Capitol Conference (Wisconsin)

The Capitol Conference is a high school athletic conference in south central Wisconsin. It was founded in 1969, and its member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

Madison Suburban Split and Early Years (1969-1994)

The Capitol Conference was formed in 1969 after the breakup of the larger Madison Suburban Conference into three separate organizations. Six of its original members came from the conference's Western section (Lodi, McFarland, Poynette, Verona, Waunakee and Wisconsin Heights) and two came from the Central section (DeForest and Waterloo).[1] In 1977, Poynette left to rejoin the Dual County Conference (having previously been a member from 1926 to 1954)[2] and Waterloo became a member of the Eastern Suburban Conference.[3] Two schools moved over from the Central Suburban Conference (Columbus and Lake Mills) to take their place and keep the conference at eight member schools.[4] Mount Horeb became the ninth member of the Capitol Conference after leaving the Southern Eight Conference in 1983.[5] In 1987, that number went back down to eight as DeForest and Waunakee left to become the newest members of the Badger Conference[6] and Poynette rejoined the Capitol Conference as a replacement.[7]

Growth-Driven Membership Shuffle (1994-2006)

By 1994, the Verona Area School District was the fastest-growing district in the Madison area, and they were invited to enter the Badger Conference with an eye towards continued future growth.[8] Lakeside Lutheran in Lake Mills took their place in 1995 after leaving the Eastern Suburban Conference, giving Lake Mills a crosstown rivalry for conference play.[9] Cambridge, Marshall and Waterloo followed Lakeside Lutheran out of the Eastern Suburban in 2001, offsetting the loss of Lodi and Poynette to the South Central Conference and McFarland and Mount Horeb to the Badger Conference.[10] For Waterloo, this was their second stint in the conference after having been a member from 1969 to 1977. The Capitol Conference would remain a seven-member league for the next five years before major changes would occur.

Divisional Realignment and Complete Overhaul (2006-present)

In 2006, the Capitol Conference reached its high of twelve member schools when Lodi and Poynette rejoined from the South Central Conference, Belleville and New Glarus came over from the Six Rivers Conference and Luther Prep in Watertown was added after being displaced from the Parkland Conference after it ceased operations. With the addition of the new schools came realignment into the Capitol North and Capitol South divisions:[11]

Capitol North	Capitol South
Columbus	Belleville
Lake Mills	Cambridge
Lakeside Lutheran	Marshall
Lodi	New Glarus
Luther Prep	Waterloo
Poynette	Wisconsin Heights

This alignment stayed intact for sixteen years before Luther Prep exited the conference to rejoin the Midwest Classic Conference in 2023.[12] Two years later, the Capitol Conference will undergo a significant revamping of its membership roster. All six schools in the Capitol South division, along with Poynette from the Capitol North and Brodhead from the Rock Valley Conference, are set to form a new conference yet to be named for the 2025-26 school year. The Capitol Conference will become an eight-member loop with the addition of three schools from the Rock Valley (Clinton, Jefferson and Whitewater) and one from the dissolved East Central Conference (Waupun).[13]

List of Conference Members

Current Members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined
Belleville	Belleville, WI	Public	279	Wildcats		2006[11]
Cambridge	Cambridge, WI	Public	266	Bluejays		2001[10]
Columbus	Columbus, WI	Public	390	Cardinals		1977[4]
Lake Mills	Lake Mills, WI	Public	491	L-Cats		1977[4]
Lakeside Lutheran	Lake Mills, WI	Private (Lutheran, WELS)	506	Warriors		1995[9]
Lodi	Lodi, WI	Public	451	Blue Devils		1969,[1] 2006[11]
Marshall	Marshall, WI	Public	292	Cardinals		2001[10]
New Glarus	New Glarus, WI	Public	323	Glarner Knights		2006[11]
Poynette	Poynette, WI	Public	310	Pumas		1969,[1] 1987,[7] 2006[11]
Waterloo	Waterloo, WI	Public	259	Pirates		1969,[1] 2001[10]
Wisconsin Heights	Mazomanie, WI	Public	228	Vanguards		1969[1]

Former Members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Left	Conference Joined	Current Conference
DeForest	DeForest, WI	Public	1,093	Norskies		1969[1]	1987[6]	Badger
McFarland	McFarland, WI	Public	774	Spartans		1969[1]	2001[10]	Badger
Verona	Verona, WI	Public	1,801	Wildcats		1969[1]	1994[8]	Badger	Big Eight
Waunakee	Waunakee, WI	Public	1,309	Warriors		1969[1]	1987[6]	Badger
Mount Horeb	Mount Horeb, WI	Public	792	Vikings		1983[5]	2001[10]	Badger
Luther Prep	Watertown, WI	Public (Lutheran, WELS)	407	Phoenix		2006[11]	2023[12]	Midwest Classic

Future Members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Former Conference
Clinton	Clinton, WI	Public	359	Cougars		2025[13]	Rock Valley
Jefferson	Jefferson, WI	Public	604	Eagles		2025[13]	Rock Valley
Waupun	Waupun, WI	Public	573	Warriors		2025[13]	East Central
Whitewater	Whitewater, WI	Public	606	Whippets		2025[13]	Rock Valley

