Merrill moves closer to joining GNC full time

The Great Northern Conference is one step closer to having an eighth charter member.

      

The WIAA’s Conference Realignment Task Force this past Wednesday unanimously accepted Merrill’s request to move from the Wisconsin Valley Conference and join the Great Northern Conference beginning in the 2025-26 school year.

The proposed move was unanimously supported by the GNC athletic directors and principals during meetings earlier this fall, according to documents on the WIAA website. The Wisconsin Valley Conference, which would drop down to six members schools if the move is finalized, would seek a scheduling solution with the Fox Valley Association, according to the documentation.

“This move is driven by the forecasted significant decline in our school’s enrollment over the next six years, aligning us more closely with schools in the prospective conference in size,” Merrill AD Christopher Hahn wrote in the school’s application to the WIAA to be placed in the GNC. “This shift will not only foster enhanced competitiveness but also resonate with our quest for equality and ‘like’ opponents, ensuring our athletes are adequately matched and challenged.”

Merrill High School has a current enrollment of 801 students and is projected to see enrollment dip into the low 600s by the 2027-28 school year, according to the information it provided the WIAA. The GNC’s enrollment range is currently between 371 and 747 students, with Rhinelander having the highest enrollment and Tomahawk the lowest.

“Transitioning to a more competitive conference is poised to boost athlete participation at our school significantly,” Hahn continued in the application. “This shift promises equitable, heightened competition, sparking increased interest and commitment among students to join our athletic programs. The revitalization of historical rivalries will further intensify school and community spirit, motivating more students to get involved. Essentially, this realignment is a strategic move to enhance our athletic culture and increase student engagement in athletics.”

With the exception of boys’ swimming, boys’ tennis and gymnastics, Merrill offers all sports in which the Great Northern Conference conducts regular season championships. The Bluejays face a number of GNC schools currently in non-conference competition and are grouped with several GNC schools for WIAA postseason play in a majority of sports.

“Everybody was fine with them coming into the conference. We’ve all played them non-conference anyway,” Rhinelander High School activities director Brian Paulson told the River News. “When we look down the whole thing, Merrill’s a good fit. They’re close by. It guarantees two games in those sports.”

For most sports, Merrill’s addition into the conference would be seamless. Paulson noted logistics would need to be worked out in girls’ tennis, girls’ swimming and boys’ hockey. Those sports already have eight playing members and conference bylaws state the GNC will have no more than eight schools for each of its conference sports — with chartered conference members having priority over non-chartered members. 

Waupaca is the lone non-chartered conference member in boys’ hockey; Marshfield Columbus, Pacelli, Phillips and Wausau Newman are non-chartered members in girls’ tennis; Colby/Abbotsford and the Ladysmith co-op are non-chartered members in girls’ swimming. However, the GNC does have nine programs in gymnastics, splitting the league into large and small divisions that have their own individual team champions and all-conference teams. 

Merrill’s proposal was one of 20 considered by the realignment task force on Wednesday. Twelve were approved, six were modified and two were denied. The panel consists of 17 members, comprised of a mix of district administrators, superintendents, principals and athletic directors across the WIAA membership.

There are still a couple of hurdles to clear before the move becomes official. Schools affected have until Jan. 4, 2024 to provide written feedback or appeal the plans, which would then be taken up by the realignment task force at its Jan. 11 meeting. If advanced from that meeting, the proposal would go the WIAA Board of Control for final approval at its March 5, 2024 meeting. 

Merrill was an original charter member when the GNC was established for the start of the 2008-09 school year, moving from the Wisconsin Valley Conference with Antigo. They joined former Lumberjack Conference schools Lakeland, Medford, Northland Pines and Tomahawk along with Mosinee from the Cloverbelt Conference. The WIAA swapped Rhinelander to the GNC and Merrill back to the WVC starting with the 2010-11 school year. Merrill returned to the GNC in football only in 2011.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].