Big East Conference (Wisconsin)

The Big East Conference is a high school athletic conference comprising small high schools in east central Wisconsin. Formed in 2015, all members are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

The Big East Conference was formed in 2015 from the merger of two previously established conferences for small high schools in east central Wisconsin. Nine schools in the Central Lakeshore Conference (Cedar Grove-Belgium, Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, Howards Grove, Kohler, Oostburg, Ozaukee, Random Lake, Sheboygan Christian and Sheboygan Lutheran) joined with five smallest schools in the former Olympian Conference (Hilbert, Manitowoc Lutheran, Mishicot, Reedsville and St. Mary Catholic) to form the current fourteen-member circuit.^[1] For most sports, the Big East Conference is subdivided into North and South Divisions:

North Division	South Division
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah	Cedar Grove-Belgium
Hilbert	Kohler
Howards Grove	Oostburg
Manitowoc Lutheran	Ozaukee
Mishicot	Random Lake
Reedsville	Sheboygan Christian
St. Mary Catholic	Sheboygan Lutheran

Football-only alignment

The Big East Conference's initial football lineup featured two cooperative programs due to the small size of its member schools. Hilbert and Stockbridge joined forces for football until the 2017 season, and three programs (Kohler, Sheboygan Christian and Sheboygan Lutheran) combined to form KLC Football. The only full member to have never participated in football is Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, who has sponsored eight-player football since 2012. When St. Mary Catholic entered into a cooperative with Valley Christian in Oshkosh in 2017, they transitioned into eight-player football and left the conference the year after.

In February 2019, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, the WIAA released a sweeping football-only realignment for Wisconsin to commence with the 2020 football season and run on a two-year cycle.^[2] The Big East Conference lost two of its ten football members to realignment: KLC to the Eastern Wisconsin Conference and Mishicot to the Packerland Conference .^[3] The eight remaining schools (Cedar Grove-Belgium, Hilbert, Howards Grove, Manitowoc Lutheran, Oostburg, Ozaukee, Random Lake and Reedsville) continued on and maintained this alignment through the 2022-2023 realignment cycle.^[4] In 2024, Ozaukee and Random Lake entered into a cooperative agreement to run a joint football program, leaving the Big East Conference with seven football-playing members.^[5] That number will increase back to eight for the 2026-2027 cycle, with full members Mishicot rejoining from the Packerland Conference.^[6]

List of member schools

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Joined	Division
Cedar Grove-Belgium	Cedar Grove, WI	Public	295^[7]	Rockets	2015^[1]	South
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah	Elkhart Lake, WI	Public	155^[8]	Resorters	2015^[1]	North
Hilbert	Hilbert, WI	Public	158^[9]	Wolves	2015^[1]	North
Howards Grove	Howards Grove, WI	Public	281^[10]	Tigers	2015^[1]	North
Kohler	Kohler, WI	Public	242^[11]	Blue Bombers	2015^[1]	South
Manitowoc Lutheran	Manitowoc, WI	Private (Lutheran, WELS)	276^[12]	Lancers	2015^[1]	North
Mishicot	Mishicot, WI	Public	273^[13]	Indians	2015^[1]	North
Oostburg	Oostburg, WI	Public	328^[14]	Flying Dutchmen	2015^[1]	South
Ozaukee	Fredonia, WI	Public	199^[15]	Warriors	2015^[1]	South
Random Lake	Random Lake, WI	Public	214^[16]	Rams	2015^[1]	South
Reedsville	Reedsville, WI	Public	183^[17]	Panthers	2015^[1]	North
Sheboygan Christian	Sheboygan, WI	Private (Non-denominational Christian)	171^[18]	Eagles	2015^[1]	South
Sheboygan Lutheran	Sheboygan, WI	Private (Lutheran, LCMS)	184^[19]	Crusaders	2015^[1]	South
St. Mary Catholic	Neenah, WI	Private (Catholic)	278^[20]	Zephyrs	2015^[1]	North

Membership timeline

North Division South Division

Football members

Membership map

Big East Conference

30km
19miles

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Location of Big East Conference full members:

