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

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 and two came from the Central section. In 1977, Poynette left to rejoin the Dual County Conference and Waterloo became a member of the Eastern Suburban Conference. Two schools moved over from the Central Suburban Conference to take their place and keep the conference at eight member schools. Mount Horeb joined the Capitol Conference after leaving the Southern Eight Conference in 1983, replacing Lake Mills, who briefly joined the Eastern Suburban Conference. In 1987, DeForest and Waunakee left to become the newest members of the Badger Conference with Lake Mills and Poynette rejoining the Capitol Conference as their replacements.

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. Lakeside Lutheran in Lake Mills took their place in 1995 after leaving the Eastern Suburban Conference, renewing their crosstown rivalry with Lake Mills. 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. 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.

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 when it ceased operations. With the addition of the new schools came realignment into the Capitol North and Capitol South divisions:
Capitol NorthCapitol South
ColumbusBelleville
Lake MillsCambridge
Lakeside LutheranMarshall
LodiNew Glarus
Luther PrepWaterloo
PoynetteWisconsin Heights

This alignment stayed intact for sixteen years before Luther Prep exited the conference to rejoin the Midwest Classic Conference in 2023. In 2025, Waupun joined from the disbanded East Central Conference, taking Luther Prep's place in the Capitol North.

Football-only alignment

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. Eight schools were designated as football members for the Capitol Conference: Big Foot, Columbus, Horicon/Hustisford, Lake Mills, Lakeside Lutheran, Lodi, Luther Prep and Turner. The Capitol Conference also operates a small-school division consisting of Cambridge, Clinton, Dodgeland, Markesan, Marshall, Palmyra-Eagle, Pardeeville and Waterloo. This conference competes under the Eastern Suburban Conference banner, which was the name of an all-sport conference that last played in 2001. Several schools entering the Capitol Conference for football had primary affiliations with the Rock Valley and Trailways Conferences. In 2022, Horicon/Hustisford moved over to the Eastern Suburban Conference and Luther Prep left to join the Midwest Classic Conference. The six remaining schools in the Capitol Conference welcomed Edgewood from the Rock Valley Cofnerence and New Glarus/Monticello from the Southwest Wisconsin Conference to bring the roster to eight schools. Three schools left the Capitol Conference football alignment in 2024: Edgewood and Lakeside Lutheran left the Capitol Conference as football members in 2024 to join the Badger Conference, and New Glarus returned to the Southwest Wisconsin Conference after a two-year absence. The two outgoing schools were replaced by Clinton and Horicon/Hustisford, with the latter making their return from the Eastern Suburban Conference. Horicon/Hustisford will be returning to the Eastern Suburban Conference for the 2026-2027 realignment cycle, and their position will be taken by East Troy, moving over from the Rock Valley Conference.

List of conference members

Current full members

Current associate members

Current co-operative members

Future associate members

Former full members

Former football-only members

Membership timeline


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1969 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
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id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1987 text:DeForest
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1969 till:2001 text:Lodi
bar:2 color:blue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1969 till:2001 text:McFarland
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1977 text:Poynette
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1987 till:2001 text:
bar:4 color:blue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1994 text:Verona
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1977 text:Waterloo
bar:6 color:tan1 from:2001 till:2006 text:
bar:6 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1969 till:1987 text:Waunakee
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1969 till:2006 text:Wisconsin Heights
bar:8 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1977 till:2006 text:Columbus
bar:9 color:blue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1977 till:1983 text:Lake Mills
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1987 till:2006 text:
bar:10 color:blue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1983 till:2001 text:Mount Horeb
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1995 till:2006 text:Lakeside Lutheran
bar:12 color:blue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:13 color:tan1 from:2001 till:2006 text:Cambridge
bar:13 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:14 color:tan1 from:2001 till:2006 text:Marshall
bar:14 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2030 text:
bar:15 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2030 text:Belleville
bar:16 color:blue from:2006 till:2023 text:Luther Prep
bar:17 color:skyblue from:2006 till:2030 text:New Glarus
bar:18 color:blue from:2025 till:2030 text:Waupun
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1969

Football membership (since 2020)


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:2020 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:2020 till:2030 text:Big Foot
bar:2 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Columbus
bar:3 color:lavender from:2020 till:2022 text:Horicon/Hustisford
bar:3 color:lavender from:2024 till:2026 text:
bar:4 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Lake Mills
bar:5 color:lavender from:2020 till:2024 text:Lakeside Lutheran
bar:6 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Lodi
bar:7 color:lavender from:2020 till:2022 text:Luther Prep
bar:8 color:lavender from:2020 till:2030 text:Turner
bar:9 color:lavender from:2022 till:2024 text:Edgewood
bar:10 color:lavender from:2022 till:2024 text:New Glarus/Monticello
bar:11 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Clinton
bar:12 color:lavender from:2026 till:2030 text:East Troy

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2020

Membership map

Sanctioned sports

List of state champions

Fall sports

SchoolYearDivision
Verona1980Class B
Verona1981Class B
Mount Horeb1983Class B
Verona1984Class B
Mount Horeb1990Division 2
Mount Horeb1994Division 2
Mount Horeb1995Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran2007Division 2

SchoolYearDivision
Columbus2008Division 3
Sugar River Raiders2023Division 3

Winter sports

SchoolYearDivision
McFarland1983Class B
McFarland1999Division 2
Lakeside Lutheran2001Division 3
Columbus2002Division 2
Columbus2003Division 2
Marshall2018Division 3
Marshall2019Division 3
Lake Mills2021Division 2

SchoolYearDivision
Verona1993Division 2