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 8 Class A and B schools from the MHSAA in Allegan, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties. Current members include: Edwardsburg, Niles, Otsego, Paw Paw, Plainwell, Sturgis, Three Rivers and Vicksburg.

Wolverine Conference
ConferenceMichigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA)
Founded1952
No. of teams1 Class A, 7 Class B
RegionSouthwest Michigan

Membership

Current members

School[1] County Enrollment Mascot Colors Class Year Joined [2] District Website
Edwardsburg Cass 786 Eddies Orange/Royal Blue B 2012 Edwardsburg Public Schools
Niles Berrien/Cass 784 Vikings Navy Blue/Vegas Gold B 2021 Niles Community Schools
Otsego Allegan 712 Bulldogs Navy Blue/Vegas Gold B 1952 Otsego Public Schools
Paw Paw Van Buren 659 Red Wolves Red/White B 1961†, 2006 Paw Paw Public Schools
Plainwell Allegan 839 Trojans Royal Blue/White B 1952 Plainwell Community Schools
Sturgis St. Joseph 920 Trojans Orange/Black A 2014 Sturgis Public Schools
Three Rivers St. Joseph 629 Wildcats Purple/White B 1967 Three Rivers Community Schools
Vicksburg Kalamazoo 759 Bulldogs Red/White B 1954 Vicksburg Community Schools

Former members

School [1] County Mascot Colors Joined Left Conference
joined [2]
Allegan Allegan Tigers Orange/Black 1952 2022 SAC
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
Dowagiac Cass Chieftains Orange/Black 2006 2022 Lakeland
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

Membership Timeline (since 1952)

Full members

History

Early Days (1952-1960)

The Wolverine Conference was formed in 1952, consisting of Allegan, Western State High (Kalamazoo), Otsego, Plainwell, Portage, and South Haven.[3] Five boys sports were sponsored by the league that first year: football, basketball, baseball, tennis and track. Girls sports were added in the 1973-74 year with basketball, tennis, softball and track being the sponsored sports. Portage 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.[4]

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.[5] Five years later, Gull Lake, dominant in many sports, left for the SMAC.[6] Looking into expanding, the Wolverine raided the nearby Lakeland Conference, with Berrien Springs, Coloma, and Edwardsburg entering the conference.[7] 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.[8] 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.[4] 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.[9] Niles became a member in 2021-22 returning the league membership to ten.[10] This arrangement lasted one year, as Dowagiac decided to leave the conference after the 2021–22 school year, citing its significant enrollment gap with other conference schools.[11]

Current Champions

SeasonSportChampion [12]
Fall 2022 Cross Country (boys)Otsego
Cross Country (girls)Otsego
FootballEdwardsburg
Golf (girls)Vicksburg
Soccer (boys)Edwardsburg
Tennis (boys)Sturgis
VolleyballEdwardsburg, Niles
Winter 2021-22 Basketball (boys)Otsego
Basketball (girls)Edwardsburg
Bowling (boys)Niles
Bowling (girls)Allegan
Competitive CheerPaw Paw
WrestlingPlainwell
Spring 2022 BaseballVicksburg
Golf (boys)Plainwell, Vicksburg
Soccer (girls)Plainwell
SoftballEdwardsburg
Tennis (girls)Otsego
Track and Field (boys)Otsego
Track and Field (girls)Otsego

‡ Denotes state champion

† All spring 2020 sports were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[13]

References

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