# Marinette & Oconto Conference

The Marinette & Oconto Conference is a high school athletic conference in northeastern Wisconsin. Founded in 1927, the conference and its members are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

## History
### Founding and Membership Shifts (1927-1951)

The Marinette & Oconto Conference was formed in 1927 by seven small high schools in Marinette and Oconto Counties in northeastern Wisconsin: Coleman, Crivitz, Lena, Marinette Normal, Our Lady of Lourdes, Peshtigo and Wausaukee. In 1929, the M&O lost Marinette Normal and Our Lady of Lourdes, with Niagara joining to bring the conference to six members. Peshtigo left the loop in 1931, with Gillett moving over from the Northeastern Wisconsin Conference in 1932 to take their place. The membership roster for the Marinette & Oconto Conference increased to nine in 1933 when Florence, Mountain and Suring entered the league. Peshtigo would return to the M&O in 1934, and Florence and Niagara left a year later, bringing the conference to eight schools. In 1938, Mountain and Wausaukee exited the conference, and along with Amberg and Pembine they formed the new Nicolet Conference. Bonduel spent a short stint in the conference during World War II, joining in 1941 and leaving two years later. After numerous changes in the conference's first two decades, the circuit entered a period of stability that would last until the 1950s.

### Granite Valley Merger and Split (1951-1999)

In 1951, the four-member Granite Valley Conference merged with the six members of the Marinette & Oconto Conference: Amberg, Crivitz, Pembine and Wausaukee. Crivitz was previously a member of both conferences, and Wausaukee reentered the M&O after a thirteen-year absence. With the addition of Goodman, the Marinette & Oconto Conference became a ten-member group, but this arrangement would end up being short-lived. In 1954, Amberg, Goodman, Pembine and Wausaukee split off to reform the Granite Valley Conference, leaving the conference with six member schools. Wausaukee rejoined the Marinette & Oconto Conference for a third time in 1961 after displacement by the Granite Valley's dissolution in 1960. In 1968, Niagara left the Menominee Range Conference in the upper peninsula of Michigan to rejoin as the M&O's eighth member. The Marinette & Oconto Conference entered a three-decade period of stability after Niagara's return.

### Present Day (1999-present)

In 1999, Marinette Central Catholic (formerly Our Lady of Lourdes) came back to the Marinette & Oconto Conference after the dissolution of the Fox Valley Christian Conference, a result of the merger between the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association and the WIAA that was finalized in 2000. The school became St. Thomas Aquinas Academy in 2005 after changing its enrollment model from high school to K-12. The Oneida Nation High School joined the M&O in 2015, its first conference membership in their twenty-year history. With Peshtigo's exit in 2017 to join the Packerland Conference, the Marinette & Oconto Conference became the nine-member league that currently exists.

## List of Conference Members
### Current Members

| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Joined |
| Coleman | Coleman, WI | Public | 229 | Cougars | 1927 |
| Crivitz | Crivitz, WI | Public | 215 | Wolverines | 1927 |
| Gillett | Gillett, WI | Public | 158 | Tigers | 1932 |
| Lena | Lena, WI | Public | 133 | Wildcats | 1927 |
| Niagara | Niagara, WI | Public | 136 | Badgers | 1929, 1968 |
| Oneida Nation | Onʌyoteˀa·ká, WI | Federal (Tribal) | 127 | Thunderhawks | 2015 |
| St. Thomas Aquinas | Marinette, WI | Private (Catholic) | 38 | Cavaliers | 1927, 1999 |
| Suring | Suring, WI | Public | 117 | Eagles | 1933 |
| Wausaukee | Wausaukee, WI | Public | 126 | Rangers | 1927, 1951, 1961 |

### Former Members

| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Joined | Left | Conference Joined | Current Conference |
| Marinette Normal | Marinette, WI | Public | N/A | Unknown | Unknown | 1927 | 1929 | Closed in 1965 | Closed in 1965 |
| Peshtigo | Peshtigo, WI | Public | 339 | Bulldogs | | 1927, 1934 | 1931, 2017 | Packerland | Packerland |
| Florence | Florence, WI | Public | 118 | Bobcats | | 1933 | 1935 | Little Seven (MHSAA) | Northern Lakes |
| Mountain | Mountain, WI | Public | N/A | Mountaineers | | 1933 | 1938 | Nicolet | Closed in 1948 (consolidated into Suring) |
| Bonduel | Bonduel, WI | Public | 262 | Bears | | 1941 | 1943 | Independent | Central Wisconsin |
| Amberg | Amberg, WI | Public | N/A | Ravens | | 1951 | 1954 | Granite Valley | Closed in 1960 (consolidated into Wausaukee) |
| Goodman | Goodman, WI | Public | 30 | Falcons | | 1951 | 1954 | Granite Valley | Northern Lakes (co-op with Pembine) |
| Pembine | Pembine, WI | Public | 68 | Panthers | | 1951 | 1954 | Granite Valley | Northern Lakes (co-op with Goodman) |

## List of State Champions
### Fall Sports

Football :
| School | Year | Division |
| Peshtigo | 1983 | Division 5 |
Girls Volleyball :
| School | Year | Division |
| Niagara | 1991 | Division 4 |

### Winter Sports

Boys Basketball :
| School | Year | Division |
| Niagara | 1979 | Class C |
| Wausaukee | 1993 | Division 4 |
Girls Basketball :
| School | Year | Division |
| Lena | 1980 | Class C |
Boys Wrestling :
| School | Year | Division |
| Coleman | 1960 | Single Division |
| Coleman | 1962 | Single Division |
| Coleman | 1963 | Single Division |
| Coleman | 1964 | Single Division |
| Coleman | 1966 | Single Division |
| Coleman | 2000 | Division 3 |
| Coleman | 2010 | Division 3 |
| Coleman | 2011 | Division 3 |
| Coleman | 2012 | Division 3 |
| Coleman | 2014 | Division 3 |
| Coleman | 2020 | Division 3 |

### Spring Sports

Baseball :
| School | Year | Division |
| Coleman | 2012 | Division 4 |
Softball :
| School | Year | Division |
| Wausaukee | 1996 | Division 3 |
| Peshtigo | 2010 | Division 3 |
Boys Track & Field :
| School | Year | Division |
| Peshtigo | 1957 | Class C |
| Lena | 1960 | Class C |
| Peshtigo | 1966 | Class C |
| Peshtigo | 1971 | Class C |
| Coleman | 2016 | Division 3 |
| Coleman | 2017 | Division 3 |