The Marawood Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in north central Wisconsin. It was founded in 1949 and all member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1949-1972
The Marawood Conference was founded in 1949 by seven small high schools in north central Wisconsin: Athens, Auburndale, Edgar, Marathon, Pittsville, Rudolph, and Stratford. These schools were all former members of the Marathon County League (1928-1949) and Wood County League (1925-1942), and the name of the conference reflects the location of its original member schools. Membership remained consistent through the first thirteen years of the conference's history, with the first changes coming in 1962. Rudolph High School closed and was consolidated into Wisconsin Rapids, and two schools (Granton and Spencer) joined after the dissolution of the 3-C Conference. The conference sponsored their first football league for the 1964 season, and five schools (Auburndale, Edgar, Pittsville, Spencer and Stratford) were part of the inaugural roster. Abbotsford moved over from the Cloverbelt Conference in 1966, increasing the roster to nine schools. That number jumped to eleven in 1970 when two schools who were displaced by their conferences disbanding entered: Nekoosa from the Vacationland Conference and Rib Lake from the Flambeau League.
1972-2008 Granton left to join the Central State Conference in 1972, bringing membership back down to ten schools. They would rejoin in 1976, replacing the departing Auburndale and Nekoosa, who both moved on to the Lumberjack Conference. Two years later, Prentice would join from the Lakeland Conference, and the conference's stable would stay intact for just over two decades until three new schools were added in 2000: Assumption in Wisconsin Rapids, Columbus Catholic in Marshfield, and Newman Catholic in Wausau. These schools were recent additions to the WIAA after the merger with WISAA, and all were previously members of the Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference. Auburndale would also reenter the Marawood Conference that year, and a fifteenth member school would join in 2005 (Northland Lutheran in Kronenwetter). The Marawood Conference would split into North and South Divisions to accommodate the recent expansion: North DivisionSouth DivisionAbbotsfordAssumptionAthensAuburndaleEdgarColumbus CatholicMarathonGrantonNewman CatholicNorthland LutheranPrenticePittsvilleRib LakeSpencerStratford
2008-present In 2008, Park Falls and Phillips joined the Marawood Conference after the Lumberjack Conference ceased operations. They joined the North Division, with Edgar, Marathon and Newman Catholic moving to the South Division. These three schools replaced Columbus Catholic, Granton and Spencer, all of whom joined the Cloverbelt Conference. In 2009, Park Falls was merged with Glidden of the Indianhead Conference to form Chequamegon, who inherited Park Falls' Marawood Conference membership. Divisional alignment remained intact for the next five years before Edgar was moved back to the North Division. This lasted for three years before moving back to the South Division to replace two schools that left to join the Central Wisconsin Conference: Northland Lutheran and Pittsville. Currently, the Marawood Conference has twelve members in the following alignment: North DivisionSouth DivisionAbbotsfordAssumptionAthensAuburndaleChequamegonEdgarPhillipsMarathonPrenticeNewman CatholicRib LakeStratford
Football (2008-present) In 2008, the Marawood Conference lost five football-playing members: Spencer/Columbus to the Cloverbelt Conference and four schools (Abbotsford, Assumption, Athens and Newman Catholic) to the new Cloverwood Conference, a partnership between the four Marawood and six schools affiliated with the Cloverbelt. This arrangement lasted through the 2019 season, around the same time a comprehensive realignment plan was released by the WIAA and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association to begin with the 2020 season and run on a two-year realignment cycle. Five full Marawood members (Abbotsford, Athens, Auburndale, Edgar and Marathon) were joined by three Cloverbelt schools (Colby, Owen-Withee and Thorp) to form the 2020-2021 roster. Before the 2021 season could begin, three schools (Athens, Owen-Withee and Thorp) decided to transition to eight-player football and left the conference, with their games counting as losses by forfeit in the standings. For the 2022-2023 competition cycle, Pittsville joined the remaining five schools from the 2021 season and the Marawood formed a scheduling alliance with the Central Wisconsin Conference's small-school division. In 2024, the Marawood Conference lost two members (Colby and Marathon) to the Central Wisconsin Conference's large-school division, replacing them with three schools from the CWC's small-school division (Iola-Scandinavia, Pacelli and Rosholt) and full members Assumption. This alignment is set to remain in place until the 2026-2027 realignment cycle, when Assumption and Rosholt switch to eight-player football, and the Loyal/Greenwood football cooperative set to join as their replacements.
