Middle Border Conference

The Middle Border Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership base concentrated in western Wisconsin. Formed in 1931, the conference is composed entirely of public schools and is affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

1931-1967

The Middle Border Conference was founded in 1931 by seven small- to medium-sized high schools on the outskirts of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in western Wisconsin: Colfax, Ellsworth, Hudson, Menomonie, New Richmond, River Falls and Spring Valley. Baldwin and Glenwood City joined the Middle Border in 1949 to bring membership to nine schools. Chippewa Falls was also rumored to be joining the conference as the tenth member but not accepted due to their enrollment size being larger than their potential new rivals. The Middle Border's membership roster decreased to eight when Menomonie left the conference to compete as an independent after the 1951 football season. Several years later, they would become members of the Big Rivers Conference.

1967-1989

Membership in the Middle Border Conference would remain stable until 1967, when Colfax left to compete with smaller schools in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference. They were replaced by Durand, who were competing as independents after the collapse of the original Mississippi Valley Conference two years prior. The addition of Mondovi and Prescott in 1970 briefly brought the Middle Border Conference to ten members, until the exit of Glenwood City and Spring Valley for the Dunn-St. Croix Conference in 1972. They were followed by Prescott in 1977, and Amery (formerly of the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference) took their place to keep the roster at eight schools. Membership stayed at eight schools for just over another decade.

1989-1998

By the end of the 1980s, two members of the Middle Border Conference (Hudson and River Falls) had grown to the point where they were the largest schools in the conference. They were both invited to join the Big Rivers Conference in 1989 to compete with other schools more comparable in enrollment size. Bloomer moved over from the Heart O'North Conference to take their place and bring the Middle Border to seven schools. This figure would return to eight in 1994, after the loss of two schools (Bloomer returning to the Heart O'North and Mondovi joining the Dunn-St. Croix) and the addition of three schools from the defunct Upper St. Croix Valley Conference (Osceola, St. Croix Falls and Unity). That same year, the Middle Border Conference joined forces with the Heart O'North Conference to create the eighteen-member Northwest Football League, the first of its kind in the state of Wisconsin:

This arrangement lasted for two seasons until the Northwest Football League was dissolved due to dissatisfaction about long travel distances among conference members. The Heart O'North Conference and Middle Border Conference resumed sponsoring their own football conferences for the 1996 season.

1998-present

As part of the 1994 realignment plan, New Richmond was kept in the Middle Border Conference but was due to move into the Big Rivers Conference by 1998 due to projected growth in the district. While the district did experience growth, it wasn't to the level expected and their stay in the Big Rivers would only last for four years before returning to the Middle Border in 2002. They were joined by two schools who exited the Dunn-St. Croix Conference: Prescott (who were previously members from 1970-1977) and Somerset. Their addition offset the loss of St. Croix Falls and Unity to the Lakeland Conference that year. Durand-Arkansaw left to become members of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference in 2016, exchanging affiliations with St. Croix Central in Hammond. New Richmond returned to the Big Rivers Conference in 2021, and longtime Cloverbelt Conference members Altoona joined the Middle Border as their replacement.

Football (since 2020)

In February 2019, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, 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 Middle Border Conference's membership roster was kept intact for football with the exception of New Richmond joining the Big Rivers Conference in 2020, with full membership coming in the next year. The conference also entered into a scheduling alliance with the Coulee Conference that would provide one mandatory crossover game for each member. For the 2022-2023 realignment cycle, the Coulee Conference partnership was ended, and Rice Lake was added as an associate member from the Big Rivers Conference to bring the roster to eight schools. In 2024, Rice Lake made their return to the Big Rivers Conference with full members Altoona shifting over from the Coulee Conference as their replacement. This alignment is set to remain in place through at least the 2027 football season.

