Merrill boys’ hockey’s move to GNC OK’ed by WIAA boardv

The Great Northern Conference will have a ninth team for boys’ hockey beginning in 2026-27. The WIAA Board of Control approved the addition of Merrill into the GNC starting next season during its May 15 meeting.

The move comes after Merrill dissolved its co-operative agreement with Wausau East and will return to being a standalone hockey program next school year. 

The conference is slated to add a 10th team for boys’ hockey in 2027-28 when the Shawano/Bonduel co-op joins the league. That move was approved by the WIAA board back in March.

The board approved three other realignment fast-track recommendations impacting four different sports May 15. In football, the two divisions of the Midwest Classic Conference have been altered for 2026 with the addition of University School of Milwaukee and the formation of the Catholic Central/Kenosha Christian Life co-op. The renamed Midwest Division of the Midwest Classic Conference for football will include St. Francis, Racine Lutheran, Milwaukee Academy of Science, Pius XI Catholic and Cudahy. The Classic Division includes Brookfield Academy, University School of Milwaukee, Living Word Lutheran, Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic, Kingdom Prep Lutheran and Catholic Central/Kenosha Christian Life co-op.

The Midwest Classic will merge into the Metro Classic Conference to form one wrestling conference beginning in 2026-27. 

Beginning in the spring of 2027, the Badger Conference will split into two conferences for boys lacrosse. DeForest, Edgewood co-op, Oregon co-op, Sauk Prairie co-op, Watertown, Waunakee and Wayland Academy will remain in the Badger Conference.  Janesville co-op, La Crosse Central co-op, Middleton, Sun Prairie East/West, Verona/Mount Horeb and Madison LaFollette co-op will be affiliated with the Big 8 Conference.

The board approved staff recommendations for miscellaneous changes to the 2026-27 budget, including increases for tournament series officials’ mileage, staff and committee meeting stipends, state tournament officials’ gifts, State Tournament worker apparel, and licensed officials’ career milestone gifts.

Other action items approved by the board included spring co-op team applications for 2026-27 and 2027-28, a letter of support for a UW-Milwaukee research study on “Neurocognitive Factors Associated with Noncontact ACL Injury Risk in Female Athletes,” and the April fund statements and payments.

Executive staff updates to the board included a review of 2025-26 WIAA social media analytics, preparations for the 2026 spring tournament series, progress to the next stage of development for the WIAA Foundation, a membership survey on the current competitive balance initiative, and ongoing efforts to recruit and retain licensed officials.

Janel Batten and Rachel Biertzer, co-chairs of the Calendar & Contact Ad Hoc Committee, presented the findings from a review of season lengths and maximum game limits, recommending no changes to these regulations. The board also received a report on Student-Athlete Leadership Team activities and the selection of 14 juniors to replace graduating seniors on the team for the 2026-27 school year.

The new members will be Owen Anderson (Arcadia), Marcus Benjamin (Weyauwega-Fremont), Kendra Brom (Dodgeville), Benjamin Hartwig (Athens), Tierney Lenz (Badger), Izzy Malloy (Neenah), Emmaleigh Meier (The Prairie School), Alec Miller (Marathon), Sanjara Musafir (La Cross Aquinas), Aurora Olson (Washburn), Heidi Olson (Monticello), A’Miracle Smith (Whitefish Bay Dominican) and Jenna Stoltenburg (Ellsworth).

Additionally, Anderson will become the first Wisconsin student-athlete to serve on the National Federation of State High School Associations National Student Advisory Council when his term begins in 2026-27.