The North Eastern Conference is a high school athletic conference based in northeastern Wisconsin. Founded in 2015, the conference and its member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The North Eastern Conference was founded in 2015 by ten medium-sized high schools in northeastern Wisconsin.[1] Half of the conference's membership roster came from the disbanded Eastern Valley Conference (Clintonville, Fox Valley Lutheran, Freedom, Little Chute and Waupaca), four members were formerly in the Bay Conference (Denmark, Luxemburg-Casco, Marinette and Oconto Falls) and Wrightstown joined after the Olympian Conference ceased operations. There were no changes to conference membership for its first ten seasons, until it was announced that Fox Valley Lutheran will be joining with larger schools in the Bay Conference for the 2025-26 school year.[2]
Football-only alignment
Football has been sponsored by the North Eastern Conference for its entire history, with nine of the original ten members participating. Waupaca belonged to the Bay Conference as an associate member for football when the North Eastern Conference was formed and has not competed in its football alignment to date.[3] In February 2019, the WIAA and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association unveiled a comprehensive realignment plan for Wisconsin high school football, subject to realignment every two years.[4] The North Eastern Conference's football alignment under this plan kept six member schools (Denmark, Freedom, Little Chute, Luxemburg-Casco, Marinette and Wrightstown) with Clintonville and Oconto Falls becoming members of the MONLPC Football Conference and Fox Valley Lutheran joining the Bay Conference. Menominee High School, located just across the Menominee River from Marinette in the upper peninsula of Michigan, joined as its seventh member.[5] Kingsford High School in Michigan joined as an eighth member for the 2021 season,[6] before the realignment of the 2022-2023 competition cycle placed them back into Michigan-based conferences.[7] Marinette was moved to the Packerland Conference, and was replaced by full members Fox Valley Lutheran, who were previously football-only members in the Bay Conference. Since the North Eastern Conference was now down to six members for football, they entered into a double-crossover scheduling partnership with the Bay Conference, who also stood at six participants.[8] In 2024, Fox Valley Lutheran made their return to the Bay Conference as a football member (before joining as full members in 2025), coupled with Sheboygan Falls and Two Rivers moving over from the Eastern Wisconsin Conference. With both conferences now standing at seven members, the scheduling alliance with the Bay Conference continued as a mandatory single-crossover game for each school.[9] This alignment is set to remain in place through at least the 2026-2027 competition cycle.[10]
List of conference members
Current full members
| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clintonville | Clintonville, WI | Public | 412 | Truckers | 2015[1] | |
| Denmark | Denmark, WI | Public | 488 | Vikings | 2015[1] | |
| Freedom | Freedom, WI | Public | 504 | Irish | 2015[1] | |
| Little Chute | Little Chute, WI | Public | 514 | Mustangs | 2015[1] | |
| Luxemburg-Casco | Luxemburg, WI | Public | 610 | Spartans | 2015[1] | |
| Marinette | Marinette, WI | Public | 623 | Marines | 2015[1] | |
| Oconto Falls | Oconto Falls, WI | Public | 521 | Panthers | 2015[1] | |
| Waupaca | Waupaca, WI | Public | 589 | Comets | 2015[1] | |
| Wrightstown | Wrightstown, WI | Public | 402 | Tigers | 2015[1] |
Current associate members
| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Primary Conference | Sport(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheboygan Falls | Sheboygan Falls, WI | Public | 513 | Falcons | Eastern Wisconsin | Football | |
| Two Rivers | Two Rivers, WI | Public | 480 | Purple Raiders | Eastern Wisconsin | Football |
Former full members
| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Joined | Left | Conference Joined | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fox Valley Lutheran | Appleton, WI | Private (Lutheran, WELS) | 742 | Foxes | 2015[1] | 2025[2] | Bay | ||
Former football-only members
| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Seasons | Primary Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingsford | Kingsford, MI | Public | 587[11] | Flivvers | 2021 | Great Northern U.P. | |
| Menominee | Menominee, MI | Public | 338[11] | Maroons | 2020-2021 | Great Northern U.P. |
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
Membership map
Sanctioned sports
Baseball
|
Boys Basketball
|
Girls Basketball
|
Boys Cross Country
