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Mississippi Valley Conference (Wisconsin)

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Mississippi Valley Conference
ConferenceWIAA
Founded1989
Sports fielded
  • 19
    • men's: 10
    • women's: 9
DivisionDivision 1
No. of teams7
HeadquartersLa Crosse, Wisconsin
RegionLa Crosse Metropolitan
Official websitewww.mvconference.org

The Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC) is a high school athletic conference in southwest Wisconsin. Founded in 1989, the conference and its member schools belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and are located in the La Crosse-Onalaska-Sparta combined statistical area.

History

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1933-1965

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Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
30km
19miles
Whitehall
Osseo
Mondovi
Durand
Black River Falls
Augusta
Arcadia
Location of Mississippi Valley Conference Members (1938-1959)

The first incarnation of the Mississippi Valley Conference was founded in 1933 and contained five smaller high schools in western Wisconsin: Alma, Arcadia, Durand, Mondovi and Osseo.[1] Augusta joined from the Little Eight Conference in 1935,[2] replacing Alma after their return to the Bi-County Conference. Whitehall followed in 1936[3] while maintaining dual membership in the Trempeleau Valley Conference (which they left in 1938). Black River Falls became the conference's seventh member school when it joined in 1938.[4] These seven schools competed together for two decades before three left to become charter members of the new Dairyland Conference in 1959: Augusta, Osseo and Whitehall.[5] Chippewa Falls and Cochrane-Fountain City took their place that same year.[6] Menomonie was also accepted into the conference for 1959 but withdrew before ever playing a game.[7] Three schools exited the conference in 1963: Black River Falls for the South Central Conference, Chippewa Falls for the Big Rivers Conference and Cochrane-Fountain City for the Dairyland Conference.[8] For the last two years of its existence, the Mississippi Valley Conference competed as a three-school circuit until Arcadia left for the Coulee Conference in 1965, thus ending the conference's run.[9]

1989-present

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The current incarnation of the Mississippi Valley Conference was formed in 1989[10] to accommodate for the growing attendance in schools in traditional rural-based conferences and shorten travel distances for its members.[11] Holmen and Onalaska joined from the Coulee Conference, Sparta and Tomah from the South Central Conference, and La Crosse Central High School and Logan High School from the Big Rivers Conference. Shortly after, in 1997, Aquinas High School joined from the Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference of the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association, a private school athletic league, to become the conference's seventh member.[12]

In 2014, West Salem began competition in the Mississippi Valley Conference for football only, remaining in the Coulee Conference for all other sports.[13] Aquinas left the MVC's football roster in 2019 when they joined the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League as associate members for that sport.[14] The next year, a comprehensive realignment of Wisconsin high school football conferences was implemented by the WIAA with input from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association to run on a two-year cycle.[15] All six of the MVC's public high schools (Central, Holmen, Logan, Onalaska, Sparta and Tomah) remained in the conference with associate members River Falls (Big Rivers) and West Salem (Coulee) filling out the ranks.[16] River Falls and West Salem returned to their respective conferences for the 2022-2023 realignment cycle with two schools from the Badger Conference (Baraboo and Reedsburg) replacing them.[17] This alignment will stay in effect through at least the 2026-2027 competition cycle.[18][19]

Sports sponsored

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The MVC sponsors 19 varsity sports. They are:

List of member schools (1989-present)

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Current members

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Year Joined
Aquinas La Crosse, WI Private (Catholic) 307 Blugolds     1997
Holmen Holmen, WI Public 1,215 Vikings     1989
La Crosse Central La Crosse, WI Public 1,029 Riverhawks     1989
La Crosse Logan La Crosse, WI Public 738 Rangers     1989
Onalaska Onalaska, WI Public 923 Hilltoppers     1989
Sparta Sparta, WI Public 909 Spartans     1989
Tomah Tomah, WI Public 919 Timberwolves     1989

Current football-only members

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined Primary Conference
Baraboo Baraboo, WI Public 919 Thunderbirds     2022 Badger
Reedsburg Reedsburg, WI Public 897 Beavers     2022 Badger

Current associate members

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined Participating Sports Primary Conference
West Salem West Salem, WI Public 607 Panthers     2014 Soccer, Volleyball Coulee

Former football-only members

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Seasons Primary Conference
River Falls River Falls, WI Public 1,114 Wildcats     2020-2021 Big Rivers
West Salem West Salem, WI Public 607 Panthers     2014-2021 Coulee

Conference membership history (1933-1965)

