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

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Location of Original Middle Border Conference Members

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.^[1] Baldwin and Glenwood City joined the Middle Border in 1949 to bring membership to nine schools.^[2] 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.^[3] The Middle Border's membership roster decreased to eight when Menomonie left the conference to compete as an independent after the 1951 football season.^[4] Several years later, they would become members of the Big Rivers Conference.^[5]

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.^[6] They were replaced by Durand, who were competing as independents after the collapse of the original Mississippi Valley Conference two years prior.^[7] The addition of Mondovi and Prescott in 1970 briefly brought the Middle Border Conference to ten members,^[8] until the exit of Glenwood City and Spring Valley for the Dunn-St. Croix Conference in 1972.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] Bloomer moved over from the Heart O'North Conference to take their place and bring the Middle Border to seven schools.^[12] 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).^[13] 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:^[14][15]

Red Conference	White Conference	Blue Conference
Amery	Barron	Baldwin-Woodville
Durand-Arkansaw	Bloomer	Chetek
Ellsworth	Ladysmith	Cumberland
Hayward	Northwestern	Mondovi
New Richmond	Osceola	Prescott
Spooner	Unity	St. Croix Falls

This arrangement lasted for two seasons until the Northwest Football League was dissolved due to dissatisfaction about long travel distances among conference members.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[19] Durand-Arkansaw left to become members of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference in 2016,^[20] exchanging affiliations with St. Croix Central in Hammond.^[21] New Richmond returned to the Big Rivers Conference in 2021,^[22] and longtime Cloverbelt Conference members Altoona joined the Middle Border as their replacement.^[23]

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.^[24] 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.^[25] 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.^[26] 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.^[27] This alignment is set to remain in place through at least the 2027 football season.^[28]

List of conference members

Current members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined
Altoona	Altoona, WI	Public	560	Railroaders		2021[23]
Amery	Amery, WI	Public	467	Warriors		1977[10]
Baldwin-Woodville	Baldwin, WI	Public	506	Blackhawks		1949[2]
Ellsworth	Ellsworth, WI	Public	518	Panthers		1931[1]
Osceola	Osceola, WI	Public	552	Chieftains		1994[13]
Prescott	Prescott, WI	Public	431	Cardinals		1970,[8] 2002[19]
St. Croix Central	Hammond, WI	Public	514	Panthers		2016[21]
Somerset	Somerset, WI	Public	470	Spartans		2002[19]

Former members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Left	Conference Joined	Current Conference
Colfax	Colfax, WI	Public	224	Vikings		1931[1]	1967[6]	Dunn-St. Croix
Hudson	Hudson, WI	Public	1,800	Raiders		1931[1]	1989[11]	Big Rivers
Menomonie	Menomonie, WI	Public	1,022	Mustangs		1931[1]	1951[4]	Independent	Big Rivers
New Richmond	New Richmond, WI	Public	1,112	Tigers		1931,[1] 2002[18]	1998,[17] 2021[22]	Big Rivers	Big Rivers
River Falls	River Falls, WI	Public	1,114	Wildcats		1931[1]	1989[11]	Big Rivers
Spring Valley	Spring Valley, WI	Public	198	Cardinals		1931[1]	1972[9]	Dunn-St. Croix
Glenwood City	Glenwood City, WI	Public	195	Hilltoppers		1949[2]	1972[9]	Dunn-St. Croix
Durand-Arkansaw	Durand, WI	Public	307	Panthers		1967[7]	2016[20]	Dunn-St. Croix
Mondovi	Mondovi, WI	Public	250	Buffaloes		1970[8]	1994[13]	Dunn-St. Croix
Bloomer	Bloomer, WI	Public	429	Blackhawks		1989[12]	1994[13]	Heart O'North	Cloverbelt
St. Croix Falls	St. Croix Falls, WI	Public	345	Saints		1994[13]	2002[19]	Lakeland	Heart O'North
Unity	Balsam Lake, WI	Public	295	Eagles		1994[13]	2002[19]	Lakeland

Former football-only members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Seasons	Primary Conference
Rice Lake	Rice Lake, WI	Public	714	Warriors		2022-2023	Big Rivers

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

Membership map

Middle Border Conference

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19miles

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

   

Location of Middle Border Conference full members:

1

Altoona

2

Amery

3

Baldwin-Woodville

4

Ellsworth

5

Osceola

6

Prescott

7

St. Croix Central

8

Somerset

Sponsored sports

Source:^[29]