|
Girls Cross Country
|
Football
|
Boys Golf
|
Girls Golf
|
Boys Soccer
|
Girls Soccer
|
Softball
|
Boys Track & Field
|
Girls Track & Field
|
Girls Volleyball
|
Boys Wrestling
|
Girls Wrestling
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clintonville | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Denmark | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Freedom | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Little Chute | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Luxemburg-Casco | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Marinette | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Oconto Falls | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||
| Waupaca | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Wrightstown | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
List of state champions
Fall sports
| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Freedom | 2017 | Division 2 |
| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Luxemburg-Casco | 2019 | Division 2 |
| Luxemburg-Casco | 2020 | Division 2 |
| Luxemburg-Casco | 2021 | Division 2 |
Winter sports
| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Luxemburg-Casco | 2018 | Division 2 |
| Freedom | 2019 | Division 2 |
| Wrightstown | 2020 | Division 2 |
| Luxemburg-Casco | 2023 | Division 2 |
| Luxemburg-Casco | 2024 | Division 2 |
Spring sports
| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Waupaca | 2016 | Division 2 |
| Denmark | 2021 | Division 2 |
| Denmark | 2022 | Division 2 |
| Denmark | 2023 | Division 3 |
| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Freedom | 2022 | Division 2 |
| Freedom | 2023 | Division 2 |
| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Freedom | 2016 | Division 2 |
| Freedom | 2019 | Division 2 |
| School | Year | Division |
|---|---|---|
| Freedom | 2021 | Division 2 |
| Freedom | 2024 | Division 2 |
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball
| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Wrightstown | 5 | 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| Fox Valley Lutheran | 3 | 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Freedom | 3 | 2019, 2021, 2025 |
| Luxemburg-Casco | 2 | 2016, 2017 |
| Denmark | 1 | 2019 |
| Little Chute | 1 | 2023 |
| Clintonville | 0 | |
| Marinette | 0 | |
| Oconto Falls | 0 | |
| Waupaca | 0 |
Girls Basketball
| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Freedom | 6 | 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 |
| Wrightstown | 4 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Marinette | 2 | 2024, 2025 |
| Luxemburg-Casco | 1 | 2019 |
| Clintonville | 0 | |
| Denmark | 0 | |
| Fox Valley Lutheran | 0 | |
| Little Chute | 0 | |
| Oconto Falls | 0 | |
| Waupaca | 0 |
Football
| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Freedom | 4 | 2015, 2019, 2020, 2024 |
| Luxemburg-Casco | 3 | 2016, 2021, 2023 |
| Little Chute | 2 | 2018, 2022 |
| Wrightstown | 1 | 2017 |
| Clintonville | 0 | |
| Denmark | 0 | |
| Fox Valley Lutheran | 0 | |
| Kingsford (MI) | 0 | |
| Marinette | 0 | |
| Menominee (MI) | 0 | |
| Oconto Falls | 0 | |
| Sheboygan Falls | 0 | |
| Two Rivers | 0 |
External links
- North Eastern Conference (official website)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pekarek, Andrew (August 1, 2015). "NEC schools find home in new league". Green Bay Press-Gazette. pp. D1. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ a b Venci, Scott (December 14, 2023). "Phantoms excited for full move to FRCC". Green Bay Press-Gazette. pp. B5. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ "News | Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ "Revised Football-Only Conference Plan Released". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 9, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ "WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ Juno, Jason (August 27, 2021). "UP evenly split between 11-player, 8-player football entering 2021 season". Iron Mountain Daily News. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ Brownlee, Steve (December 30, 2022). "Time to realign: Marquette looks to join cross-peninsula conference as GNC breaks up in football". Iron Mountain Daily News. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ "Proposed Football Only Conference Alignment - 11-Player" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 11, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 14, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 10, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ a b "2024-25 MHSAA Enrollment List" (PDF). Michigan High School Athletic Association. March 20, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
