The Wisconsin River League is a former high school athletic conference with its membership roster in southwestern Wisconsin. Founded in 1928 and ended in 1960, its members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The Wisconsin River League was formed in 1928 by four small high schools near the Wisconsin River: Boscobel, Ithaca, Lone Rock and Muscoda. Original conference members were located in three counties of southwestern Wisconsin's Driftless Area (Grant, Iowa and Richland). Sextonville joined the league in 1929 to bring membership up to five schools. That number was increased to six when Blue River was accepted into the Wisconsin River League in 1930. Boscobel left the conference in 1934 and competed as an independent prior to joining the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League in 1935. They were replaced by Avoca to keep the roster at six member schools. Lime Ridge's entry into the league in 1936 brought the membership tally to seven schools. An eighth school (Cazenovia) was added in 1938 to bring the league to its high water mark of eight members.
After the Wisconsin River League became an eight-member circuit, the closing and consolidation of rural high schools began to eat away at conference membership. Sextonville High School was closed in 1942, and its students were dispersed to other districts in Richland County. North Freedom joined the conference as their replacement, and their membership ran for three years before their district was folded and split between Baraboo and Reedsburg. In 1955, Cazenovia and Lime Ridge merged, with the new Weston High School taking the place of their predecessors.
The Wisconsin River League sponsored eight-player football for the first time in 1956 with five conference members (Blue River, Ithaca, Lone Rock, Muscoda and Weston) participating, along with associate members Kendall of the Monroe-Vernon Conference and La Farge the Kickapoo Valley League. Fellow KVL member Viola joined in 1957 to bring the football roster to eight schools. After football member Kendall consolidated with Elroy of the Scenic Central Conference, Gays Mills was brought over from the Kickapoo Valley League as their replacement for the 1959 season when they fielded their inaugural football squad. The conference continued with six active full members until it ceased operations after the 1960 football season. Five of the displaced schools (Blue River, Ithaca, Lone Rock, Muscoda and Weston) joined with four members formerly of the Iowa County League (Barneveld, Highland, Hollandale and Ridgeway) to form the I-W League. The sixth school (Avoca) was closed and its high school students were redistricted to Muscoda.
Conference membership history Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceAvocaAvoca, WIPublicCardinals 19341960IndependentClosed in 1960 (consolidated into Muscoda)Blue RiverBlue River, WIPublicTigers 19301960I-W LeagueClosed in 1967 (consolidated into Riverdale)IthacaIthaca, WIPublicBulldogs 19281960I-W LeagueRidge & ValleyLone RockLone Rock, WIPublicRockets 19281960I-W LeagueClosed in 1962 (merged into River Valley)MuscodaMuscoda, WIPublicIndians 19281960I-W LeagueClosed in 1967 (merged into Riverdale)WestonCazenovia, WIPublicSilver Eagles 19551960I-W LeagueRidge & Valley
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBoscobelBoscobel, WIPublicBulldogs 19281934IndependentSWALCazenoviaCazenovia, WIPublicBlue Devils 19381955Closed (merged into Weston)Lime RidgeLime Ridge, WIPublicRed Raiders 19361955Closed (merged into Weston)North FreedomNorth Freedom, WIPublicBulldogs 19421945Closed (split between Baraboo and Reedsburg)SextonvilleSextonville, WIPublicTigers 19291942Closed (split between Ithaca, Lone Rock and Richland Center)
Football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceKendallKendall, WIPublicMustangs 1957-1958Monroe-VernonLa FargeLa Farge, WIPublicWildcats 1956-1960Kickapoo ValleyViolaViola, WIPublicBlue Jackets 1957-1960Kickapoo ValleyGays MillsGays Mills, WIPublicTigers 1959-1960Kickapoo Valley
Membership timeline Full members
Football members
List of conference champions Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYears Muscoda161929, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1941, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 Blue River61944, 1945, 1946, 1954, 1955, 1956 Lone Rock51933, 1938, 1942, 1954, 1955 Avoca41947, 1948, 1949, 1951 Cazenovia21940, 1950 Ithaca21930, 1933 Sextonville 21936, 1939 North Freedom11943 Boscobel 0 Lime Ridge 0 Weston0Champions from 1931-1932 unknown Football SchoolQuantityYears Muscoda31956, 1958, 1959 Kendall 11958 Lone Rock11957 Weston11960 Blue River0 Gays Mills0 Ithaca0 La Farge Viola0
References