The Southern Ten Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, comprising schools in the south central part of the state. It was in operation from 1941 to 1952 and all member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

Map
Location of Southern Ten Conference Members

The Southern Ten Conference was formed in 1941 by a group of medium-sized high schools in south central Wisconsin after the breakup of two established conferences: the South Central Conference and the Southern Six Conference. Logan High School in La Crosse had recently been voted out of the South Central by a 5-4 margin for reasons of geography and competitive balance. The three schools that voted with Logan to keep them in the conference (Sparta, Tomah and Viroqua) followed them out, and these four schools formed the new Gateway Conference. The five schools that voted for Logan's forced exit from the South Central (Baraboo, Portage, Reedsburg, Richland Center and Wisconsin Dells) joined with five schools from the Southern Six (Edgerton, Fort Atkinson, Monroe, Stoughton and Wisconsin High) in forming the Southern Ten, and competition was set to begin with the 1941-42 basketball season. Watertown, who was removed from the Southern Six prior to the merger for similar reasons to Logan's removal from the South Central, competed as an independent for twelve years until the Braveland Conference was formed in 1953.

The Southern Ten Conference split in 1952 due to the reformation of the South Central Conference by the five schools that originally competed in that conference. The five remaining schools that were originally part of the Southern Six joined with members of the disbanded Rock River Valley League (Evansville, Jefferson, Lake Mills and Milton) and Middleton (formerly of the Madison Suburban Conference) to form the new Badger Conference.

Conference membership history

SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
BarabooBaraboo, WIPublicThunderbirds19411952South CentralBadger
EdgertonEdgerton, WIPublicCrimson Tide19411952BadgerRock Valley
Fort AtkinsonFort Atkinson, WIPublicBlackhawks19411952Badger
MonroeMonroe, WIPublicCheesemakers19411952BadgerRock Valley
PortagePortage, WIPublicWarriors19411952South CentralBadger
ReedsburgReedsburg, WIPublicBeavers19411952South CentralBadger
Richland CenterRichland Center, WIPublicHornets19411952South CentralSouthwest Wisconsin
StoughtonStoughton, WIPublicVikings19411952Badger
Wisconsin DellsWisconsin Dells, WIPublicChiefs19411952South Central
Wisconsin HighMadison, WIPublic (University of Wisconsin-Madison)Badger Preps19411952BadgerClosed in 1964

Membership timeline

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

SchoolQuantityYears
Edgerton31943, 1944, 1952
Monroe31943, 1946, 1947
Reedsburg31943, 1948, 1949
Baraboo21945, 1951
Wisconsin High21944, 1945
Portage11943
Stoughton11950
Wisconsin Dells11942
Fort Atkinson0
Richland Center0

Football

SchoolQuantityYears
Monroe31945, 1946, 1950
Portage31942, 1944, 1945
Baraboo21943, 1948
Edgerton21947, 1948
Wisconsin Dells11951
Wisconsin High11949
Fort Atkinson0
Reedsburg0
Richland Center0
Stoughton0