1

Cedar Grove-Belgium

2

Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah

3

Hilbert

4

Howards Grove

5

Kohler

6

Manitowoc Lutheran

7

Mishicot

8

Oostburg

9

Ozaukee

10

Random Lake

11

Reedsville

12

Sheboygan Christian

13

Sheboygan Lutheran

14

St. Mary Catholic

Sanctioned sports

	Baseball	Boys Basketball	Girls Basketball	Boys Cross Country	Girls Cross Country	Football	Boys Golf	Boys Soccer^[a]	Girls Soccer	Softball	Boys Track & Field	Girls Track & Field	Girls Volleyball	Boys Wrestling	Girls Wrestling
Cedar Grove-Belgium	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah	X	X	X	X	X		X		X	X	X	X	X	X^[b]	X^[b]
Hilbert	X	X	X	X	X	X				X	X	X	X
Howards Grove	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Kohler	X^[c]	X	X	X	X		X	X	X		X	X	X
Manitowoc Lutheran	X	X	X	X	X	X			X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Mishicot	X	X	X	X	X		X			X	X	X	X	X	X
Oostburg	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Ozaukee	X	X	X	X	X				X^[d]	X	X	X	X	X	X
Random Lake	X	X	X	X	X	X^[e]	X^[e]	X^[e]		X	X	X	X	X	X
Reedsville	X	X	X	X	X	X	X			X	X	X	X	X	X
Sheboygan Christian		X	X	X	X			X^[d]		X	X	X	X	X	X
Sheboygan Lutheran	X	X	X	X	X		X		X^[c]	X^[c]	X	X	X
St. Mary Catholic	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X

Notes

^ Co-sponsored with the Eastern Wisconsin Conference
^ ^a ^b Co-operative with Howards Grove
^ ^a ^b ^c Co-operative with Sheboygan Christian
^ ^a ^b Co-operative with Random Lake
^ ^a ^b ^c Co-operative with Ozaukee

List of state champions

Fall sports

Boys Cross Country
School	Year	Division
Kohler	2022	Division 3
Kohler	2023	Division 3
Cedar Grove-Belgium	2024	Division 3
Kohler	2024	Division 2

Girls Cross Country
School	Year	Division
Kohler	2024	Division 3

Football
School	Year	Division
Reedsville	2021	Division 7

Boys Soccer
School	Year	Division
Sheboygan Christian/ Sheboygan Lutheran	2021	Division 4
Oostburg	2025	Division 4

Girls Volleyball
School	Year	Division
Howards Grove	2016	Division 3
Howards Grove	2019	Division 3
Howards Grove	2020	Division 3
Howards Grove	2021	Division 3
Howards Grove	2022	Division 3
Manitowoc Lutheran	2024	Division 4
Manitowoc Lutheran	2025	Division 3

Winter sports

Girls Basketball
School	Year	Division
Howards Grove	2017	Division 4
Oostburg	2025	Division 3
Oostburg	2026	Division 3

Boys Basketball
School	Year	Division
Sheboygan Lutheran	2019	Division 5
Reedsville	2026	Division 5

Spring sports

Baseball
School	Year	Division
St. Mary Catholic	2016	Division 3

Boys Golf
School	Year	Division
Kohler	2021	Division 3
Kohler	2022	Division 3

Girls Soccer
School	Year	Division
Cedar Grove-Belgium	2024	Division 4

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

School	Quantity	Years
Howards Grove	6	2016, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025
Oostburg	6	2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2026
Sheboygan Lutheran	5	2019, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025
Kohler	3	2023, 2024, 2025
Hilbert	2	2017, 2020
Reedsville	2	2022, 2026
Manitowoc Lutheran	1	2020
St. Mary Catholic	1	2021
Cedar Grove-Belgium	0
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah	0
Mishicot	0
Ozaukee	0
Random Lake	0
Sheboygan Christian	0

