The Packerland Conference is an athletic conference of high schools located in northeastern Wisconsin. Formed in 1970, the conference and its member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1970-1979
The Packerland Conference was founded in 1970 by ten small- to medium-sized high schools in northeastern Wisconsin. It started with a group informally referred to in the local media as the "Nuclear Five" (Algoma, Kewaunee, Luxemburg-Casco, Southern Door and Sturgeon Bay), which were the odd schools out during the flurry of conference realignment that took place in the region. Three Nuclear Five schools (Algoma, Kewaunee and Sturgeon Bay) were former members of the Northeastern Wisconsin Conference and two schools (Luxemburg-Casco and Southern Door) previously belonged to the Peninsula Conference, both of which ceased operations after the previous season. After an unsuccessful attempt to join the Bay Conference as a group, the Nuclear Five joined with five schools that were displaced by the ending of the Eastern Wisconsin Conference (Chilton, Kiel, New Holstein, Plymouth and Sheboygan Falls) to form the original roster of the Packerland Conference. Due to the large geographic footprint of its member schools, the conference was partitioned into Northern and Southern Divisions for most sports: Northern DivisionSouthern DivisionAlgomaChiltonKewauneeKielLuxemburg-CascoNew HolsteinSouthern DoorPlymouthSturgeon BaySheboygan Falls
1979-2007 In 1979, the five schools of the Southern Division, along with Two Rivers from the Fox Valley Association and Valders from the Olympian Conference, left the Packerland Conference to reform the Eastern Wisconsin Conference. Gibraltar and Sevastopol, two Door County high schools left without affiliation after the collapse of the Bay-Lakes Conference, replaced the five outgoing schools and the conference ended divisional play. The two Door County schools would not be members of the Packerland for football, however. They traded affiliations with Denmark and Mishicot of the Olympian Conference for five seasons before returning as a cooperative program in 1984. That same year, the conference expanded to nine schools when Oconto and Oconto Falls joined after leaving the Central Wisconsin Conference. Membership in the Packerland Conference remained stable for the next fifteen years before Oconto Falls left to become charter members of the Valley 8 Conference in 1999. Replacing them were former Olympian Conference members Denmark and Northeastern Wisconsin Lutheran, formerly of the Midwest Classic Conference.
2007-present In 2007, Denmark and Luxemburg-Casco exited the Packerland Conference for membership in the Bay Conference. The conference also entered into a partnership with the Olympian Conference to create the new Olympian-Packerland Conference for football. This arrangement ended when the Olympian was dissolved after the 2014-2015 school year, and the Packerland returned to football sponsorship with five members (Algoma, Kewaunee, Oconto, Southern Door and Sturgeon Bay). The Packerland Conference would continue with eight schools for ten years until Peshtigo left the Marinette & Oconto Conference to join in 2017, bringing the roster to its current total of nine schools. Football sponsorship was also ended that year, as the Packerland entered into a conglomeration with the Marinette & Oconto and Northern Lakes Conferences, forming the Marinette & Oconto-Northern Lakes-Packerland Conference (MONLPC).
Football (since 2020) In February 2019, the WIAA and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association released a sweeping football-only realignment for Wisconsin to start in 2020 with a two-year competition period between realignments. As part of this, the MONLPC Football Conference's two 11-player divisions were dissolved and the Packerland Conference was reinstated for football. Full members Kewaunee, Oconto, Peshtigo, Southern Door and Sturgeon Bay were part of the initial lineup, along with schools from the Big East Conference (Mishicot), the Central Wisconsin Conference (Bonduel), and the North Eastern Conference (Clintonville). Two years later, Clintonville left to join the Northwoods Football Conference with Marinette moving over from the North Eastern Conference as their replacement. This alignment remained in place through the 2024-2025 competition cycle. For the 2026-2027 cycle, Mishicot is slated to join their primary home in the Big East Conference with Oconto Falls leaving the Northwoods Football Conference to keep membership at eight schools.
