The Cloverbelt Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership base concentrated in west central
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. Founded in 1927, the conference and its member schools are affiliated with the
Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is the regulatory body for all high school sports in Wisconsin. Its history dates to 1895, making it the earliest continually existing high school athletic organization in the country. ...
.
History
1927-1945
The Cloverbelt Conference, originally known as the Wisconsin Clover Belt Interscholastic League, was formed in 1927 by five small high schools in west central Wisconsin:
Boyd Boyd may refer to:
Places Canada
* Boyd Conservation Area, a conservation area located northwest of Toronto, Ontario
* Boyd Lake (disambiguation)
United States
* Boyd County (disambiguation)
* Boyd, Indiana
* Boyd, Iowa
* Boyd, Kansas
* Bo ...
,
Cadott,
Owen
Owen may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Places United States
* Owen, Missouri, a ghost town
* Owen, Wisconsin
* Owen County, Indiana
...
,
Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
and
Thorp
''Thorp'' is a Middle English word for a hamlet or small village.
Etymology
The name can either come from Old Norse ''þorp'' (also ''thorp''), or from Old English (Anglo-Saxon) ''þrop''. There are many place names in England with the suffi ...
.
Original member schools were located in
Chippewa County and
Clark County Clark County may refer to:
*Clark County, Arkansas
*Clark County, Idaho
*Clark County, Illinois
*Clark County, Indiana
*Clark County, Kansas
*Clark County, Kentucky
*Clark County, Missouri
*Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas
*Clark County, ...
along
Wisconsin Highway 29
State Trunk Highway 29 (often called Highway 29, STH-29 or WIS 29) is a state highway running east–west across central Wisconsin. It is a major east–west corridor connecting the Twin Cities and the Chippewa Valley with Wausau ...
, a major thoroughfare transversing the state from
Green Bay to the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...
.
Cornell
Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...
joined the Cloverbelt Conference in 1928,
bringing the loop to six members. In 1933, the conference added
Gilman and
Lake Holcombe to its membership roster, and subdivided into Eastern and Western divisions:
became the ninth member of the Cloverbelt Conference in 1938 and were assigned to the Eastern Cloverbelt. Gilman moved to the Western Cloverbelt that same year.
In 1939, the Cloverbelt Conference sponsored football for the first time, with four schools (Cadott, Cornell, Thorp and Withee) playing the
six-player variant until the 1944 season, when the four schools shifted to
eight-player football.
Neillsville accepted conference membership in 1945,
the same year that the Cloverbelt Conference adopted
eleven-player football and welcomed full members Owen and Stanley from the defunct football-only
Chippewa-Black River Valley Conference. For all other sports, Neillsville joined the Eastern Cloverbelt, giving each division five member schools:
1945-1964
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, rural school district consolidation began to affect members of the Cloverbelt Conference. Lake Holcombe left the Western Cloverbelt to join the new
Flambeauland Conference in 1946,
with
Altoona replacing them after having previously competed in the
Little Eight Conference.
In 1948, Boyd was consolidated into Stanley
(though the school wouldn't be renamed until 1965), and another former Little Eight member (
Fall Creek) took their place in the Western Cloverbelt.
The Cloverbelt Conference remained a ten-school league until 1955, when Owen and Withee merged,
with the
new school
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers ...
inheriting Owen's membership in the Eastern Cloverbelt.
Elk Mound joined the next year from the
Dunn-St. Croix Conference as the Cloverbelt's tenth school,
becoming members of the Western Cloverbelt with Gilman shifting back to the Eastern Cloverbelt:
Elk Mound's stay in the Cloverbelt would be brief, as they returned to the Dunn-St. Croix Conference in 1961.
In 1962, the Cloverbelt Conference accepted four new members who were displaced by the dissolution of the nearby 3-C Conference:
Colby,
Dor-Abby,
Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood.
Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to:
People
* Greenwood (surname)
Settlements
Australia
* Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region
* Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth
...
and
Loyal.
All four schools joined the Eastern Cloverbelt with Gilman and Stanley moving over to the Western Cloverbelt:
1964-1982
Dor-Abby would become the new
Abbotsford High School in 1964 after the merger between Dorchester and Abbotsford that had taken place three years earlier was ended.
The Cloverbelt Conference also adopted the Eastern-Western divisional format for football alongside the other sports offered. Lake Holcombe rejoined the Western Cloverbelt in 1965,
giving each division seven schools. This alignment would be short-lived, as Abbotsford left in 1966 to join the
Marawood Conference
The Marawood Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in north central Wisconsin. It was founded in 1949 and all member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Hist ...
