# Wisconsin River League

The Wisconsin River League is a former high school athletic conference with its membership roster in southwestern Wisconsin. Founded in 1928 and ended in 1960, its members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

## History

The Wisconsin River League was formed in 1928 by four small high schools near the Wisconsin River: Boscobel, Ithaca, Lone Rock and Muscoda. Original conference members were located in three counties of southwestern Wisconsin's Driftless Area (Grant, Iowa and Richland). Sextonville joined the league in 1929 to bring membership up to five schools. That number was increased to six when Blue River was accepted into the Wisconsin River League in 1930. Boscobel left the conference in 1934 and competed as an independent prior to joining the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League in 1935. They were replaced by Avoca to keep the roster at six member schools. Lime Ridge's entry into the league in 1936 brought the membership tally to seven schools. An eighth school (Cazenovia) was added in 1938 to bring the league to its high water mark of eight members.
After the Wisconsin River League became an eight-member circuit, the closing and consolidation of rural high schools began to eat away at conference membership. Sextonville High School was closed in 1942, and its students were dispersed to other districts in Richland County. North Freedom joined the conference as their replacement, and their membership ran for three years before their district was folded and split between Baraboo and Reedsburg. In 1955, Cazenovia and Lime Ridge merged, with the new Weston High School taking the place of their predecessors. The Wisconsin River League continued with six active members until it ceased operations in 1960. Five schools from the disbanded conference (Blue River, Ithaca, Lone Rock, Muscoda and Weston) joined with four members formerly of the Iowa County League (Barneveld, Highland, Hollandale and Ridgeway) to form the I-W League.

## Conference Membership History

| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Joined | Left | Conference Joined | Current Conference |
| Boscobel | Boscobel, WI | Public | 212 | Bulldogs | | 1928 | 1934 | Independent | SWAL |
| Ithaca | Ithaca, WI | Public | 133 | Bulldogs | | 1928 | 1960 | I-W League | Ridge & Valley |
| Lone Rock | Lone Rock, WI | Public | N/A | Rockets | | 1928 | 1960 | I-W League | Closed in 1962 (merged into River Valley) |
| Muscoda | Muscoda, WI | Public | N/A | Indians | | 1928 | 1960 | I-W League | Closed in 1964 (merged into Riverdale) |
| Sextonville | Sextonville, WI | Public | N/A | Tigers | | 1929 | 1942 | Closed (split between Ithaca, Lone Rock and Richland Center) | Closed (split between Ithaca, Lone Rock and Richland Center) |
| Blue River | Blue River, WI | Public | N/A | Tigers | | 1930 | 1960 | I-W League | Closed in 1967 (consolidated into Riverdale) |
| Avoca | Avoca, WI | Public | N/A | Cardinals | | 1934 | 1960 | Independent | Closed in 1964 (merged into Riverdale) |
| Lime Ridge | Lime Ridge, WI | Public | N/A | Raiders | | 1936 | 1955 | Closed (merged into Weston) | Closed (merged into Weston) |
| Cazenovia | Cazenovia, WI | Public | N/A | Blue Devils | | 1938 | 1955 | Closed (merged into Weston) | Closed (merged into Weston) |
| North Freedom | North Freedom, WI | Public | N/A | Unknown | Unknown | 1942 | 1945 | Closed (split between Baraboo and Reedsburg) | Closed (split between Baraboo and Reedsburg) |
| Weston | Cazenovia, WI | Public | 84 | Silver Eagles | | 1955 | 1960 | I-W League | Ridge & Valley |