Western Iowa Conference
The Western Iowa Conference is a high school athletic conference made up of bigger 1A and smaller 2A schools located mostly in the greater Council Bluffs area. The teams in the conference have a deep-rooted history together. Most of the schools have been with the conference throughout.
History
The Western Iowa Conference was organized in 1972 through the merger of the former Tri-County and Southwest Iowa Conferences. Members of the Tri-County Conference at that time were Carson-Macedonia, Elk Horn-Kimballton, Iowa School for the Deaf, Shelby-Tennant, Treynor, Tri-Center (Neola), Underwood, and Walnut. The members of the Southwest Iowa Conference then were AvoHa (Avoca), Griswold, Missouri Valley, and Oakland. Competition in the new 12-team conference began in the summer of 1971 with baseball and softball tournaments. No regular season schedules were played during the 1971-1972 school year, but girls and boys basketball tournaments and the traditional wrestling tournament were held in early 1972.[1]
Many changes have occurred since then to turn today’s WIC into an 8-team league. It remained a 12-team conference until after the 1981-1982 school year. At that time Elk Horn-Kimballton and Walnut dropped out to join the Rolling Hills Conference. Following the 1982-83 school year, Iowa Deaf dropped out making the WIC a 9-team conference. After the 1985-86 school year, Carson-Macedonia dropped out, but would eventually join with Oakland to form Riverside. Then following the 1987-88 school year Shelby-Tennant left the league, but it would join forces with AvoHa a few years later to form what is now known as AHST. Finally, for the 1990-1991 school year, Audubon joined the WIC to make it the 8-team league.
The league saw a change in membership for the first time in over two decades when Logan-Magnolia and IKM-Manning joined from the Western Valley Activities Conference for the 2013-14 season.[2]
List of member schools
| School | Location | Affiliation | Mascot | Colors | 9-11 Enrollment (2018-19)[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AHSTW | Avoca | Public | Vikings & Lady Vikes | 156 | |
| Audubon | Audubon | Public | Wheelers | 110 | |
| IKM-Manning | Manning | Public | Wolves | 144 | |
| Logan-Magnolia | Logan | Public | Panthers | 149 | |
| Missouri Valley | Missouri Valley | Public | Big Reds & Lady Reds | 191 | |
| Riverside | Oakland | Public | Bulldogs | 122 | |
| Treynor | Treynor | Public | Cardinals | 184 | |
| Tri-Center | Neola | Public | Trojans | 165 | |
| Underwood | Underwood | Public | Eagles | 208 |
References
- ^ League History
- ^ Logan Magnolia School Board Minutes (6F on second to last page)
- ^ "Iowa High School Athletic Association BEDS Document" (PDF). Retrieved October 7, 2013.