Girls Basketball

School	Quantity	Years
Oostburg	9	2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
St. Mary Catholic	5	2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Howards Grove	4	2017, 2019, 2020, 2021
Mishicot	2	2019, 2020
Manitowoc Lutheran	1	2025
Cedar Grove-Belgium	0
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah	0
Hilbert	0
Kohler	0
Ozaukee	0
Random Lake	0
Reedsville	0
Sheboygan Christian	0
Sheboygan Lutheran	0

Football

School	Quantity	Years
Cedar Grove-Belgium	5	2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024
Reedsville	3	2020, 2021, 2023
Hilbert	2	2019, 2021
Hilbert/ Stockbridge	2	2015, 2016
Manitowoc Lutheran	1	2025
Howards Grove	0
KLC	0
Mishicot	0
Oostburg	0
Ozaukee	0
Random Lake	0
Random Lake/ Ozaukee	0
St. Mary Catholic	0

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Oostburg takes conference meet". Sheboygan Press. February 8, 2015. pp. B1. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
^ "Revised Football-Only Conference Plan Released". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 9, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
^ "WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
^ "Proposed Football Only Conference Alignment - 11-Player" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 11, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
^ "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 14, 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
^ "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. April 23, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
^ "Cedar Grove-Belgium". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Hilbert". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Howards Grove". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Kohler". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Manitowoc Lutheran". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Mishicot". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Oostburg". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Ozaukee". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Random Lake". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Reedsville". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Sheboygan Christian". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Sheboygan Lutheran". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
^ "Saint Mary Catholic". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

External links

Big East Conference (official site)

[21] Co-sponsored with the Eastern Wisconsin Conference

[elhgwrestling-22] Co-operative with Howards Grove

[scs-23] Co-operative with Sheboygan Christian

[rlhs-24] Co-operative with Random Lake

[rlocoop-25] Co-operative with Ozaukee

[Founding-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Oostburg takes conference meet". Sheboygan Press. February 8, 2015. pp. B1. Retrieved January 22, 2025.

[2] "Revised Football-Only Conference Plan Released". Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 9, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2025.

[3] "WFCA/WIAA Football-Only Realignment Proposal" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 6, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2025.

[4] "Proposed Football Only Conference Alignment - 11-Player" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. February 11, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2025.

[5] "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. December 14, 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2025.

[6] "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 11-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. April 23, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2025.

[7] "Cedar Grove-Belgium". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[8] "Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[9] "Hilbert". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[10] "Howards Grove". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[11] "Kohler". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[12] "Manitowoc Lutheran". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[13] "Mishicot". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[14] "Oostburg". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[15] "Ozaukee". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[16] "Random Lake". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[17] "Reedsville". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[18] "Sheboygan Christian". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[19] "Sheboygan Lutheran". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

[20] "Saint Mary Catholic". WIAA School Database. Retrieved January 20, 2026.