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Full members

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference Joined Current Conference
Alma Alma, WI Public 65 Rivermen     1933 1935 Bi-County Dairyland
Arcadia Arcadia, WI Public 417 Raiders     1933 1965 Coulee
Durand Durand, WI Public 307 Panthers     1933 1965 Independent Dunn-St. Croix
Mondovi Mondovi, WI Public 250 Buffaloes     1933 1965 Independent Dunn-St. Croix
Osseo Osseo, WI Public 255 Chieftains     1933 1959 Dairyland Cloverbelt
Augusta Augusta, WI Public 226 Beavers     1935 1959 Dairyland
Whitehall Whitehall, WI Public 216 Norse     1936 1959 Dairyland
Black River Falls Black River Falls, WI Public 481 Tigers     1938 1963 South Central Coulee
Chippewa Falls Chippewa Falls, WI Public 1,454 Cardinals     1959 1963 Big Rivers
Cochrane-Fountain City Fountain City, WI Public 175 Pirates     1959 1963 Dairyland

Football-only members

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School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Seasons Primary Conference
Galesville Galesville, WI Public N/A Galloping Gales     1946-1948 Coulee
Gale-Ettrick Galesville, WI Public N/A Redmen     1949-1958 Coulee

Membership timeline

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1933-1965

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Full members

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Football members

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1989-present

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Full members

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Football members

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Membership map

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Mississippi Valley Conference
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
6km
3.7miles
7
7 Tomah
7 Tomah
6
6 Sparta
6 Sparta
5
5 Onalaska
5 Onalaska
4
4 La Crosse Logan
4 La Crosse Logan
3
3 La Crosse Central
3 La Crosse Central
2
2 Holmen
2 Holmen
1
1 Aquinas
1 Aquinas
Location of Mississippi Valley Conference full members:

List of state champions

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Fall sports

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Boys Cross Country
School Year Division
La Crosse Central 1990 Division 1
Aquinas 2007 Division 3
Aquinas 2018 Division 3
Aquinas 2019 Division 3
Aquinas 2020 Division 2
Onalaska 2021 Division 1
Girls Cross Country
School Year Division
La Crosse Central 1989 Division 1
La Crosse Central 1990 Division 1
Football
School Year Division
Aquinas 2007 Division 5
Girls Golf
School Year Division
Onalaska 1989 Single Division
La Crosse Central 1990 Single Division
La Crosse Central 1991 Single Division
La Crosse Central 1992 Single Division
La Crosse Central 1993 Single Division
La Crosse Central 1998 Single Division
Aquinas 2017 Division 2

Winter sports

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Boys Basketball
School Year Division
Onalaska 1992 Division 2
Aquinas 2003 Division 3
Aquinas 2008 Division 3
Aquinas 2011 Division 3
Onalaska 2012 Division 2
Aquinas 2013 Division 3
La Crosse Central 2017 Division 2
Aquinas 2025 Division 4
Girls Basketball
School Year Division
Holmen 1995 Division 2
Aquinas 2018 Division 4
Aquinas 2019 Division 4
Gymnastics
School Year Division
Onalaska 1997 Division 2
Onalaska 1998 Division 2
Holmen 2005 Division 2
Holmen 2006 Division 2
Boys Wrestling
School Year Division
Aquinas 1999 WISAA (Single Division)

Spring sports

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Baseball
School Year Division
La Crosse Logan 2001 Division 1
Aquinas 2007 Division 3
Aquinas 2017 Division 3
Aquinas 2024 Division 3
Girls Soccer
School Year Division
Aquinas 2015 Division 4
Softball
School Year Division
Holmen 1999 Division 1
La Crosse Logan 2015 Division 2
Boys Track & Field
School Year Division
Aquinas 2011 Division 2
Aquinas 2019 Division 3
Aquinas 2021 Division 3
Girls Track & Field
School Year Division
Aquinas 2012 Division 2
Aquinas 2019 Division 3

Summer Sports

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Baseball
School Year Division
Holmen 1990 Single Division

List of conference champions

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1933-1965

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Boys Basketball

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School Quantity Years
Arcadia 7 1938, 1939, 1940, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958
Augusta 7 1936, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1952
Durand 7 1934, 1937, 1941, 1946, 1959, 1962, 1965
Black River Falls 4 1953, 1954, 1955, 1961
Mondovi 3 1956, 1957, 1964
Osseo 3 1935, 1950, 1952
Chippewa Falls 2 1960, 1963
Whitehall 1 1942
Alma 0
Cochrane-Fountain City 0

Football

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School Quantity Years
Arcadia 12 1939, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
Mondovi 9 1943, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
Black River Falls 7 1940, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1961
Durand 3 1945, 1947, 1963
Chippewa Falls 1 1959
Osseo 1 1954
Whitehall 1 1946
Augusta 0
Cochrane-Fountain City 0
Gale-Ettrick 0
Galesville 0

1989-present

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Boys Basketball

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School Quantity Years
La Crosse Central 10 1997, 1998, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Holmen 9 1991, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2025
Aquinas 8 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2025
Onalaska 8 1996, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
La Crosse Logan 7 1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2008
Tomah 1 2005
Sparta 0

Girls Basketball

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School Quantity Years
La Crosse Logan 14 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Aquinas 13 1999, 2001, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Holmen 5 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2005
La Crosse Central 5 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
Onalaska 3 2013, 2014, 2021
Sparta 1 2006
Tomah 1 1992

Football

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School Quantity Years
La Crosse Central 11 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2009, 2012, 2023, 2024
Onalaska 11 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
La Crosse Logan 9 1994, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2024
Holmen 8 1992, 2002, 2003, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2024
Tomah 5 1995, 1999, 2002, 2007, 2011
Aquinas 2 1997, 2008
Reedsburg 1 2024
River Falls 1 2021
West Salem 1 2017
Baraboo 0
Sparta 0

Rivalries

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The Mississippi Valley Conference has a number of intense rivalries, both based on proximity, and performance.