List of conference members
Current full members SchoolLocationAffiliation EnrollmentMascotColors Joined AlgomaAlgoma, WIPublic 228Wolves 1970 GibraltarFish Creek, WIPublic 154Vikings 1979 KewauneeKewaunee, WIPublic 278Storm 1970 N.E.W. LutheranGreen Bay, WIPrivate (Lutheran, LCMS) 124Blazers 1999 OcontoOconto, WIPublic 289Blue Devils 1984 PeshtigoPeshtigo, WIPublic 346Bulldogs 2017 SevastopolSevastopol, WIPublic 203Pioneers 1979 Southern DoorBrussels, WIPublic 296Eagles 1970 Sturgeon BaySturgeon Bay, WIPublic 354Clippers 1970
Current associate members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsPrimary ConferenceSport(s)BonduelBonduel, WIPublicBears Central WisconsinFootballMarinetteMarinette, WIPublicMarines North EasternFootballOconto FallsOconto Falls. WIPublicPanthers North EasternFootballProvidence AcademyGreen Bay, WIPrivate (Christian)Paladins IndependentBoys Cross Country, Girls Cross Country, Girls Soccer
Former members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColors Joined LeftConference Joined Current Conference ChiltonChilton, WIPublicTigers 1970 1979Eastern Wisconsin DenmarkDenmark, WIPublicVikings 1999 2007BayNorth Eastern KielKiel, WIPublicRaiders 1970 1979Eastern Wisconsin Luxemburg-CascoLuxemberg, WIPublicSpartans 1970 2007BayNorth Eastern New HolsteinNew Holstein, WIPublicHuskies 1970 1979Eastern Wisconsin Oconto FallsOconto Falls, WIPublicPanthers 1984 1999Valley 8 North Eastern PlymouthPlymouth, WIPublicPanthers 1970 1979Eastern WisconsinGlacier Trails Sheboygan FallsSheboygan Falls, WIPublicFalcons 1970 1979Eastern Wisconsin
Former football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceDenmarkDenmark, WIPublicVikings 1979-1983OlympianMishicotMishicot, WIPublicIndians 1979-1983,2020-2025Olympian
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
Membership map
Sponsored sports +Algoma●●●●●●●●●●Gibraltar●●●●●●●●●●●Kewaunee●●●●●●●●●●●●●●N.E.W. Lutheran●●●●●●●●●Oconto●●●●●●●●●●●●●Peshtigo●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●Sevastopol●●●●●●●●●●●Southern Door●●●●●●●●●●●●●Sturgeon Bay●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Notes
List of state champions
Fall sports +Boys Cross CountrySchoolYearDivisionSturgeon Bay2001Division 2 +Girls Cross CountrySchoolYearDivisionLuxemburg-Casco1982Class BLuxemburg-Casco1987Class BLuxemburg-Casco1989Class BGibraltar1994Division 3Gibraltar1995Division 3Luxemburg-Casco1998Division 2Luxemburg-Casco2000Division 3Sevastopol2006Division 3 +FootballSchoolYearDivisionPlymouth1976Division 3Plymouth1978Division 3Southern Door1989Division 4Oconto Falls1997Division 3Sturgeon Bay2004Division 4 +Boys SoccerSchoolYearDivisionSturgeon Bay2015Division 4Sturgeon Bay2019Division 4 +Girls Swimming & DivingSchoolYearDivisionSturgeon Bay/Sevastopol2009Division 2 +Girls VolleyballSchoolYearDivisionSevastopol1984Class CSevastopol1991Division 3
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivisionSheboygan Falls1974Class BSheboygan Falls1975Class B +Girls BasketballSchoolYearDivisionAlgoma1981Class BAlgoma1986Class CLuxemburg-Casco1988Class BLuxemburg-Casco1994Division 2Luxemburg-Casco2004Division 2Kewaunee2012Division 3Algoma2013Division 4Kewaunee2013Division 3 +Boys Swimming & DivingSchoolYearDivisionSturgeon Bay/Southern Door2003Division 2Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door2004Division 2Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door2005Division 2Sturgeon Bay2006Division 2 +Boys WrestlingSchoolYearDivisionLuxemburg-Casco1992Division 2Luxemburg-Casco1994Division 2Luxemburg-Casco1996Division 2Luxemburg-Casco1999Division 2Luxemburg-Casco2001Division 2Luxemburg-Casco2002Division 2Luxemburg-Casco2003Division 2Luxemburg-Casco2005Division 2Luxemburg-Casco2006Division 2
Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionAlgoma1983Class BSevastopol1985Class CSturgeon Bay1991Division 2Oconto2013Division 3 +SoftballSchoolYearDivisionLuxemburg-Casco1982Class BSouthern Door1992Division 2Southern Door1994Division 2Sevastopol2007Division 3Sevastopol2008Division 3Algoma2013Division 4 +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionSheboygan Falls1975Class BSouthern Door1993Division 2 +Girls Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionSturgeon Bay1972Class BAlgoma2017Division 3
Summer sports +BaseballSchoolYearSheboygan Falls1973
List of conference champions Source:
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsSouthern Door151984, 1985, 1997, 1998, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025Sturgeon Bay131981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012Luxemburg-Casco91974, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1991, 2002, 2005, 2006Kewaunee71971, 1973, 1990, 1996, 2020, 2022, 2026N.E.W. Lutheran52001, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014Algoma41975, 1992, 2006, 2007Oconto31987, 2009, 2010Oconto Falls31991, 1994, 1995New Holstein21976, 1977Plymouth21974, 1978Sheboygan Falls21972, 1975Denmark12007Kiel11974Peshtigo12022Chilton0Gibraltar0Sevastopol0
Girls Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsAlgoma181979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016Kewaunee141989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025, 2026Luxemburg-Casco141987, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007Sturgeon Bay61975, 1976, 1977, 1993, 2006, 2007Southern Door51978, 1982, 1992, 2008, 2018Sevastopol32006, 2023, 2024Oconto21999, 2022New Holstein11977Chilton0Denmark0Gibraltar0Kiel0N.E.W. Lutheran0Oconto Falls0Peshtigo0Plymouth0Sheboygan Falls0
Football SchoolQuantityYearsKewaunee141970, 1971, 1975, 1983, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2021, 2023, 2025Southern Door101986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2015, 2016, 2022Luxemburg-Casco61988, 1989, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005Oconto Falls51984, 1986, 1987, 1995, 1998Algoma41974, 1982, 1992, 1994 Denmark41979, 1980, 1999, 2000 Plymouth41972, 1976, 1977, 1978Bonduel22020, 2024Oconto21985, 1986Sturgeon Bay21986, 1993 Chilton11970 Mishicot11981 Sheboygan Falls11973 Clintonville0Kiel0 Marinette0 New Holstein0 Peshtigo0 Sevastopol0 Sevastopol/Gibraltar0
External links Packerland Conference (official website)
References