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

Boys Cross Country

School	Year	Division
Amery	1997	Division 2
Amery	1998	Division 2

Football

School	Year	Division
Baldwin-Woodville	1987	Division 4
Ellsworth	1990	Division 3
Baldwin-Woodville	1992	Division 4
Somerset	2002	Division 5
Somerset	2012	Division 4
Somerset	2014	Division 4
Osceola	2015	Division 4
St. Croix Central	2016	Division 4

Girls Golf

School	Year	Division
Prescott	2020	Division 2
Prescott	2021	Division 2
Prescott	2022	Division 2
Prescott	2023	Division 3

Winter sports

Boys Basketball

School	Year	Division
Prescott	2018	Division 3

Girls Basketball

School	Year	Division
Durand	1986	Class B
Durand	1987	Class B

Boys Wrestling

School	Year	Division
Ellsworth	1985	Class B
Baldwin-Woodville	1993	Division 2
Ellsworth	2000	Division 2
Ellsworth	2007	Division 2
Ellsworth	2009	Division 2
Ellsworth	2011	Division 2
Ellsworth	2014	Division 2
Ellsworth	2016	Division 2
Ellsworth	2017	Division 2
Amery	2021	Division 2
Amery	2022	Division 2

Spring sports

Baseball

School	Year	Division
Prescott	2012	Division 2

Boys Golf

School	Year	Division
New Richmond	1992	Division 2
New Richmond	1993	Division 2
Ellsworth	2000	Division 2

Softball

School	Year	Division
Baldwin-Woodville	2012	Division 2
Prescott	2024	Division 3

Boys Track & Field

School	Year	Division
Hudson	1973	Class B
New Richmond	1982	Class B
Baldwin-Woodville	1983	Class C
Amery	2001	Division 2
Osceola	2004	Division 2
Osceola	2005	Division 2

Girls Track & Field

School	Year	Division
Osceola	2023	Division 2

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

Source:^[30]

School	Quantity	Years
New Richmond	21	1958, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2019, 2020
Hudson	14	1937, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989
Durand-Arkansaw	9	1970, 1971, 1977, 1978, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2013
Prescott	9	2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024
Baldwin-Woodville	8	1959, 1988, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2012
Amery	6	1987, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2004, 2005
Menomonie	8	1935, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1950
River Falls	8	1934, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1955, 1966, 1967
Spring Valley	7	1932, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1942, 1961, 1962
Ellsworth	6	1951, 1968, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1995
Osceola	5	2000, 2009, 2023, 2024, 2025
Colfax	4	1933, 1952, 1953, 1954
Glenwood City	2	1957, 1969
Bloomer	1	1991
Mondovi	1	1980
Somerset	1	2014
St. Croix Central	1	2021
Altoona	0
St. Croix Falls	0
Unity	0

Girls Basketball

Source:^[31]

School	Quantity	Years
Durand-Arkansaw	23	1973, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015
New Richmond	6	1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 2012, 2014
Baldwin-Woodville	5	1976, 2013, 2014, 2024, 2025
Ellsworth	5	1973, 1974, 1975, 1991, 1995
Somerset	5	2008, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2023
Amery	4	1999, 2000, 2011, 2019
Bloomer	4	1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
Hudson	4	1973, 1981, 1988, 1989
Osceola	4	2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
Prescott	3	2020, 2021, 2022
St. Croix Central	2	2018, 2025
Altoona	0
Mondovi	0
River Falls	0
St. Croix Falls	0
Unity	0

Football

Source:^[32]

School	Quantity	Years
River Falls	21	1938, 1941, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988
Baldwin-Woodville	15	1963, 1970, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2019, 2024
Hudson	11	1935, 1936, 1942, 1944, 1954, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1973, 1974, 1982
Durand-Arkansaw	10	1967, 1968, 1969, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 2000, 2002, 2012
Somerset	9	2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014
New Richmond	8	1940, 1941, 1964, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2010, 2019
Ellsworth	7	1977, 1990, 1999, 2013, 2020, 2021, 2022
Colfax	6	1931, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1952
Mondovi	6	1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1990
Menomonie	5	1933, 1934, 1949, 1950, 1951
Osceola	5	2001, 2006, 2015, 2016, 2017
Amery	3	1996, 2000, 2001
Spring Valley	3	1948, 1959, 1960
Glenwood City	1	1958
Rice Lake	1	2023
St. Croix Central	1	2018
Unity	1	1998
Altoona	0
Bloomer	0
Prescott	0
St. Croix Falls	0