Heart O'North Conference
The Heart O'North Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership base in northwestern Wisconsin. Founded in 1928, the conference and its member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1928-1989
The Heart O'North Conference was formed in 1928 by ten small- to medium-sized high schools in northwestern Wisconsin: Barron, Bloomer, Cameron, Chetek, Clayton, Cumberland, Ladysmith, Rice Lake, Shell Lake and Spooner. One year later, the league added New Auburn and Turtle Lake to its roster, bringing membership up to twelve schools. Football was also added as a sponsored sport, with six schools comprising the initial roster. In 1934, membership in the Heart O'North was cut in half after the exit of the six non-football members. Five of these schools joined with Clear Lake and Weyerhaeuser to form the Lakeland Conference. The six remaining schools continued for twelve years before Hayward was admitted as the Heart O’North's seventh member in 1946. Chetek's return to the conference from the Lakeland Conference in 1957 increased the membership ledger to eight schools, a level it would remain at for seventeen years. In 1974, Northwestern High School in Maple joined the Heart O'North Conference after their longtime membership in the Michigan-Wisconsin Conference ended the year prior when the organization ceased operations.1989-present
After Northwestern joined the Heart O'North in 1974, the conference continued with a nine-member roster for fifteen years, until Bloomer and Rice Lake left in 1989. Bloomer joined the Middle Border Conference, and Rice Lake became members of the larger Big Rivers Conference as an all-sport member. After five years in the Middle Border, Bloomer rejoined the Heart O'North Conference in 1994. That same year, the Heart O'North briefly ended football sponsorship to join the Northwest Football League along with members of the Middle Border and Dunn-St. Croix Conferences. This arrangement would last for two seasons, after which the conference resumed sponsorship of interscholastic football. Membership remained stable until 2010, when Chetek High School merged with Weyerhaeuser High School of the Lakeland Conference to form the new Chetek-Weyerhaeuser High School. The new school inherited Chetek's place in the Heart O'North Conference. In 2019, Cameron rejoined the Heart O'North after leaving the conference eighty-five years ago to help form the Lakeland Conference, which they were still members of at the time of their exit. Two years later, the Heart O'North Conference accepted two new members and bid farewell to a longtime member. Bloomer exited the conference for a second time in 2021, this time to join the Cloverbelt Conference. Ashland and St. Croix Falls became Heart O'North members that same year; St. Croix Falls joined from Lakeland Conference and Ashland were previously members of the Minnesota-based Lake Superior Conference. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser left the Heart O'North in 2025 to join the Dunn-St. Croix Conference and were replaced by outgoing Lakeland Conference members Unity.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. For the first cycle, Hayward and Ladysmith left the Heart O'North football roster to join the Great Northern Conference and Lakeland Conference, respectively, as associate football-only members. This alignment would remain in place through the 2022-2023 competition cycle. In 2024, Hayward made their return to the Heart O'North's football group, joined by Ashland after their exit from the Great Northern Conference. They replaced outgoing members Cameron and Chetek-Weyerhaeuser after their exit to associate membership in the Lakeland Conference for football. There are no changes planned for the conference's football roster during the 2026-2027 cycle.Membership timeline
Full members
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1928 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:120 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:tan1 from:1928 till:2030 text:Barron
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1989 text:Bloomer
bar:2 color:tan1 from:1994 till:2021 text:
bar:3 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Cameron
bar:3 color:tan1 from:2019 till:2030 text:
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Chetek
bar:4 color:tan1 from:1957 till:2010 text:
bar:5 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Clayton
bar:6 color:tan1 from:1928 till:2030 text:Cumberland
bar:7 color:tan1 from:1928 till:2030 text:Ladysmith
bar:8 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1989 text:Rice Lake
bar:9 color:tan1 from:1928 till:1934 text:Shell Lake
bar:10 color:tan1 from:1928 till:2030 text:Spooner
bar:11 color:tan1 from:1929 till:1934 text:New Auburn
bar:12 color:tan1 from:1929 till:1934 text:Turtle Lake
bar:13 color:tan1 from:1946 till:2030 text:Hayward
bar:14 color:tan1 from:1974 till:2030 text:Northwestern
bar:15 color:tan1 from:2010 till:2025 text:Chetek-Weyerhaeuser
bar:16 color:tan1 from:2021 till:2030 text:Ashland
bar:17 color:tan1 from:2021 till:2030 text:St. Croix Falls
bar:18 color:tan1 from:2025 till:2030 text:Unity
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1928
Football members
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1929 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:120 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:lavender from:1929 till:1994 text:Barron
bar:1 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:
bar:2 color:lavender from:1929 till:1989 text:Bloomer
bar:2 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:
bar:3 color:lavender from:1929 till:1994 text:Cumberland
bar:3 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:
bar:4 color:lavender from:1929 till:1994 text:Ladysmith
bar:4 color:lavender from:1996 till:2020 text:
bar:5 color:lavender from:1929 till:1986 text:Rice Lake
bar:6 color:lavender from:1929 till:1994 text:Spooner
bar:6 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:
bar:7 color:lavender from:1950 till:1994 text:Hayward
bar:7 color:lavender from:1996 till:2020 text:
bar:7 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:
bar:8 color:lavender from:1958 till:1983 text:Chetek
bar:8 color:lavender from:1986 till:1991 text:
bar:8 color:lavender from:1993 till:1994 text:
bar:8 color:lavender from:1996 till:2010 text:
bar:9 color:lavender from:1974 till:1994 text:Northwestern
bar:9 color:lavender from:1996 till:2030 text:
bar:10 color:lavender from:2010 till:2024 text:Chetek-Weyerhaeuser
bar:11 color:lavender from:2019 till:2024 text:Cameron
bar:12 color:lavender from:2019 till:2030 text:St. Croix Falls
bar:13 color:lavender from:2024 till:2030 text:Ashland
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1929
List of state champions
Fall sports
| School | Year | Division |
| Rice Lake | 1979 | Division 3 |
| Hayward | 1987 | Division 3 |
| Northwestern | 1988 | Division 3 |
Winter sports
| School | Year | Division |
| Hayward | 2016 | Division 3 |
Spring sports
| School | Year | Division |
| Northwestern | 1981 | Class B |
| School | Year | Division |
| Hayward | 2014 | Division 3 |