The Marinette & Oconto Conference is a high school athletic conference in northeastern Wisconsin. Founded in 1927, the conference and its members are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1927-1951
The Marinette & Oconto Conference was formed in 1927 by seven small high schools in Marinette and Oconto Counties in northeastern Wisconsin: Coleman, Crivitz, Lena, Marinette Normal, Our Lady of Lourdes, Peshtigo and Wausaukee. In 1929, the M&O lost Marinette Normal and Our Lady of Lourdes, with Niagara joining to bring the conference to six members. Peshtigo left the loop in 1931, with Gillett moving over from the Northeastern Wisconsin Conference in 1932 to take their place. The membership roster for the Marinette & Oconto Conference increased to nine in 1933 when Florence, Mountain and Suring entered the league. Peshtigo would return to the M&O in 1934, and Florence and Niagara left a year later, bringing the conference to eight schools. Football was first sponsored by the Marinette & Oconto Conference in 1937, with five schools (Coleman, Crivitz, Gillett, Lena and Peshtigo) participating in the six-player variant. In 1938, Mountain and Wausaukee exited the conference, and along with Amberg and Pembine they formed the new Nicolet Conference. Bonduel spent a short stint in the conference during World War II, joining in 1941 and leaving two years later. The M&O transitioned to sponsoring eight-player football in 1944, and two years later the conference unanimously voted to adopt eleven-player football for the 1946 season. After numerous changes in the conference's first two decades, the circuit entered a period of stability that would last until the 1950s.
1951-1999 In 1951, the four-member Granite Valley Conference merged with the six members of the Marinette & Oconto Conference: Amberg, Crivitz, Pembine and Wausaukee. Crivitz was previously a member of both conferences, and Wausaukee reentered the M&O after a thirteen-year absence. With the addition of Goodman, the Marinette & Oconto Conference became a ten-member group, but this arrangement would end up being short-lived. In 1954, Amberg, Goodman, Pembine and Wausaukee split off to reform the Granite Valley Conference, leaving the conference with six member schools. Wausaukee rejoined the Marinette & Oconto Conference for a third time in 1961 after displacement by the Granite Valley's dissolution in 1960. In 1968, Niagara left the Menominee Range Conference in the upper peninsula of Michigan to rejoin as the M&O's eighth member. The Marinette & Oconto Conference entered a three-decade period of stability after Niagara's return.
1999-present In 1999, Marinette Central Catholic (formerly Our Lady of Lourdes) came back to the Marinette & Oconto Conference after the dissolution of the Fox Valley Christian Conference, a result of the merger between the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association and the WIAA that was finalized in 2000. The school became St. Thomas Aquinas Academy in 2005 after changing its enrollment model from high school to K-12. The Oneida Nation High School joined the M&O in 2015, its first conference membership in their twenty-year history. With Peshtigo's exit in 2017 to join the Packerland Conference, the Marinette & Oconto Conference became the nine-member league that currently exists. Football sponsorship was ended that season as well, as the M&O partnered with the Northern Lakes and Packerland Conferences to form the MONLPC Football Conference.
