Wolverine Conference

The Wolverine "B" Conference (known commonly as the Wolverine Conference) is a high school athletic conference in southwestern Michigan. It is composed of Class A and B schools from the MHSAA in Allegan, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties.

Membership

Current members
School[1] County Enrollment Mascot Colors Class Year Joined [2] District Website
Allegan Allegan 698 Tigers Orange/Black B 1952 Allegan Public Schools
Dowagiac Cass 599 Chieftains Orange/Black B 2006 Dowagiac Union Schools
Edwardsburg Cass 861 Eddies Orange/Royal Blue B 2012 Edwardsburg Public Schools
Otsego Allegan 683 Bulldogs Navy Blue/Vegas Gold B 1952 Otsego Public Schools
Paw Paw Van Buren 662 Red Wolves Red/White B 1961†, 2006 Paw Paw Public Schools
Plainwell Allegan 811 Trojans Royal Blue/White B 1952 Plainwell Community Schools
Sturgis St. Joseph 930 Trojans Orange/Black A 2014 Sturgis Public Schools
Three Rivers St. Joseph 664 Wildcats Purple/White B 1967 Three Rivers Community Schools
Vicksburg Kalamazoo 764 Bulldogs Red/White B 1954 Vicksburg Community Schools

Former members
School [3] County Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference
joined [4]
Berrien Springs Berrien Shamrocks Green/White 2012 2015 BCS
Coloma Berrien Comets Forest Green/Gold 2012 2015 SAC
Comstock Kalamazoo Colts Carolina Blue/White 1966 2014 Kalamazoo Valley
Gull Lake Kalamazoo Blue Devils Navy/White 1974 2011 SMAC
Kalamazoo University Kalamazoo Cubs Red/White 1952 1966 none (school closed)
Portage Central Kalamazoo Mustangs Blue/Gold 1952 1958 SMAC
South Haven Van Buren/Allegan Rams Purple/Gold 1952 2020 BCS

Future members
School[5] County Enrollment Mascot Colors Class Year Joined [6] District Website
Niles Berrien 856 Vikings Navy Blue/Vegas Gold B 2021 Niles Community Schools

Membership Timeline (since 1952)

Full members

History

Early Days (1952-1960)

The Wolverine Conference was formed in 1952, consisting of Allegan, Kalamazoo University, Otsego, Plainwell, Portage Central, and South Haven.[7] Portage Central left for the SMAC in 1958. The Wolverine expanded for the first time in 1954, adding Vicksburg to the conference. The Wolverine "B" Conference has always consisted of mostly Class B high schools, but there are bylaws in case a school is Class A for more than two years. In that instance, over 75% of schools must approve said school's membership and the school's case is reviewed every year.[8]

Further Expansion (1960-2005)

The Wolverine began adding more schools beginning in the 1960s. Paw Paw High School was the first to join in this decade, moving from the Kalamazoo Valley Conference in 1961. Kalamazoo University High closed in 1966, with Comstock joining the same year from the Kalamazoo Valley Conference, and Three Rivers from the Twin Valley Conference a year after in 1967. Gull Lake High School joined the conference in 1974. This kicked off a long period of stability within the Wolverine, with the only exception being Paw Paw returning to the Kalamazoo Valley in 1982.

Major Realignment (2006–present)

The new millennium brought major changes to the Wolverine Conference. In 2006, Paw Paw left the Kalamazoo Valley and once again rejoined the Wolverine, while Dowagiac joined the conference from the SMAC.[9] Five years later, Gull Lake, dominant in many sports, left for the SMAC.[10] Looking into expanding, the Wolverine raided the nearby Lakeland Conference, with Berrien Springs, Coloma, and Edwardsburg entering the conference.[11] This, for the first time, created divisions within the Wolverine, with the alignment as follows from 2012 through 2014:

West Division East Division
Berrien Springs Allegan
Coloma Comstock
Dowagiac Otsego
Edwardsburg Paw Paw
South Haven Plainwell
Three Rivers Vicksburg

Then, after the 2014 school year, Comstock left the Wolverine for the Kalamazoo Valley, replaced by Sturgis from the SMAC.[12] To accommodate these changes, Paw Paw and Three Rivers switched divisions, making new divisions for the 2014-15 year as follows:

West Division East Division
Berrien Springs Allegan
Coloma Otsego
Dowagiac Plainwell
Edwardsburg Sturgis
Paw Paw Three Rivers
South Haven Vicksburg

After the 2014–15 school year, Coloma and Berrien Springs, two of the smaller schools in the Wolverine, left for the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the BCS Conference, respectively, after only three seasons in the conference.[13] This created a full 9-game football schedule for the conference, eliminating the need to have divisions after only three seasons. For the next five years, the conference remained the same, until South Haven, one of the founding members of the Wolverine, announced it will leave after 68 years for the BCS after the 2019–20 school year, leaving the conference at 9 teams in 2020.[14] This will change in 2021, as Niles will join after one year in the BCS, bringing the conference back up to 10 teams for the 2021-22 school year. [15]

Current Champions
SeasonSportChampion [16]
Fall 2019 Cross Country (boys)Otsego
Cross Country (girls)Otsego
FootballEdwardsburg
Golf (girls)Plainwell
Soccer (boys)Plainwell
Tennis (boys)Allegan‡ [17]
VolleyballEdwardsburg/Vicksburg
Winter 2019-20 Basketball (boys)Otsego
Basketball (girls)Edwardsburg
Bowling (boys)Three Rivers
Bowling (girls)Allegan
Competitive CheerPaw Paw
WrestlingEdwardsburg
Spring 2019† BaseballEdwardsburg/Otsego
Golf (boys)Edwardsburg
Soccer (girls)Otsego
SoftballEdwardsburg
Tennis (girls)Allegan
Track and Field (boys)Otsego
Track and Field (girls)Otsego/Vicksburg

‡ Denotes state champion

† All spring 2020 sports were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[18]

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References
  1. http://www.mhsaa.com
  2. http://michigan-football.com
  3. http://www.mhsaa.com
  4. http://michigan-football.com
  5. http://www.mhsaa.com
  6. http://michigan-football.com
  7. https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/article/growth-rivalries-help-define-wolverine-conference-see-a-historical-timeline-of-the-league/
  8. https://www.wsjmsports.com/the-enrollment-and-conference-carosel/
  9. https://www.heraldpalladium.com/localnews/dowagiac-ready-for-wolverine-challenge/article_4b2e072e-485c-546e-96e7-5245ced01ffb.html
  10. https://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/2011/01/gull_lake_leaving_wolverine_co_1.htmll
  11. https://www.heraldpalladium.com/localsports/wolverine-issues-invitations-to-berrien-springs-coloma/article_fe610314-d426-5dc5-8fa8-1dedd64e04fd.html
  12. https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/article/wolverine-conference-officially-extends-invite-to-sturgis-to-join-league-beginning-in-2014-15//
  13. https://www.wsjmsports.com/the-enrollment-and-conference-carosel/
  14. https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/2019/09/south-haven-parchment-to-join-new-athletic-conferences-in-2020.html
  15. https://www.leaderpub.com/2020/06/16/niles-to-join-wolverine-conference-in-2021/
  16. https://www.facebook.com/pg/WolverineConference/posts/
  17. https://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/Boys-Tennis/Team-Champions
  18. https://www.mhsaa.com/News/Press-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9062/MHSAA-Cancels-Remainder-of-2019-20-Winter-Spring-Seasons
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