City

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  • Central Vs. Logan - The two La Crosse public schools' intense rivalry is well publicized by local media and is highlighted by football's Battle for the Ark of Victory.
  • Central Vs. Aquinas - A heated battle for city supremacy and the overall city championship.
  • Logan Vs. Aquinas - A heated battle for city supremacy and the overall city championship.

Other main rivalries

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  • Holmen Vs. Onalaska - Proximity spices up this rivalry, as the two school districts overlap city boundaries. Both schools also came over from the Coulee Conference together.
  • Tomah Vs. Sparta - Both came over from the South Central Conference and are separated by 17 miles of Interstate 90. The closest conference foe for both teams.
  • Reedsburg Vs. Baraboo - Both moved to the MVC as affiliated members and have one of the longest rivalries in the state.

In addition to these main rivalries, many other rivalries have developed based on different sports and success. In the early 2000s, Holmen and Aquinas had fierce competitions in Boys' Basketball in which tickets were sold out days after going on sale. Additionally, in the early 1990s, Onalaska Vs. Central was a heated matchup in Boys' Basketball. That rivalry was rekindled in the 2010s as both teams regularly competed for state bids. In wrestling, Holmen Vs. Sparta and Holmen Vs. Tomah have come and gone. In Boys' Ice Hockey, Onalaska and Aquinas/Holmen/G-E-T/C-FC hold a battle for the Omni Center rivalry, as both teams play in the same venue.

Many non-conference rivalries are also in the MVC. Onalaska Vs. West Salem, Logan and Central Vs. Eau Claire Memorial and North, Tomah Vs. Black River Falls, and Holmen Vs. G-E-T are all annual football games. Aquinas maintains matchups with old conference members from their WISAA days.

Rivalry Week

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In many different sports, particularly but not limited to football, basketball, and wrestling, the three big rivalries will frequently be played on the same days, coining the phrase Rivalry Week in football and Rivalry Night in other sports. These rivalries are Central Vs. Logan, Holmen Vs. Onalaska, and Sparta Vs. Tomah. Occasionally, Aquinas will be inserted into a city match up or against Holmen or Onalaska on a Rivalry Night.

References

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  1. ^ "News of Northwest Wisconsin, Mondovi section". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. May 23, 1934. p. 5. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  2. ^ "Durand Cagers Beat Hudson, 21 to 12". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. November 30, 1935. p. 8. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  3. ^ "Whitehall Opens Cage Season on Nov. 10". The La Crosse Tribune. November 5, 1936. p. 12. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  4. ^ "Arcadia Takes New Loop Post". The La Crosse Tribune. March 14, 1938. p. 4. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  5. ^ "Dairyland New Tag". The La Crosse Tribune. November 16, 1958. p. 15. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  6. ^ "Chippewa, Menomonie Join Mississippi Valley League". Chippewa Herald-Telegram. October 30, 1958. p. 18. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  7. ^ "Prior Commitments Force Menomonie To Withdraw From Mississippi Valley". Chippewa Herald-Telegram. November 6, 1958. p. 12. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  8. ^ Gunderson, Jim (March 23, 1963). "Gunning for Sports (Three-School League)". The La Crosse Tribune. p. 4. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  9. ^ Bueldi, Ron (February 26, 1965). "Buckshot". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. p. 13. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  10. ^ "New league given a name". The La Crosse Tribune. November 20, 1988. p. 15. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  11. ^ Seering, Jeff (May 26, 1988). "Some thoughts on realignment". Reedsburg Times-Press. p. 30. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  12. ^ Brown, Jeff (February 14, 1996). "MVC principals agree: Aquinas in". The La Crosse Tribune. pp. C-1. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  13. ^ "WIAA approves West Salem move to MVC for football". News8000.com. October 24, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  14. ^ "WIAA approves football-only realignment plan for southwest Wisconsin schools". SWNews4u.com. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  15. ^ "Revised Football-Only Conference Plan Released". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 9, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  16. ^ "WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  17. ^ "Football - Teams - 2020 Spring Alternate Regular Season (see COVID Spring-Large and COVID Spring-Small standings)". Wisconsin Sports Network. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  18. ^ "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 14, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  19. ^ "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 10, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
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