The Upper St. Croix Valley Conference is a former high school athletic conference in northwestern Wisconsin. Operational from 1934 to 1994, all conference members were public schools affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1934–1953
The Upper St. Croix Valley Conference was founded in 1934 by eleven small high schools in northwestern Wisconsin: Amery, Balsam Lake, Centuria, Clayton, Frederic, Grantsburg, Luck, Milltown, Osceola, St. Croix Falls and Webster. Original members of the conference were located in two counties (Polk and Burnett) whose western border is the St. Croix River and were subdivided into Northern and Southern sections: Northern SectionSouthern SectionCenturiaAmeryFredericBalsam LakeGrantsburgClaytonLuckOsceolaMilltownSt. Croix FallsWebster Clayton left to join the Lakeland Conference in 1936, and the conference consolidated into a single division. In 1940, the five smallest schools in the conference (Balsam Lake, Centuria, Luck, Milltown and Webster) joined with Siren to form the Northwest Border Conference. Milltown returned to the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference in 1942, bringing the membership roster back up to six schools. In 1946, Luck followed Milltown out of the Northwest Border Conference to become the Upper St. Croix Valley's seventh member school. Webster reentered the conference from the Northwest Border Conference in 1953, bringing the total number of schools to eight.
1953–1977 Since Webster joined in 1953, there were relatively few changes to the roster, and the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference maintained an eight-member loop for the remainder of its existence. In 1957, Milltown was merged with two former Upper St. Croix Valley members in the Lakeland Conference (Balsam Lake and Centuria) to form Unity High School in Balsam Lake, and the new school inherited Milltown's place in the conference. Amery left the conference for membership in the Middle Border Conference in 1977 and were replaced by Somerset, late of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference.
1977–1994
The Upper St. Croix Valley Conference continued on for seventeen more years before it was disbanded in 1994, and its members were dispersed to other conferences in the area. Four schools (Frederic, Grantsburg, Luck and Webster) became members of the Lakeland Conference, three members (Osceola, St. Croix Falls and Unity) joined the Middle Border Conference and Somerset returned to the Dunn-St. Croix Conference.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceFredericFrederic, WIPublicVikings 19341994LakelandGrantsburgGrantsburg, WIPublicPirates 19341994LakelandLuckLuck, WIPublicCardinals 1934, 19461940, 1994Northwest Border, LakelandLakelandOsceolaOsceola, WIPublicChieftains 19341994Middle BorderSomersetSomerset, WIPublicSpartans 19771994Dunn-St. CroixMiddle BorderSt. Croix FallsSt. Croix Falls, WIPublicSaints 19341994Middle BorderHeart O'NorthUnityBalsam Lake, WIPublicEagles 19571994Middle BorderHeart O'NorthWebsterWebster, WIPublicTigers 1934, 19531940, 1994Northwest Border, LakelandLakeland
Previous full members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceAmeryAmery, WIPublicWarriors 19341977Middle BorderBalsam LakeBalsam Lake, WIPublicWarriors 19341940Northwest BorderClosed in 1957 (merged into Unity)CenturiaCenturia, WIPublicRaiders 19341940Northwest BorderClosed in 1957 (merged into Unity)ClaytonClayton, WIPublicBears 19341936LakelandMilltownMilltown, WIPublicWildcats 1934, 19421940, 1957Northwest BorderClosed (merged into Unity)
Previous football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceChetekChetek, WIPublicBulldogs 1983-1985Heart O'North
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
List of state champions
Fall sports +FootballSchoolYearDivisionOsceola1984Division 5Webster1987Division 6 +Girls VolleyballSchoolYearDivisionWebster1985Class CWebster1986Class CSomerset1993Division 3
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivisionSt. Croix Falls1950Single DivisionSt. Croix Falls1992Division 3 +Girls GymnasticsSchoolYearDivisionFrederic1992Division 2 +Boys WrestlingSchoolYearDivisionSt. Croix Falls1991Division 2
Spring sports +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionUnity1967Class CUnity1969Class C
Summer sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionUnity1992Single Division
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsOsceola201940, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1994St. Croix Falls161935, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993Amery101951, 1952, 1953, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1977Unity81966, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991Frederic51956, 1963, 1964, 1969, 1983Luck31966, 1967, 1973Milltown31935, 1936, 1937Grantsburg21938, 1958Balsam Lake0Centuria0Clayton0Somerset0Webster0Champions from 1939 unknown
Football SchoolQuantityYearsGrantsburg121937, 1941, 1942, 1956, 1958, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980St. Croix Falls121935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1944, 1948, 1953, 1969, 1979, 1988, 1989, 1990Osceola111939, 1944, 1945, 1956, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1992Amery101934, 1943, 1950, 1951, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1976Frederic61939, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1961, 1968Unity51963, 1967, 1978, 1986, 1987Luck31964, 1965, 1971Somerset21991, 1993Webster21956, 1972Chetek0Milltown0Champions from 1940, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1957 and 1959 unknown
References