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Wisconsin high school athletic conferences
Organizations	WIAA (1895-present) WISAA (1968-2000) WCIAA (1957-1968)
Current	Badger Bay Big East Big Eight Big Rivers Capitol Central Wisconsin Classic 8 Cloverbelt Coulee Dairyland Dunn-St. Croix Eastern Wisconsin Fox River Classic Fox Valley Association Glacier Trails Great Northern Greater Metro Heart O'North Indian Trails Lake City Lakeland Marawood Marinette & Oconto Metro Classic Middle Border Midwest Classic Milwaukee City Mississippi Valley North Eastern North Shore Northern Lakes Northern Lights Packerland Ridge & Valley Rock Valley Scenic Bluffs Six Rivers South Central Southeast Southern Lakes Southwest Wisconsin SWAL Trailways Wisconsin Flyway Wisconsin Valley Woodland
Future	Parkland (2026-27)
Former	3-C (1928-1962) 4-C (1934-1953) 7-C (1926-1962) 10-12 (1946-1948) Badger Lutheran (1961-1964) Baraboo Valley (1928-1929) Bay-Lakes (1970-1979) Bi-County (1928-1959) Big Nine (1985-1993) Black Hawk (1930-1997) Braveland (1953-1993) Central Lakes (1951-1962) Central Lakeshore (1969-2015) Central State (1962-1984) Central Wisconsin Catholic (1956-2000) Classic (1973-1983) Dual County (1926-2001) East Central (1970-2001) East Central (2015-2025) East Central Flyway (2001-2007) Eastern Suburban (1969-2001) Eastern Valley (2007-2015) Eastern Wisconsin (1923-1970) Flambeau (1940-1970) Flambeauland (1946-1955) Flyway (1970-2001) Fox River Valley (1923-2007) Fox Valley Catholic (1929-1971) Fox Valley Christian (1971-1999) Fox Valley Tri-County (1924-1970) Gateway (1941-1952) Granite Valley (1945-1951) Granite Valley (1954-1960) Head of the Lakes (1918-1954) I-W League (1960-1964) Iowa County (1927-1960) Juneau County (1926-1958) Kettle Moraine (1928-1969) Kickapoo Valley (1907-1971) Lakeshore (1997-2008) Little Eight (1926-1937) Little Five (1929-1935) Little Nine (1928-1970) Little Seven (1926-1934) Little Ten (1925-1970) Lumberjack (1953-2008) Madison Suburban (1926-1969) Marathon County (1928-1949) Menominee Valley (1945-1947) Metro (1974-1997) Michigan-Wisconsin (1937-1973) Mid-Eastern (1952-1970) Mid-Valley (1946-1950) Midwest Prep (1940-1983) Milwaukee Catholic (1930-1974) Mississippi Valley (1933-1965) Mississippi Valley Triangular (1936-1940) Monroe-Vernon (1928-1958) Nicolet (1938-1942) Northeastern Wisconsin (1927-1970) Northern Wisconsin (1955-1956) Northwest Border (1940-1956) Olympian (1970-2015) Parkland (1963-2006) Peninsula (1933-1970) Rock River Valley (1922-1952) Scenic Central (1958-1979) Scenic Moraine (1958-1980) South Central (1926-1941) South Shore (1970-1980) Southeastern Badger (1963-1970) Southeastern Wisconsin (1928-1963) Southern Eight (1971-1987) Southern Five (1928-1946) Southern Regional (1937-1958) Southern Six (1928-1941) Southern Ten (1941-1952) State Line (1927-1997) Suburban (1925-1985) Suburban Park (1985-1993) SWANI (1946-1952) SWAPS (1957-1961) SWISS (1982-2006) Trempealeau Valley (1927-1959) Tri-County (1923-1963) Upper St. Croix Valley (1934-1994) Upper Wisconsin (1926-1937) Vacationland (1966-1970) Valley 8 (1999-2007) Valley-Ridge (1934-1935) West Central (1941-1952) West Central (1959-1977) West Grant (1930-1960) Western Wisconsin (1931-1937) Wisconsin Little Ten (1970-2017) Wisconsin River (1928-1960) Wisconsin Seminary (1963-1969) Wolf River Valley (1932-1970) Wood County (1925-1942)
Football-only	856 (1953-1956) Across the Bay (2022-present) Chequamegon Forest (1960-1968) Chippewa-Black River Valley (1929-1944) Cloverwood (2008-2019) CWC-8 (2020-2023) Eastern Suburban (2020-present) Fox Valley Classic (Spring 2021) Lower Fox (1933-1936) MONLPC (2017-2021) North Central-8 (2024-present) Northeast-8 (2024-present) Northern Border (2022-2023) Northwest Football League (1994-1995) Northwoods (2020-present) Olympian-Packerland (2007-2014) Parkland (2020-2025) Southeast-8 (2024-present) Southern Dairyland (1959-1962) Suburban Six-Man (1939-1957) Top of Wisconsin (1969-1982) Tri-County Football (1934-1944) Tri-Valley (1953-1958) Valley Football Association (2011-2023) WCFC (1997-1998) WIFA (1995-1998)
Other single-sport	Badgerland Hockey (1984-present) Bay-Valley Lacrosse (2024-present) Eastern Shores Hockey (2010-present) IHSHL (1990-1999) North Central Hockey (1973-1997) Northwest Hockey (1976-1989) Western Wisconsin Hockey (2025-present)