List of conference members
Current members SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoinedColemanColeman, WIPublic206Cougars 1927CrivitzCrivitz, WIPublic220Wolverines 1927GillettGillett, WIPublic145Tigers 1932LenaLena, WIPublic121Wildcats 1927NiagaraNiagara, WIPublic116Badgers 1929, 1968Oneida Nation Onʌyoteˀa·ká, WIFederal (Tribal)156Thunderhawks 2015St. Thomas AquinasMarinette, WIPrivate (Catholic)42Cavaliers 1927, 1999SuringSuring, WIPublic103Eagles 1933WausaukeeWausaukee, WIPublic114Rangers 1927, 1951, 1961
Former members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceAmbergAmberg, WIPublicRavens 19511954Granite ValleyClosed in 1960 (consolidated into Wausaukee)BonduelBonduel, WIPublicBears 19411943IndependentCentral WisconsinFlorenceFlorence, WIPublicBobcats 19331935Little Seven (MHSAA)Northern LakesGoodmanGoodman, WIPublicFalcons 19511954Granite ValleyNorthern Lakes (co-op with Pembine)Marinette NormalMarinette, WIPublicUnknownUnknown19271929Closed in 1965MountainMountain, WIPublicMountaineers 19331938NicoletClosed in 1948 (consolidated into Suring)PembinePembine, WIPublicPanthers 19511954Granite ValleyNorthern Lakes (co-op with Goodman)PeshtigoPeshtigo, WIPublicBulldogs 1927, 19341931, 2017Packerland
Former football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceGoodmanGoodman, WIPublicFalcons 1950, 1954Granite ValleyLena/St. Thomas AquinasLena, WIPublic, Private (Catholic)Titans 2003-2013Marinette & OcontoNiagaraNiagara, WIPublicBadgers 1966-1967Menominee Range (MHSAA)PembinePembine, WIPublicPanthers 1950, 1954Granite ValleyWausaukeeWausaukee, WIPublicRangers 1947-1948, 1950Granite Valley
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
Membership map
Sanctioned sports +Coleman●●●●●●●●●●●●Crivitz●●●●●●●●●●●●Gillett●●●●●●●●●●Lena●●●●●●●●●●●●Niagara●●●●●●Oneida Nation●●●●●●●●●St. Thomas Aquinas●●●●●Suring●●●●●●●●●●Wausaukee●●●●●●●●
Notes
List of state champions
Fall sports +FootballSchoolYearDivisionPeshtigo1983Division 5 +Girls VolleyballSchoolYearDivisionNiagara1991Division 4
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivisionNiagara1979Class CWausaukee1993Division 4 +Girls BasketballSchoolYearDivisionLena1980Class C +Boys WrestlingSchoolYearDivisionColeman1960Single DivisionColeman1962Single DivisionColeman1963Single DivisionColeman1964Single DivisionColeman1966Single DivisionColeman2000Division 3Coleman2010Division 3Coleman2011Division 3Coleman2012Division 3Coleman2014Division 3Coleman2020Division 3
Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionColeman2012Division 4 +SoftballSchoolYearDivisionWausaukee1996Division 3Peshtigo2010Division 3 +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionPeshtigo1957Class CLena1960Class CPeshtigo1966Class CPeshtigo1971Class CColeman2016Division 3Coleman2017Division 3
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsCrivitz281928, 1931, 1932, 1936, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1985, 1988, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026Peshtigo251937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1971, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017Wausaukee181964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2015Lena111929, 1939, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1963, 2005Gillett101935, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1965, 1976Niagara101929, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1969, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1987Suring91999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2018Coleman71957, 1960, 1987, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022Amberg0Bonduel0Florence0Goodman0Marinette Normal0Mountain0Oneida Nation0Pembine0St. Thomas Aquinas0
Girls Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsPeshtigo111977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1997, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017Coleman91991, 1995, 1996, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2023Crivitz101983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2018, 2019, 2026Lena91975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1998, 2003, 2024, 2025Gillett62002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011Niagara61984, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2007, 2008Wausaukee51987, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2019Oneida Nation22019, 2020St. Thomas Aquinas22000, 2001Suring12023
Football SchoolQuantityYearsPeshtigo341938, 1939, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013Coleman221940, 1942, 1947, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1965, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016Crivitz91958, 1961, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2007Gillett91937, 1941, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1963, 1971, 1979, 1993Niagara91968, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1994, 1995, 2004Lena61937, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1974, 1991Suring51966, 1967, 1970, 1978, 2005Wausaukee31978, 2001, 2002Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas12005Goodman0Pembine0Champions from 1946 and 1950 unknown
References
External links
Marinette & Oconto Conference (official website)