.
Lake Holcombe exited in 1970 to become a member of the
Lakeland Conference,
and the conference competed as a twelve-member league for the first half of the 1970s:
Colby left the Cloverbelt Conference in 1976 to join an expanded
Lumberjack Conference
The Lumberjack Conference is a former high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in north central Wisconsin. Originating as a football-only conference in 1946, the Lumberjack Conference competed as an all-sport conference fro ...
, but their membership only lasted for two seasons. They returned in 1978, bringing three former Lumberjack members with them:
Auburndale,
Mosinee and
Nekoosa.
All four schools took up residence in the Eastern Cloverbelt with Thorp moving to the Western Cloverbelt to accommodate the expansion:
Football was also realigned by enrollment size instead of geographical location for the first time in 1978, with all fifteen members participating:
1982-2008
Nekoosa was only a Cloverbelt member for four years before they left to join the
South Central Conference in 1982,
leaving the conference with fourteen member schools.
Osseo-Fairchild would move over from the
Dairyland Conference
The Dairyland Conference is a high school athletic conference in west central Wisconsin. It was founded in 1959 and all member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1959–1977
The Dairylan ...
in 1986
with Thorp returning to their former home in the Eastern Cloverbelt.
Augusta's entry to the Western Cloverbelt from the Dairyland in 1990 gave the conference sixteen members:
This alignment would remain in place for most of the 1990s, the first change was Cornell's exit in 1998 to join the Lakeland Conference.
In 2000, Auburndale left to rejoin the Marawood Conference,
and two schools who were former members of
WISAA and the
Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference
The Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, active from 1956 to 2000. Consisting entirely of Catholic high schools within the La Crosse diocese, the conference was affiliated with both the ...
joined the Cloverbelt:
McDonell Central Catholic in
Chippewa Falls
Chippewa Falls () is a city located on the Chippewa River in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,731 in the 2020 census. Incorporated as a city in 1869, it is the county seat of Chippewa County. The city's name orig ...
and
Regis
Regis or Régis may refer to:
People
* Regis (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Regis (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Regis (musician), full name Karl O'Connor, an English ...
in
Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare".
Place names (Canada)
Communities
*Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...
.
Both schools took up residence in the Western Cloverbelt with Stanley-Boyd shifting to the Eastern Cloverbelt:
2008-present
In 2008, the Cloverbelt Conference added three former Marawood Conference members to its stable:
Columbus Catholic in
Marshfield,
Granton and
Spencer.
All three schools joined the Eastern Cloverbelt, with Stanley-Boyd and Thorp moving to the Western Cloverbelt and Augusta shifting to the Eastern Cloverbelt. With the loss of Mosinee to the new
Great Northern Conference,
the Cloverbelt Conference now had eighteen member schools on its roster:
In football, the Cloverbelt Conference members were split into two different conferences. Six members of the Large Cloverbelt were grouped with Regis of the Small Cloverbelt and Spencer (new to the Cloverbelt in 2008), and this conference retained the Cloverbelt moniker. The other group consisted of six schools formerly in the Small Cloverbelt (Augusta, Gilman, Greenwood, Loyal, Owen-Withee and Thorp) and four from the Marawood Conference (Abbotsford,
Assumption
Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
Assumption may also refer to:
Places
* Assumption, Alberta, Canada
* Assumption, Illinois, United States
** Assumption Town ...
,
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
and
Newman Catholic), with the new conference calling itself the
Cloverwood Conference as a nod to its member schools' primary membership:
Augusta would make its return to the Dairyland Conference in 2014,
and Gilman shifted to the Eastern Cloverbelt after six decades as Western Cloverbelt members. In 2021, Altoona accepted an invitation to join larger schools in the Middle Border Conference, with Bloomer moving over from the Heart O' North Conference to replace them.
Currently, the Cloverbelt Conference has sixteen member schools, with Osseo-Fairchild leaving for membership in the Dairyland Conference in 2024,
and Elk Mound planning to rejoin the Cloverbelt Conference in 2025
as their replacement:
Football (since 2020)
In February 2019, in conjunction with the
Wisconsin Football Coaches Association
The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association is an association of American football coaches on all levels within the state of Wisconsin. An annual clinic of members is held in Madison, Wisconsin to promote the sport, primarily at the high school lev ...
, the WIAA released a sweeping football-only realignment for Wisconsin to commence with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle. The Cloverbelt retained five members from the previous alignment (Fall Creek, Neillsville/Granton, Osseo-Fairchild, Regis and Stanley) and added three members of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference (
Durand-Arkansaw,
Elk Mound and
Mondovi) to form its initial roster.
