Draft:Little Ten Conference (Wisconsin)

The Little Ten Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, formed in 1925 and reorganizing into the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference in 1970.

History

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Formation and Sustained Stability (1925-1959)

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The Little Ten Conference was founded in 1925 by ten medium- to smaller-sized schools in south central Wisconsin: Beaver Dam, Berlin, Columbus, Hartford Union, Horicon, Mayville, Portage, Ripon, Watertown and Waupun. The conference went through a few membership changes during its first few seasons, starting with the loss of Portage to the South Central Conference in 1926 and Watertown to the Southern Six in 1928. The conference added West Bend in 1929 and Oconomowoc in 1930 to bring conference membership back up to ten. Membership would remain consistent until 1959, when Arrowhead joined from the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference and Watertown rejoined from the Braveland Conference.

Division Split and Reformation (1959-1970)

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With conference membership increasing to twelve, the Little Ten subdivided into Northern and Southern Divisions for the 1959-60 school year:

Northern Little Ten Southern Little Ten
Berlin Arrowhead
Columbus Beaver Dam
Horicon Hartford Union
Mayville Oconomowoc
Ripon Watertown
Waupun West Bend

In 1965, Arrowhead left to join the Southeastern Badger Conference, bringing conference membership to eleven. By the late 1960s, increasing gaps in enrollment between the smaller schools Northern Little Ten and the larger schools in the Southern Little Ten were creating problems with competitive balance, and the schools in the Southern Little Ten began looking to secede from the conference. The conference finally disbanded in 1970, with the five Southern Little Ten members (six with the split of West Bend into East and West) and Waupun forming the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference, leaving the five remaining schools in the Northern Little Ten to find other conferences with schools more similar in enrollment size.

Conference Membership History

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference Joined Current Conference
Beaver Dam Beaver Dam, WI Public 1,124 Golden Beavers     1925 1970 Wisconsin Little Ten Badger
Berlin Berlin, WI Public 474 Indians     1925 1970 East Central
Columbus Columbus, WI Public 390 Cardinals     1925 1970 Central Suburban Capitol
Hartford Union Hartford, WI Public 1,281 Orioles     1925 1970 Wisconsin Little Ten North Shore
Horicon Horicon, WI Public 275 Marshmen     1925 1970 Flyway Trailways
Mayville Mayville, WI Public 275 Cardinals     1925 1970 Scenic Moraine Wisconsin Flyway
Portage Portage, WI Public 705 Warriors     1925 1926 Southern Six Badger
Ripon Ripon, WI Public 484 Tigers     1925 1970 East Central
Watertown Watertown, WI Public 1,170 Goslings     1925,

1959

1928,

1970

Southern Six, Wisconsin Little Ten Badger
Waupun Waupun, WI Public 573 Warriors     1925 1970 Wisconsin Little Ten East Central
West Bend[a] West Bend, WI Public 2,025 Badgers     1929 1970 Wisconsin Little Ten North Shore
Oconomowoc Oconomowoc, WI Public 1,657 Raccoons     1930 1970 Wisconsin Little Ten Classic Eight
Arrowhead Hartland, WI Public 2,076 Warhawks     1959 1964 Southeastern Badger Classic Eight

Notes

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  1. ^ Split into West Bend East and West Bend West High Schools prior to the 1970-71 school year.

List of State Champions

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Fall Sports

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None

Winter Sports

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Boys Basketball
School Year Division
Watertown 1928 Single Division
Mayville 1935 Class B
Beaver Dam 1937 Class B

Spring Sports

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Baseball
School Year Division
West Bend 1951 Single Division
Oconomowoc 1959 Single Division
Boys Track & Field
School Year Division
Berlin 1931 Class B
West Bend 1934 Class B
Horicon 1937 Class C
Horicon 1938 Class C
Horicon 1939 Class C
Horicon 1954 Class C
Horicon 1959 Class C
Berlin 1961 Class B
Arrowhead 1965 Class B
Ripon 1968 Class B

References

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