List of member schools
Current full members SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoinedDivisionAbbotsfordAbbotsford, WIPublic214Falcons 1966NorthAssumptionWisconsin Rapids, WIPrivate (Catholic)135Royals 2000SouthAthensAthens, WIPublic134Bluejays 1949NorthAuburndaleAuburndale, WIPublic237Eagles 1949, 2000SouthChequamegonPark Falls, WIPublic182Screaming Eagles 2009NorthEdgarEdgar, WIPublic189Wildcats 1949SouthMarathonMarathon City, WIPublic279Red Raiders 1949SouthNewman CatholicWausau, WIPrivate (Catholic)93Cardinals 2000SouthPhillipsPhillips, WIPublic189Loggers 2008NorthPrenticePrentice, WIPublic109Buccaneers 1978NorthRib LakeRib Lake, WIPublic154Redmen 1970NorthStratfordStratford, WIPublic277Tigers 1949South
Current associate members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsPrimary ConferenceSport(s)Iola-ScandinaviaIola, WIPublicThunderbirds Central WisconsinFootballLoyal/GreenwoodLoyal, WIPublicWolves CloverbeltFootballPacelliStevens Point, WIPrivate (Catholic)Cardinals Central WisconsinFootball
Former members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceColumbus CatholicMarshfield, WIPrivate (Catholic)Dons 20002008CloverbeltGrantonGranton, WIPublicBulldogs 1962, 19761972, 2008Central State, CloverbeltCloverbeltNekoosaNekoosa, WIPublicPapermakers 19701976LumberjackSouth CentralNorthland LutheranKronenwetter, WIPrivate (Lutheran, WELS)Wildcats 20052017Central WisconsinPark FallsPark Falls, WIPublicCardinals 20082009Closed (merged into Chequamegon)PittsvillePittsville, WIPublicPanthers 19492017Central WisconsinRudolphRudolph, WIPublicReindeer 19491962Closed (consolidated into Wisconsin Rapids)SpencerSpencer, WIPublicRockets 19622008Cloverbelt
Former football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceButternutButternut, WIPublicMidgets 2008IndianheadColbyColby, WIPublicHornets 2020-2023CloverbeltMcDonell Central CatholicChippewa Falls, WIPrivate (Catholic)Macks 2008-2010CloverbeltOwen-WitheeOwen, WIPublicBlackhawks 2020CloverbeltRib Lake/PrenticeRib Lake, WIPublicHawks 1988, 1991-2019MarawoodRosholtRosholt, WIPublicHornets 2024-2025Central WisconsinSpencer/Columbus CatholicSpencer, WIPublic/Private (Catholic)Rockets 2002-2007MarawoodThorpThorp, WIPublicCardinals 2020CloverbeltTomahawkTomahawk, WIPublicHatchets 2011-2019Great Northern
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
Membership map
Sanctioned sports +Abbotsford●●●●●●●●●●●Assumption●●●●●●●●●●●●Athens●●●●●●●●●●●Auburndale●●●●●●●●●●●●Chequamegon●●●●●●●●●●●Edgar●●●●●●●●●●●●Marathon●●●●●●●●●●●●Newman Catholic●●●●●●●Phillips●●●●●●●●●●●●Prentice●●●●●●●●●●Rib Lake●●●●●●●Stratford●●●●●●●●●●●
Notes
List of state champions
Fall sports +Boys Cross CountrySchoolYearDivisionRib Lake1999Division 3 +Girls Cross CountrySchoolYearDivisionEdgar1983Class CPrentice1985Class CPrentice1986Class CPrentice1987Class CEdgar1988Class CEdgar2008Division 3Edgar2009Division 3 +FootballSchoolYearDivisionEdgar1979Division 4Stratford1986Division 5Edgar1992Division 5Edgar1999Division 5Edgar2001Division 5Stratford2003Division 6Stratford2004Division 6Stratford2005Division 6Stratford2006Division 6Stratford2007Division 6Stratford2008Division 6Edgar2009Division 6Edgar2010Division 6Edgar2016Division 7Edgar2023Division 7 +Girls VolleyballSchoolYearDivisionAbbotsford1981Class CAbbotsford1982Class CAbbotsford1983Class CAbbotsford1997Division 4Abbotsford1998Division 4Abbotsford1999Division 4Abbotsford2001Division 4Newman Catholic2013Division 4Newman Catholic2014Division 4Newman Catholic2015Division 4Newman Catholic2016Division 4
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivisionMarathon1975Class CMarathon1976Class CMarathon1977Class CEdgar1997Division 4Marathon2011Division 4Newman Catholic2023Division 5 +Girls BasketballSchoolYearDivisionPrentice1981Class CPrentice1989Class CPrentice1992Division 4Marathon1998Division 3Newman Catholic2002Division 3Newman Catholic2010Division 4Newman Catholic2011Division 5Assumption2015Division 5Assumption2016Division 5Assumption2021Division 5 +Boys WrestlingSchoolYearDivisionAthens1984Class CAthens1987Class CAthens1991Division 3Athens1993Division 3Athens1994Division 3Athens1995Division 3Stratford2017Division 3Stratford2018Division 3
Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionAuburndale1960Single DivisionAthens1982Class CMarathon1992Division 3Spencer1994Division 4Abbotsford2006Division 4Marathon2008Division 3Marathon2010Division 3Athens2017Division 4Athens2018Division 4Stratford2019Division 3 +Girls SoccerSchoolYearDivisionAssumption2014Division 4 +SoftballSchoolYearDivisionAssumption2001Division 3Assumption2005Division 4Assumption2022Division 5 +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionMarathon1990Class CAthens2005Division 3Newman Catholic2006Division 3Newman Catholic2007Division 3Stratford2008Division 3Edgar2012Division 3Marathon2015Division 3Marathon2016Division 3Marathon2026Division 3 +Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionMarathon1981Class CMarathon1982Class CMarathon1983Class CMarathon1985Class CMarathon1986Class CNewman Catholic2009Division 3Edgar2010Division 3Edgar2011Division 3Edgar2012Division 3Edgar2013Division 3
Summer sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionAuburndale1970Single Division
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball Source: SchoolQuantityYearsMarathon311951, 1952, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026Stratford161952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2019, 2020, 2025Edgar131958, 1959, 1960, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1988, 2016, 2017, 2021Auburndale111957, 1962, 1963, 1971, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018Pittsville101961, 1965, 1966, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007Prentice101989, 1990, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2026Abbotsford81969, 1970, 1978, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2014Rib Lake71987, 2001, 2009, 2018, 2020, 2024, 2025Assumption42007, 2008, 2009, 2017Athens41950, 2021, 2022, 2023Spencer31963, 1964, 2007Phillips22015, 2019Columbus Catholic12008Nekoosa11973Rudolph11950Chequamegon0Granton0Newman Catholic0Northland Lutheran0Park Falls0
Girls Basketball Source: