prep Conference in 1971 to join the Fox Valley Christian Conference, looking to cut down on long travel distances. St. Mary's High School in Burlington, which had been left without conference affiliation when the Southeastern Badger Conference disbanded, replaced Fox Valley Lutheran. The last changes to conference membership occurred in 1974, when Milwaukee Lutheran joined the Metro Conference and Wisconsin Lutheran left for the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference. St. John's Military Academy in Delafield came over from the Classic Conference to replace the two exiting schools, ten years after its initial attempt to gain conference membership. The conference featured the same seven members for the remainder of its existence, with the exception of St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary joining as an associate member for football in 1981. In 1983 the Midwest Prep Conference joined with nine out of the eleven schools from the Classic Conference (Central Wisconsin Christian, Kettle Moraine Lutheran, Notre Dame, Sheboygan Christian, Sheboygan Lutheran, Shoreland Lutheran, St. Lawrence Seminary, and The Prairie School) to form the Midwest Classic Conference.

Conference membership history Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceMartin LutherGreendale, WIPrivate (LCMS)Spartans 19701983Midwest ClassicMetro ClassicNorthwestern PrepWatertown, WIPrivate (WELS)Hornets 19401983Midwest ClassicClosed in 1995 (merged with Martin Luther Prep)Racine LutheranRacine, WIPrivate (LCMS)Crusaders 19501983Midwest ClassicMetro ClassicSt. John's Military AcademyDelafield, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian), MilitaryLancers 19741983Midwest ClassicSt. Mary’sBurlington, WIPrivate (Catholic)Hilltoppers 19711983Midwest ClassicUniversity School of MilwaukeeRiver Hills, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian)Wildcats 19641983Midwest ClassicWayland AcademyBeaver Dam, WIPrivate (historically Baptist)Big Red 1940, 19651964, 1983Independent, Midwest ClassicTrailways Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceConcordia PrepMilwaukee, WIPrivate (LCMS)Falcons 19641970IndependentClosed in 1971Fox Valley LutheranAppleton, WIPrivate (WELS)Foxes 19651971Fox Valley ChristianBay (2025)Lake Forest AcademyLake Forest, ILPrivate (Nonsectarian)Caxys 19521964Private School League (IHSA)Independent School League (IHSA)Lutheran HighMilwaukee, WIPrivate (LCMS & WELS)Knights 19401955Closed (split into Milwaukee Lutheran and Wisconsin Lutheran)Milwaukee Country DayWhitefish Bay, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian)Cougars 19401964Closed (merged into University School of Milwaukee)Milwaukee LutheranMilwaukee, WIPrivate (LCMS)Red Knights 19551974MetroWoodlandMilwaukee UniversityRiver Hills, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian)Lancers 19401964Closed (merged into University School of Milwaukee)North Shore Country DayWinnetka, ILPrivate (Nonsectarian)Raiders 19521954Private School League (IHSA)Independent School League (IHSA)Northwestern Military & Naval AcademyLake Geneva, WIPrivate (Nonsectarian), MilitaryFalcons 19451949IndependentClosed in 1995 (merged with St. John's Military Academy)Wisconsin LutheranMilwaukee, WIPrivate (WELS)Vikings 19551974Wisconsin Little TenWoodland

Football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceSt. Lawrence SeminaryMount Calvary, WIPrivate (Catholic)Hilltoppers 1981-1982Classic

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

List of state champions

Fall sports + Boys Cross CountrySchoolYearOrganizationDivision University School1975WISAAClass C University School1976WISAAClass C University School1977WISAAClass C University School1982WISAAClass C

+ FootballSchoolYearOrganizationDivision St. Mary’s1976WISAAClass B St. Mary’s1977WISAAClass B St. Mary’s1978WISAAClass B Northwestern Prep1980WISAAClass B St. Mary’s1981WISAAClass B

+ Boys SoccerSchoolYearOrganization University School1975WISAA

+ Girls TennisSchoolYearOrganization University School1976WISAA University School1977WISAA University School1978WISAA University School1982WISAA

Winter sports + Boys BasketballSchoolYearOrganizationDivision Racine Lutheran1975WISAAClass B

+ Girls BasketballSchoolYearOrganizationDivision Northwestern Prep1979WISAAClass B

Spring sports + Boys GolfSchoolYearOrganization Milwaukee Lutheran1969WISAA

+ Boys TennisSchoolYearOrganization University School1969WISAA University School1971WISAA University School1972WISAA University School1973WISAA University School1974WISAA University School1975WISAA University School1976WISAA University School1978WISAA University School1979WISAA University School1980WISAA

+ Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearOrganizationDivision Wayland Academy1969WISAAClass C University School1970WISAAClass C University School1971WISAAClass C University School1972WISAAClass C University School1975WISAAClass C University School1976WISAAClass C St. John’s Military Academy1977WISAAClass C University School1978WISAAClass C University School1979WISAAClass C Racine Lutheran1980WISAAClass C Racine Lutheran1981WISAAClass C Racine Lutheran1982WISAAClass C Wayland Academy1983WISAAClass C

+ Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearOrganization Wisconsin Lutheran1972WISAA Wisconsin Lutheran1973WISAA

List of conference champions Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYears Milwaukee University81947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 Racine Lutheran81951, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1972, 1982, 1983 Lutheran High61947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1955 Milwaukee Lutheran61962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1972 Wisconsin Lutheran61964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973 St. John’s Military Academy51976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 Wayland Academy51942, 1947, 1957, 1969, 1970 Lake Forest Academy31955, 1957, 1958 Martin Luther21974, 1975 Northwestern Prep21941, 1981 University School21974, 1975 Milwaukee Country Day11946 St. Mary’s11976 Concordia Prep0 Fox Valley Lutheran0 North Shore Country Day0 Northwestern Military & Naval Academy0

Girls Basketball SchoolQuantityYears Northwestern Prep61978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 Racine Lutheran21980, 1981 St. Mary’s11983 Martin Luther0 University School0 Wayland Academy0

Football SchoolQuantityYears Milwaukee Country Day151945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963 St. Mary’s51975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981 University School51964, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1978 Milwaukee Lutheran41962, 1966, 1967, 1969 Wayland Academy41945, 1946, 1954, 1956 Martin Luther31972, 1973, 1980 Milwaukee University31957, 1960, 1961 Wisconsin Lutheran31968, 1971, 1972 St. John’s Military Academy21978, 1982 Lake Forest Academy11953 Lutheran High11948 Concordia Prep0 Fox Valley Lutheran0 North Shore Country Day0 Northwestern Military & Naval Academy0 Northwestern Prep0 Racine Lutheran0 St. Lawrence Seminary0

References