The Upper St. Croix Valley Conference is a former high school athletic conference in northwestern Wisconsin. Operational from 1934 to 1994, all conference members were public schools affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

1934–1953

Map
Location of Original Upper St. Croix Conference Members

The Upper St. Croix Valley Conference was founded in 1934 by eleven small high schools in northwestern Wisconsin: Amery, Balsam Lake, Centuria, Clayton, Frederic, Grantsburg, Luck, Milltown, Osceola, St. Croix Falls and Webster. Original members of the conference were located in two counties (Polk and Burnett) whose western border is the St. Croix River and were subdivided into Northern and Southern sections:

Northern SectionSouthern Section
CenturiaAmery
FredericBalsam Lake
GrantsburgClayton
LuckOsceola
MilltownSt. Croix Falls
Webster

Clayton left to join the Lakeland Conference in 1936, and the conference consolidated into a single division. In 1940, the five smallest schools in the conference (Balsam Lake, Centuria, Luck, Milltown and Webster) joined with Siren to form the Northwest Border Conference. Milltown returned to the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference in 1942, bringing the membership roster back up to six schools. In 1946, Luck followed Milltown out of the Northwest Border Conference to becom the Upper St. Croix Valley's seventh member school. Webster reentered the conference from the Northwest Border Conference in 1953, bringing the total number of schools to eight.

1953–1977

Since Webster joined in 1953, there were relatively few changes to the roster, and the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference maintained an eight-member loop for the remainder of its existence. In 1957, Milltown was merged with two former Upper St. Croix Valley members in the Lakeland Conference (Balsam Lake and Centuria) to form Unity High School in Balsam Lake, and the new school inherited Milltown's place in the conference. Amery left the conference for membership in the Middle Border Conference in 1977 and were replaced by Somerset, late of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference.

1977–1994

Map
Location of Final Upper St. Croix Conference Members

The Upper St. Croix Valley Conference continued on for seventeen more years before it was disbanded in 1994, and its members were dispersed to other conferences in the area. Four schools (Frederic, Grantsburg, Luck and Webster) became members of the Lakeland Conference, three members (Osceola, St. Croix Falls and Unity) joined the Middle Border Conference and Somerset returned to the Dunn-St. Croix Conference.

Conference membership history

Final members

SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
FredericFrederic, WIPublicVikings19341994Lakeland
GrantsburgGrantsburg, WIPublicPirates19341994Lakeland
LuckLuck, WIPublicCardinals1934, 19461940, 1994Northwest Border, LakelandLakeland
OsceolaOsceola, WIPublicChieftains19341994Middle Border
SomersetSomerset, WIPublicSpartans19771994Dunn-St. CroixMiddle Border
St. Croix FallsSt. Croix Falls, WIPublicSaints19341994Middle BorderHeart O'North
UnityBalsam Lake, WIPublicEagles19571994Middle BorderHeart O'North
WebsterWebster, WIPublicTigers1934, 19531940, 1994Northwest Border, LakelandLakeland

Previous full members

SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
AmeryAmery, WIPublicWarriors19341977Middle Border
Balsam LakeBalsam Lake, WIPublicWarriors19341940Northwest BorderClosed in 1957 (merged into Unity)
CenturiaCenturia, WIPublicRaiders19341940Northwest BorderClosed in 1957 (merged into Unity)
ClaytonClayton, WIPublicBears19341936Lakeland
MilltownMilltown, WIPublicWildcats1934, 19421940, 1957Northwest BorderClosed (merged into Unity)

Previous football-only members

SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary Conference
ChetekChetek, WIPublicBulldogs1983-1985Heart O'North

Membership timeline

Full members

Eastern Section Western Section

Football members

List of state champions

Fall sports

SchoolYearDivision
Osceola1984Division 5
Webster1987Division 6
SchoolYearDivision
Webster1985Class C
Webster1986Class C
Somerset1993Division 3

Winter sports

SchoolYearDivision
St. Croix Falls1950Single Division
St. Croix Falls1992Division 3
SchoolYearDivision
Frederic1992Division 2
SchoolYearDivision
St. Croix Falls1991Division 2

Spring sports

SchoolYearDivision
Unity1967Class C
Unity1969Class C

Summer sports

SchoolYearDivision
Unity1992Single Division

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

SchoolQuantityYears
Osceola201940, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1994
St. Croix Falls161935, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993
Amery101951, 1952, 1953, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1977
Unity81966, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991
Frederic51956, 1963, 1964, 1969, 1983
Luck31966, 1967, 1973
Milltown31935, 1936, 1937
Grantsburg21938, 1958
Balsam Lake0
Centuria0
Clayton0
Somerset0
Webster0
Champions from 1939 unknown

Football

SchoolQuantityYears
Grantsburg121937, 1941, 1942, 1956, 1958, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
St. Croix Falls121935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1944, 1948, 1953, 1969, 1979, 1988, 1989, 1990
Osceola111939, 1944, 1945, 1956, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1992
Amery101934, 1943, 1950, 1951, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1976
Frederic61939, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1961, 1968
Unity51963, 1967, 1978, 1986, 1987
Luck31964, 1965, 1971
Somerset21991, 1993
Webster21956, 1972
Chetek0
Milltown0
Champions from 1940, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1957 and 1959 unknown