List of conference members

Current members

Former members

Former football-only members

Membership timeline

Full members

DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1931 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:90 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white

PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m

bar:1 color:tan1 from:1931 till:1967 text:Colfax (1931-1967)
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1931 till:2030 text:Ellsworth (1931-present)
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1931 till:1989 text:Hudson (1931-1989)
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1931 till:1951 text:Menomonie (1931-1951)
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1931 till:1998 text:New Richmond (1931-1998)
bar:5 color:tan1 from:2002 till:2021 text:(2002-2021)
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1931 till:1989 text:River Falls (1931-1989)
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1931 till:1972 text:Spring Valley (1931-1972)
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1949 till:2030 text:Baldwin (1949-1961), Baldwin-Woodville (1961-present)
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1949 till:1972 text:Glenwood City (1949-1972)
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1967 till:1992 text:Durand (1967-1992)
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1992 till:2016 text:Durand-Arkansaw (1992-2016)
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1970 till:1994 text:Mondovi (1970-1994)
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1970 till:1977 text:Prescott (1970-1977)
bar:12 color:tan1 from:2002 till:2030 text:(2002-present)
bar:13 color:tan1 from:1977 till:2030 text:Amery (1977-present)
bar:14 color:tan1 from:1989 till:1994 text:Bloomer (1989-1994)
bar:15 color:tan1 from:1994 till:2030 text:Osceola (1994-present)
bar:16 color:tan1 from:1994 till:2002 text:St. Croix Falls (1994-2002)
bar:17 color:tan1 from:1994 till:2002 text:Unity (1994-2002)
bar:18 color:tan1 from:2002 till:2030 text:Somerset (2002-present)
bar:19 color:tan1 from:2016 till:2030 text:St. Croix Central (2016-present)
bar:20 color:tan1 from:2021 till:2030 text:Altoona (2021-present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1931

Football members

DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1931 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:90 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white

PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m

bar:1 color:lavender from:1931 till:1966 text:Colfax (1931-1966)
bar:2 color:lavender from:1931 till:1994 text:Ellsworth (1931-1993)
bar:2 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:(1996-present)
bar:3 color:lavender from:1931 till:1986 text:Hudson (1931-1985)
bar:4 color:lavender from:1931 till:1952 text:Menomonie (1931-1951)
bar:5 color:lavender from:1931 till:1994 text:New Richmond (1931-1993)
bar:5 color:lavender from:1996 till:1998 text:(1996-1997, 2002-2019)
bar:5 color:lavender from:2002 till:2020 text:
bar:6 color:lavender from:1931 till:1989 text:River Falls (1931-1988)
bar:7 color:lavender from:1931 till:1972 text:Spring Valley (1931-1971)
bar:8 color:lavender from:1949 till:1994 text:Baldwin (1949-1960), Baldwin-Woodville (1961-1993)
bar:8 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:(1996-present)
bar:9 color:lavender from:1949 till:1972 text:Glenwood City (1949-1971)
bar:10 color:lavender from:1967 till:1992 text:Durand (1967-1991)
bar:10 color:lavender from:1992 till:1994 text:Durand-Arkansaw (1992-1993, 1996-2014)
bar:10 color:lavender from:1996 till:2015 text:
bar:11 color:lavender from:1970 till:1994 text:Mondovi (1970-1993)
bar:12 color:lavender from:1970 till:1977 text:Prescott (1970-1976)
bar:12 color:lavender from:2002 till:2030 text:(2002-present)
bar:13 color:lavender from:1977 till:1994 text:Amery (1977-1993)
bar:13 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:(1996-present)
bar:14 color:lavender from:1989 till:1994 text:Bloomer (1989-1993)
bar:15 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:Osceola (1996-present)
bar:16 color:lavender from:1996 till:2002 text:St. Croix Falls (1996-2001)
bar:17 color:lavender from:1996 till:2002 text:Unity (1996-2001)
bar:18 color:lavender from:2002 till:2030 text:Somerset (2002-present)
bar:19 color:lavender from:2016 till:2030 text:St. Croix Central (2016-present)
bar:20 color:lavender from:2022 till:2024 text:Rice Lake (2022-2023)
bar:21 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Altoona (2024-present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1931

Membership map

Sponsored sports

Source:

Fall sports

* Cross Country (boys and girls)
* Football
* Golf (girls)
* Soccer (boys)
* Tennis (boys)
* Volleyball (girls)

Winter sports

* Basketball (boys and girls)
* Hockey (boys)
* Wrestling

Spring sports

* Baseball
* Golf (boys)
* Soccer (girls)
* Softball
* Tennis (boys)
* Track & Field (boys and girls)

List of state champions

Fall sports

Winter sports

Spring sports

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

Source:

Girls Basketball

Source:

Football

Source:

References

External links

Middle Border Conference (official website)

{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences

Sports organizations established in 1931
Wisconsin high school sports conferences
1931 establishments in Wisconsin