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 joined with five smallest schools in the former Olympian Conference to form the current fourteen-member circuit. For most sports, the Big East Conference is subdivided into North and South Divisions:
North DivisionSouth Division
Elkhart Lake-GlenbeulahCedar Grove-Belgium
HilbertKohler
Howards GroveOostburg
Manitowoc LutheranOzaukee
MishicotRandom Lake
ReedsvilleSheboygan Christian
St. Mary CatholicSheboygan 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 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. 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. The eight remaining schools continued on and maintained this alignment through the 2022-2023 realignment cycle. 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. That number will increase back to eight for the 2026-2027 cycle, with full members Mishicot rejoining from the Packerland Conference.

List of member schools

SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoinedDivision
Cedar Grove-BelgiumCedar Grove, WIPublic295Rockets 2015South
Elkhart Lake-GlenbeulahElkhart Lake, WIPublic155Resorters 2015North
HilbertHilbert, WIPublic158Wolves 2015North
Howards GroveHowards Grove, WIPublic281Tigers 2015North
KohlerKohler, WIPublic242Blue Bombers 2015South
Manitowoc LutheranManitowoc, WIPrivate 276Lancers 2015North
MishicotMishicot, WIPublic273Indians 2015North
OostburgOostburg, WIPublic328Flying Dutchmen 2015South
OzaukeeFredonia, WIPublic199Warriors 2015South
Random LakeRandom Lake, WIPublic214Rams 2015South
ReedsvilleReedsville, WIPublic183Panthers 2015North
Sheboygan ChristianSheboygan, WIPrivate 171Eagles 2015South
Sheboygan LutheranSheboygan, WIPrivate 184Crusaders 2015South
St. Mary CatholicNeenah, WIPrivate 278Zephyrs 2015North

Membership timeline


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:2015 till:2030
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id:line value:black
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:blue from:2015 till:2030 text:Cedar Grove-Belgium
bar:2 color:skyblue from:2015 till:2030 text:Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah
bar:3 color:skyblue from:2015 till:2030 text:Hilbert
bar:4 color:skyblue from:2015 till:2030 text:Howards Grove
bar:5 color:blue from:2015 till:2030 text:Kohler
bar:6 color:skyblue from:2015 till:2030 text:Manitowoc Lutheran
bar:7 color:skyblue from:2015 till:2030 text:Mishicot
bar:8 color:blue from:2015 till:2030 text:Oostburg
bar:9 color:blue from:2015 till:2030 text:Ozaukee
bar:10 color:blue from:2015 till:2030 text:Random Lake
bar:11 color:skyblue from:2015 till:2030 text:Reedsville
bar:12 color:blue from:2015 till:2030 text:Sheboygan Christian
bar:13 color:blue from:2015 till:2030 text:Sheboygan Lutheran
bar:14 color:skyblue from:2015 till:2030 text:St. Mary Catholic

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:2015

Football members


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:2015 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:lavender from:2015 till:2030 text:Cedar Grove-Belgium
bar:2 color:lavender from:2015 till:2018 text:Hilbert/Stockbridge
bar:3 color:lavender from:2015 till:2030 text:Howards Grove
bar:4 color:lavender from:2015 till:2020 text:KLC
bar:5 color:lavender from:2015 till:2030 text:Manitowoc Lutheran
bar:6 color:lavender from:2015 till:2020 text:Mishicot
bar:6 color:lavender from:2026 till:2030 text:
bar:7 color:lavender from:2015 till:2030 text:Oostburg
bar:8 color:lavender from:2015 till:2024 text:Ozaukee
bar:9 color:lavender from:2015 till:2024 text:Random Lake
bar:10 color:lavender from:2015 till:2030 text:Reedsville
bar:11 color:lavender from:2015 till:2018 text:St. Mary Catholic
bar:12 color:lavender from:2018 till:2030 text:Hilbert
bar:13 color:lavender from:2018 till:2019 text:St. Mary Catholic/Valley Christian
bar:14 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Random Lake/Ozaukee
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:2015

List of state champions

Fall sports

SchoolYearDivision
Kohler2024Division 3

SchoolYearDivision
Reedsville2021Division 7

SchoolYearDivision
Sheboygan Christian/
Sheboygan Lutheran		2021Division 4
Oostburg2025Division 4

SchoolYearDivision
Howards Grove2016Division 3
Howards Grove2019Division 3
Howards Grove2020Division 3
Howards Grove2021Division 3
Howards Grove2022Division 3
Manitowoc Lutheran2024Division 4
Manitowoc Lutheran2025Division 3

Spring sports

SchoolYearDivision
Kohler2021Division 3
Kohler2022Division 3

SchoolYearDivision
Cedar Grove-Belgium2024Division 4