Lou Babiarz

Gannett Central Wisconsin Media

Wausau East's sports teams have always called the Wisconsin Valley Conference home, but the Lumberjacks are looking to change that.

Citing difficulties remaining competitive, Wausau East and Merrill both petitioned to leave the WVC at Tuesday's Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association area meeting in Antigo. Both schools hope to join the Great Northern Conference, which is comprised of smaller schools than the WVC.

"We've been talking about this for well over a year, and we feel it's what is in the best interests of our student-athletes," said Greg Harvey, East's athletic director. "Over the last 10 years, our school has changed dramatically in demographics and enrollments. We feel this would give our kids the best opportunity to be successful, to move into a conference with similar-type schools."

East and Merrill are the two smallest schools in the WVC, with enrollments of 1,136 and 947, respectively. They would be the two biggest schools in the GNC, which includes Antigo, Lakeland Union, Medford, Mosinee, Northland Pines, Rhinelander and Tomahawk. Those schools range between 446 and 840 students.

"We're a bigger school, but despite what might be seen as a disparity, we think we're more similar than different," Harvey said. "Given our past history, we think our competitive level is pretty comparable."

Merrill, which already competes in the GNC in football, has been a participant in both conferences in the past. Athletic director Rick Bonnell said he believes that with Merrill's enrollment trending downward that the GNC is simply a better fit for the Bluejays.

"I went to school here and played in the the Wisconsin Valley Conference," Bonnell said. "It's a great conference. But it's something we're thinking about for our student body, for the kids. We're not thinking of becoming a powerhouse. We're just looking for an even playing field."

"... We're not worried about Merrill in a lot of sports, because we're very competitive," Bonnell said. "We won a conference championship in wrestling, and we're competitive in lot of sports. But sometimes, in some of the other sports, we just don't have the numbers."

Harvey said that the WIAA would need to evaluate the request of the schools, but he said that the earliest the teams would change conferences would be in the fall of 2017. Bonnell said that WIAA associate director Deb Hauser proposed the possibility of evaluating conference affiliations every eight years.

Bonnell stressed that the request was merely the first step in a long process that is not clearly defined.

"It's at the earliest possible stage," he said. "I go to the (Merrill) coaches' meetings every other week, and I really value their opinions, because they're the ones in the trenches, and they're the ones facing these teams night in and night out. We've had some good conversations, and there are pros and cons."

If the Lumberjacks and Bluejays leave the WVC, that would leave the conference with just five teams — D.C. Everest, Marshfield, Stevens Point Area Senior High, Wausau West and Wisconsin Rapids.

A lack of teams in the league has already led to the creation of the Valley Football Association in 2011, which combined the WVC teams with those from the Fox Valley Association.

While Merrill and East are looking to leave a conference, Wisconsin Valley Lutheran is looking to join one. The Wildcats, who are an independent in every sport except soccer, made a request to join the Central Wisconsin Conference-10.

"We think we're ready," athletic director Jamie Wehrs said. "We've got a pretty solid sports program, we've been around for over 10 years, and we've been trying to join a conference for a number of years."

Wehrs added that the Wildcats play a number of CWC-10 teams in nonconference play and feels the league would be a good fit geographically and competitively.

Lou Babiarz can be reached at 715-845-0700. Find him on Twitter as @loubabiarz