Great Northern Conference

This article is about the sports conference in Wisconsin. For other topics, see North Conference (disambiguation).

The Great Northern Conference is a high school athletic conference based in north central Wisconsin. Founded in 2008, the conference and its member schools belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

The Great Northern Conference was formed in 2008 by seven medium-sized high schools in north central Wisconsin. Four of its original members (Lakeland Union, Medford, Northland Pines and Tomahawk) were previously members of the Lumberjack Conference, which had disbanded the year prior.[1] Two schools joined from the Wisconsin Valley Conference (Antigo and Merrill)[2] and Mosinee moved over from the Cloverbelt Conference.[1] For Antigo and Merrill, this move grouped them with schools more in line with their enrollment size instead of being two of the smallest schools in their former conference.[2] Two years after the Great Northern Conference was formed, Merrill swapped affiliations with Wisconsin Valley Conference member Rhinelander.[3][4] They rejoined in 2025 from the Wisconsin Valley Conference, bringing the Great Northern Conference's membership group to eight schools.[5]

List of member schools

Current members

School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Joined
Antigo Antigo, WI Public 687 Red Robins     2008[2]
Lakeland Union Minocqua, WI Public 717 Thunderbirds     2008[1]
Medford Medford, WI Public 738 Raiders     2008[1]
Merrill Merrill, WI Public 801 Bluejays     2008,[2] 2025[5]
Mosinee Mosinee, WI Public 621 Indians     2008[1]
Northland Pines Eagle River, WI Public 451 Eagles     2008[1]
Rhinelander Rhinelander, WI Public 747 Hodags     2010[3][4]
Tomahawk Tomahawk, WI Public 371 Hatchets     2008[1]

Current associate members

School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Sports Primary Conference
Ashland Ashland, WI Public 635 Oredockers     Gymnastics, Boys Tennis Heart O'North
Colby Colby, WI Public 309 Hornets     Girls Swimming & Diving Cloverbelt
Columbus Catholic Marshfield, WI Private (Catholic) 146 Dons     Girls Tennis Marawood
Ladysmith Ladysmith, WI Public 246 Lumberjacks     Girls Swimming & Diving Heart O'North
Marshfield Marshfield, WI Public 1,250 Tigers     Gymnastics Wisconsin Valley
Newman Catholic Wausau, WI Private (Catholic) 128 Cardinals     Girls Tennis Marawood
Pacelli Stevens Point, WI Private (Catholic) 169 Cardinals     Boys Tennis, Girls Tennis Central Wisconsin
Phillips Phillips, WI Public 217 Loggers     Girls Tennis Marawood
Shawano Shawano, WI Public 797 Hawks     Boys Swimming & Diving Bay
Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI Public 2,105 Panthers     Gymnastics Wisconsin Valley
Waupaca Waupaca, WI Public 589 Comets     Boys Ice Hockey North Eastern
Wausau East Wausau, WI Public 948 Lumberjacks     Football Wisconsin Valley
Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin Rapids, WI Public 1,467 Red Raiders     Gymnastics Wisconsin Valley

Associate cooperative members

  • Colby coops with Abbotsford, and Ladysmith, Bruce and Flambeau co-op for Girls Swimming.
  • Mosinee, Wausau West, DC Everest, and Wausau East form the Central Wisconsin Storm in Girls Hockey.
  • Rhinelander, Antigo Northland Pines co-op for Girls Hockey.
  • Beginning in 2015 Wittenberg-Birnamwood will compete in the Bay Conference for Girls Swimming.

Former associate members

School Location Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Colors Seasons Sports Primary Conference
Ashland Ashland, WI Public 635 Oredockers     2011-2023 Football Lake Superior, Heart O'North
Merrill Merrill, WI Public 801 Bluejays     2011-2024 Football Wisconsin Valley
Hayward Hayward, WI Public 604 Hurricanes     2020-2023 Football Heart O'North

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

Membership map

Great Northern Conference
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
30km
19miles
8
8 Tomahawk
8 Tomahawk
7
7 Rhinelander
7 Rhinelander
6
6 Northland Pines
6 Northland Pines
5
5 Mosinee
5 Mosinee
4
4 Merrill
4 Merrill
3
3 Medford
3 Medford
2
2 Lakeland Union
2 Lakeland Union
1
1 Antigo
1 Antigo
Location of Great Northern Conference full members:
1
Antigo
2
Lakeland Union
3
Medford
4
Merrill
5
Mosinee
6
Northland Pines
7
Rhinelander
8
Tomahawk

List of state champions

Fall sports

Boys Cross Country
School Year Division
Tomahawk 2008 Division 2
Lakeland Union 2016 Division 2
Girls Cross Country
School Year Division
Medford 2018 Division 2
Girls Swimming & Diving
School Year Division
Rhinelander 2020 Division 2
Rhinelander 2023 Division 2

Winter sports

Boys Hockey
School Year Division
Tomahawk 2025 Division 2
Girls Hockey
School Year
Central Wisconsin Storm 2022
Central Wisconsin Storm 2024
Boys Swimming & Diving
School Year Division
Rhinelander 2023 Division 2

Spring sports

Baseball
School Year Division
Antigo 2019 Division 2
Boys Golf
School Year Division
Lakeland Union 2024 Division 2
Softball
School Year Division
Mosinee 2014 Division 2

List of conference champions

Source:[6]

Boys Basketball

School Quantity Years
Rhinelander 7 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2024, 2025
Antigo 4 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Medford 4 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023
Mosinee 4 2016, 2019, 2022, 2023
Lakeland Union 0
Merrill 0
Northland Pines 0
Tomahawk 0

Girls Basketball

School Quantity Years
Lakeland Union 7 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024, 2025
Mosinee 4 2014, 2016, 2021, 2022
Medford 3 2010, 2012, 2013
Rhinelander 2 2019, 2020
Antigo 1 2009
Merrill 1 2009
Northland Pines 1 2013
Tomahawk 0

Football

School Quantity Years
Medford 7 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2024
Antigo 5 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017
Mosinee 5 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2023
Merrill 3 2009, 2014, 2016
Ashland 1 2018
Lakeland Union 1 2008
Hayward 0
Rhinelander 0
Tomahawk 0
Wausau East 0

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lueck, Collin (June 11, 2008). "Merrill High School ready for move to brand new conference". Merrill Foto News. p. 31. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Miller, Jake (December 12, 2006). "Changes will strip Valley of tradition". Marshfield News-Herald. p. 11. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Hernandez, Rob (June 26, 2009). "Five-division basketball plan among two going to fall area meetings". Baraboo News Republic. p. 10. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Merrill moving back to WVC". Marshfield News-Herald. June 27, 2009. p. 9. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Board acts on conference plans; Merrill's move to GNC becomes official". Medford Star News. March 6, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  6. ^ "All-Time GNC Champions" (PDF). Great Northern Conference. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.