This alignment has remained in place for both the 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 competition cycles,
with Osseo-Fairchild leaving for the Dunn-St. Croix Conference and all other members retained. The Cloverbelt will also be entering into a scheduling partnership with the Marawood Conference to schedule one mandatory crossover game per member, with results counting towards overall conference standings.
List of conference members
Current members
Current football-only members
Former members
Former football-only members
Membership timeline
Full members
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bar:1 color:tan1 from:1927 till:1933 text:Boyd (1927-1948)
bar:1 color:skyblue from:1933 till:1948 text:
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1927 till:1933 text:Cadott (1927-present)
bar:2 color:skyblue from:1933 till:2030 text:
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1927 till:1933 text:Owen (1927-1955)
bar:3 color:blue from:1933 till:1955 text:
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1927 till:1933 text:Stanley (1927-1965)
bar:4 color:blue from:1933 till:1962 text:
bar:4 color:skyblue from:1962 till:1965 text:
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bar:4 color:blue from:2000 till:2008 text:
bar:4 color:skyblue from:2008 till:2030 text:
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1927 till:1933 text:Thorp (1927-present)
bar:5 color:blue from:1933 till:1978 text:
bar:5 color:skyblue from:1978 till:1986 text:
bar:5 color:blue from:1986 till:2008 text:
bar:5 color:skyblue from:2008 till:2030 text:
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1933 text:Cornell (1928-1998)
bar:6 color:blue from:1933 till:1998 text:
bar:7 color:blue from:1933 till:1938 text:Gilman (1933-present)
bar:7 color:skyblue from:1938 till:1956 text:
bar:7 color:blue from:1956 till:1962 text:
bar:7 color:skyblue from:1962 till:2014 text:
bar:7 color:blue from:2014 till:2030 text:
bar:8 color:skyblue from:1933 till:1946 text:Lake Holcombe (1933-1946)
bar:8 color:skyblue from:1965 till:1970 text:(1965-1970)
bar:9 color:blue from:1938 till:1955 text:Withee (1938-1955)
bar:10 color:blue from:1945 till:2030 text:Neillsville (1945-present)
bar:11 color:skyblue from:1946 till:2021 text:Altoona (1946-2021)
bar:12 color:skyblue from:1948 till:2030 text:Fall Creek (1948-present)
bar:13 color:blue from:1955 till:2030 text:Owen-Withee (1955-present)
bar:14 color:skyblue from:1956 till:1961 text:Elk Mound (1956-1961)
bar:14 color:skyblue from:2025 till:2030 text:(2025-future)
bar:15 color:blue from:1962 till:1976 text:Colby (1962-1976)
bar:15 color:blue from:1978 till:2030 text:(1978-present)
bar:16 color:blue from:1962 till:1964 text:Dor-Abby (1962-1964)
bar:17 color:blue from:1962 till:2030 text:Greenwood (1962-present)
bar:18 color:blue from:1962 till:2030 text:Loyal (1962-present)
bar:19 color:blue from:1964 till:1966 text:Abbotsford (1964-1966)
bar:20 color:blue from:1978 till:2000 text:Auburndale (1978-2000)
bar:21 color:blue from:1978 till:2008 text:Mosinee (1978-2008)
bar:22 color:blue from:1978 till:1982 text:Nekoosa (1978-1982)
bar:23 color:skyblue from:1986 till:2024 text:Osseo-Fairchild (1986-2024)
bar:24 color:skyblue from:1990 till:2008 text:Augusta (1990-2014)
bar:24 color:blue from:2008 till:2014 text:
bar:25 color:skyblue from:2000 till:2030 text:McDonell Central Catholic (2000-present)
bar:26 color:skyblue from:2000 till:2030 text:Regis (2000-present)
bar:27 color:blue from:2008 till:2030 text:Columbus Catholic (2008-present)
bar:28 color:blue from:2008 till:2030 text:Granton (2008-present)
bar:29 color:blue from:2008 till:2030 text:Spencer (2008-present)
bar:30 color:skyblue from:2021 till:2030 text:Bloomer (2021-present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1927
Football members
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bar:1 color:lavender from:1939 till:1964 text:Cadott (1939-2012)
bar:1 color:yellowgreen from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:1 color:yellow from:1978 till:2008 text:
bar:1 color:lavender from:2008 till:2012 text:
bar:1 color:lavender from:2014 till:2020 text:(2014-2019)
bar:2 color:lavender from:1939 till:1964 text:Cornell (1939-1997)
bar:2 color:yellowgreen from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:2 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:1998 text:
bar:3 color:lavender from:1939 till:1964 text:Thorp (1939-2007)
bar:3 color:green from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:3 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:2008 text:
bar:4 color:lavender from:1939 till:1950 text:Withee (1939-1949)
bar:5 color:lavender from:1945 till:1964 text:Neillsville (1945-1990)
bar:5 color:green from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:5 color:yellow from:1978 till:1991 text:
bar:5 color:yellow from:2003 till:2008 text:(2003-2015)
bar:5 color:lavender from:2008 till:2016 text:
bar:6 color:lavender from:1945 till:1955 text:Owen (1945-1954)
bar:7 color:lavender from:1945 till:1946 text:Stanley (1945, 1952-present)
bar:7 color:lavender from:1952 till:1964 text:
bar:7 color:yellowgreen from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:7 color:yellow from:1978 till:2008 text:
bar:7 color:lavender from:2008 till:2030 text:
bar:8 color:lavender from:1946 till:1948 text:Greenwood (1946-1947, 1962-2007)
bar:8 color:lavender from:1962 till:1964 text:
bar:8 color:green from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:8 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:2008 text:
bar:9 color:lavender from:1954 till:1964 text:Gilman (1954-2007)
bar:9 color:yellowgreen from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:9 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:2008 text:
bar:10 color:lavender from:1955 till:1964 text:Owen-Withee (1955-2007)
bar:10 color:green from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:10 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:2008 text:
bar:11 color:lavender from:1962 till:1964 text:Colby (1962-1975)
bar:11 color:green from:1964 till:1976 text:
bar:11 color:yellow from:1978 till:2008 text:(1978-2019)
bar:11 color:lavender from:2008 till:2020 text:
bar:12 color:lavender from:1962 till:1964 text:Dor-Abby (1962-1963)
bar:13 color:lavender from:1962 till:1964 text:Loyal (1962-2007)
bar:13 color:green from:1964 till:1978 text:
bar:13 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:1982 text:
bar:13 color:yellow from:1982 till:1984 text:
bar:13 color:dullyellow from:1984 till:2008 text:
bar:14 color:green from:1964 till:1966 text:Abbotsford (1964-1965)
bar:15 color:green from:1964 till:1978 text:Altoona (1964-1990)
bar:15 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:1984 text:
bar:15 color:yellow from:1984 till:1991 text:
bar:15 color:yellow from:1993 till:2008 text:(1993-2019)
bar:15 color:lavender from:2008 till:2020 text:
bar:16 color:yellowgreen from:1964 till:1978 text:Fall Creek (1964-present)
bar:16 color:dullyellow from:1978 till:2002 text:
bar:16 color:yellow from:2002 till:2008 text:
bar:16 color:lavender from:2008 till:2030 text:
bar:17 color:yellowgreen from:1965 till:1970 text:Lake Holcombe (1965-1969)
bar:18 color:yellow from:1978 till:2000 text:Auburndale (1978-1999)
bar:19 color:yellow from:1978 till:2008 text:Mosinee (1978-2007)
bar:20 color:yellow from:1978 till:1982 text:Nekoosa (1978-1981)
bar:21 color:yellow from:1986 till:2008 text:Osseo-Fairchild (1986-2025)
bar:21 color:lavender from:2008 till:2026 text:
bar:22 color:dullyellow from:1990 till:2008 text:Auugsta (1990-2007)
bar:23 color:yellow from:1991 till:2003 text:Neillsville/Granton (1991-2002)
bar:23 color:lavender from:2016 till:2030 text:(2016-present)
bar:24 color:yellow from:2000 till:2002 text:McDonell Central Catholic (2000-2007)
bar:24 color:dullyellow from:2002 till:2008 text:
bar:25 color:dullyellow from:2000 till:2008 text:Regis (2000-present)
bar:25 color:lavender from:2008 till:2030 text:
bar:26 color:lavender from:2008 till:2009 text:Spencer (2008)
bar:27 color:lavender from:2009 till:2020 text:Spencer/Columbus (2009-2019)
bar:28 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Durand-Arkansaw (2020-present)
bar:29 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Elk Mound (2020-present)
bar:30 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Mondovi (2020-present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1939
Membership map
List of state champions
Fall sports
Winter sports
Spring sports
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Football
References
External links
Cloverbelt Conference
{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences
Sports organizations established in 1927
Wisconsin high school sports conferences
1927 establishments in Wisconsin