North Eastern Conference (Wisconsin)

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
ClintonvilleClintonville, WIPublic 397[11]Truckers   2015[1]
DenmarkDenmark, WIPublic 492[12]Vikings   2015[1]
FreedomFreedom, WIPublic 510[13]Irish   2015[1]
Little ChuteLittle Chute, WIPublic 478[14]Mustangs    2015[1]
Luxemburg-CascoLuxemburg, WIPublic 659[15]Spartans    2015[1]
MarinetteMarinette, WIPublic 619[16]Marines   2015[1]
Oconto FallsOconto Falls, WIPublic 513[17]Panthers   2015[1]
WaupacaWaupaca, WIPublic 622[18]Comets   2015[1]
WrightstownWrightstown, WIPublic 412[19]Tigers   2015[1]

Current associate members

School Location Affiliation Mascot Colors Primary Conference Sport(s)
Sheboygan FallsSheboygan Falls, WIPublic Falcons   Eastern WisconsinFootball
Two RiversTwo Rivers, WIPublic Purple Raiders   Eastern WisconsinFootball

Former full members

School Location Affiliation Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference Joined Current Conference
Fox Valley LutheranAppleton, WIPrivate (Lutheran, WELS) Foxes   2015[1]2025[2]Bay

Former football-only members

School Location Affiliation EnrollmentMascot Colors Seasons Primary Conference
KingsfordKingsford, MIPublic 587[20]Flivvers   2021 Great Northern U.P.
MenomineeMenominee, MIPublic 338[20]Maroons   2020-2021 Great Northern U.P.

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

Membership map

North Eastern Conference
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
30km19miles
9
9 Wrightstown
9 Wrightstown
8
8 Waupaca
8 Waupaca
7
7 Oconto Falls
7 Oconto Falls
6
6 Marinette
6 Marinette
5
5 Luxemburg-Casco
5 Luxemburg-Casco
4
4 Little Chute
4 Little Chute
3
3 Freedom
3 Freedom
2
2 Denmark
2 Denmark
1
1 Clintonville
1 Clintonville
Location of North Eastern Conference full members:
1
Clintonville
2
Denmark
3
Freedom
4
Little Chute
5
Luxemburg-Casco
6
Marinette
7
Oconto Falls
8
Waupaca
9
Wrightstown

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
ClintonvilleX X X X X X X X X X X X X X
DenmarkX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
FreedomX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Little ChuteX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Luxemburg-CascoX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
MarinetteX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Oconto FallsX X X X X X X X X X X X X
WaupacaX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
WrightstownX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

List of state champions

Fall sports

Girls Cross Country
School Year Division
Freedom2017 Division 2
Girls Volleyball
School Year Division
Luxemburg-Casco2019 Division 2
Luxemburg-Casco2020 Division 2
Luxemburg-Casco2021 Division 2

Winter sports

Boys Wrestling
School Year Division
Luxemburg-Casco2018 Division 2
Freedom2019 Division 2
Wrightstown2020 Division 2
Luxemburg-Casco2023 Division 2
Luxemburg-Casco2024 Division 2

Spring sports

Baseball
School Year Division
Waupaca2016 Division 2
Denmark2021 Division 2
Denmark2022 Division 2
Denmark2023 Division 3
Softball
School Year Division
Freedom2022 Division 2
Freedom2023 Division 2
Boys Track & Field
School Year Division
Freedom2016 Division 2
Freedom2019 Division 2
Girls Track & Field
School Year Division
Freedom2021 Division 2
Freedom2024 Division 2

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

School Quantity Years
Wrightstown5 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Fox Valley Lutheran3 2022, 2023, 2024
Freedom3 2019, 2021, 2025
Luxemburg-Casco2 2016, 2017
Denmark1 2019
Little Chute1 2023
Clintonville0
Marinette0
Oconto Falls0
Waupaca0

Girls Basketball

School Quantity Years
Freedom6 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Wrightstown4 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Marinette2 2024, 2025
Luxemburg-Casco1 2019
Clintonville0
Denmark0
Fox Valley Lutheran0
Little Chute0
Oconto Falls0
Waupaca0

Football

School Quantity Years
Freedom4 2015, 2019, 2020, 2024
Luxemburg-Casco3 2016, 2021, 2023
Little Chute2 2018, 2022
Wrightstown1 2017
Clintonville0
Denmark0
Fox Valley Lutheran0
Kingsford (MI)0
Marinette0
Menominee (MI)0
Oconto Falls0
Sheboygan Falls0
Two Rivers0

References

  1. ^ abcdefghijkPekarek, Andrew (August 1, 2015). "NEC schools find home in new league". Green Bay Press-Gazette. pp. D1. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  2. ^ abVenci, Scott (December 14, 2023). "Phantoms excited for full move to FRCC". Green Bay Press-Gazette. pp. B5. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  3. ^"News | Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  4. ^"Revised Football-Only Conference Plan Released". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 9, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  5. ^"WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal"(PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  6. ^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.
  7. ^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.
  8. ^"Proposed Football Only Conference Alignment - 11-Player"(PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 11, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  9. ^"2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 11-Player Football"(PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 14, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  10. ^"2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 11-Player Football"(PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 10, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  11. ^"Clintonville". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  12. ^"Denmark". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  13. ^"Freedom". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  14. ^"Little Chute". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  15. ^"Luxemburg-Casco". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  16. ^"Marinette". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  17. ^"Oconto Falls". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  18. ^"Waupaca". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  19. ^"Wrightstown". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  20. ^ ab"2024-25 MHSAA Enrollment List"(PDF). Michigan High School Athletic Association. March 20, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
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