Membership Timeline

List of State Champions

Fall Sports

Boys Cross Country

School	Year	Division
Wisconsin Heights	1973	Small Schools
Verona	1974	Class B
Verona	1982	Class B
Verona	1991	Division 2
McFarland	1996	Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran	1999	Division 2 (WISAA)
Lakeside Lutheran	2023	Division 2

Girls Cross Country

School	Year	Division
Verona	1980	Class B
Verona	1981	Class B
Mount Horeb	1983	Class B
Verona	1984	Class B
Mount Horeb	1990	Division 2
Mount Horeb	1994	Division 2
Mount Horeb	1995	Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran	2007	Division 2

Football

School	Year	Division
DeForest	1982	Division 4
Columbus	1990	Division 4
Columbus	1996	Division 4
Lodi	2017	Division 4
Columbus	2022	Division 4
Lodi	2023	Division 4

Boys Soccer

School	Year	Division
Columbus	2008	Division 3
Sugar River co-op (Belleville/New Glarus)	2023	Division 3

Girls Volleyball

School	Year	Division
Waunakee	1985	Class B
Waunakee	1986	Class B
Wisconsin Heights	2008	Division 3
Waterloo	2014	Division 3
Waterloo	2015	Division 3
Lakeside Lutheran	2017	Division 2

Winter Sports

Boys Basketball

School	Year	Division
McFarland	1973	Class B
McFarland	1974	Class C
Marshall	2002	Division 3
New Glarus	2019	Division 4

Girls Basketball

School	Year	Division
McFarland	1983	Class B
McFarland	1999	Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran	2001	Division 3
Columbus	2002	Division 2
Columbus	2003	Division 2
Marshall	2018	Division 3
Marshall	2019	Division 3
Lake Mills	2021	Division 2

Gymnastics

School	Year	Division
Lake Mills	1979	Class B
Lake Mills	1980	Class B
Mount Horeb	1984	Class B
Mount Horeb	1993	Division 2

Boys Swimming & Diving

School	Year	Division
Verona	1993	Division 2

Boys Wrestling

School	Year	Division
Lodi	1998	Division 2
Lodi	2008	Division 2

Spring Sports

Baseball

School	Year	Division
Wisconsin Heights	1989	Class C
Lodi	2013	Division 2
Wisconsin Heights	2014	Division 3

Boys Golf

School	Year	Division
Mount Horeb	1988	Class B
Lodi	1990	Class B
Lodi	1996	Division 2
Lake Mills	1997	Division 3
Lodi	1998	Division 2
Lodi	2015	Division 2
Cambridge	2023	Division 3

Softball

School	Year	Division
Waunakee	1987	Class B
Poynette	1998	Division 2
Poynette	2011	Division 3
Poynette	2018	Division 3
Poynette	2019	Division 3
Poynette	2022	Division 2

Boys Track & Field

School	Year	Division
McFarland	1977	Class C
Verona	1992	Division 2
Sugar River co-op (Belleville/New Glarus)	2012	Division 2
Cambridge	2018	Division 3
Lodi	2021	Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran	2023	Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran	2024	Division 2

Girls Track & Field

School	Year	Division
Lake Mills	1974	Class B
Lake Mills	1980	Class B
Verona	1984	Class B
Verona	1985	Class B
Lake Mills	1986	Class B
Verona	1991	Division 2
Mount Horeb/Barneveld	1996	Division 2
McFarland	2001	Division 2
Columbus	2004	Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran	2005	Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran	2006	Division 2

References

1. Dommershausen, Joe (8 June 1969). "New Area Conferences Finish Organization". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 26. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
2. Hillstrom, Eric (1 September 1977). "Most interesting prep season ahead". The Capital Times. p. 18. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
3. "Husty Aims for Winning Repeat". Beaver Dam Daily Citizen. 1 September 1977. p. 13. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
4. Dommershausen, Joe (31 August 1977). "Waunakee is coaches' choice". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 26. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
5. "Mount Horeb prepares for a new group of foes". Wisconsin State Journal. 28 August 1983. pp. 49 (Football '83 insert). Retrieved 23 January 2025.
6. McMillin Jr., Miles (27 August 1987). "Conference changes greet start of prep football". The Capital Times. p. 23. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
7. Hibner, Perry (15 October 1987). "Poynette adjusts to Capitol Conference". Portage Daily Register. p. 6. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
8. Semrau, Dennis (19 September 1992). "Middleton, Verona to move". The Capital Times. p. 15. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
9. Semrau, Dennis (24 August 1994). "Capitol to add Lakeside Lutheran". The Capital Times. p. 15. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
10. Hernandez, Rob (27 January 2000). "Realignment set for 2001". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 22. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
11. Semrau, Dennis (13 April 2006). "Conference realignment issue won't disappear". The Capital Times. p. 47. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
12. Masson, Jon (15 January 2022). "Realignment plan takes step forward". Wisconsin State Journal. pp. B6. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
13. Lindblad, Peter (12 January 2024). "WIAA: Badger Conference lacrosse conference realignment addressed". DeForest Times-Tribune. p. 1. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

External Links

• Capitol North Conference (official website)
• Capitol South Conference (official website)