The Porcupine Mountain Conference is a former high school athletic conference consisting mostly of small schools in the upper peninsula of Michigan. It was founded in 1958 and disbanded in 2015, and its Michigan-based members were affiliated with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. The lone Wisconsin-based member of the Porcupine Mountain Conference belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1958-1965
The Porcupine Mountain Conference was founded in 1958 by seven small high schools in Michigan's upper peninsula: Bergland, Ewen, Marenisco, St. Ambrose in Ironwood, Rockland, Trout Creek and Watersmeet. It replaced the Little Six Conference, of which all six public schools were previously members. After the conference's first season, Rockland left as members and were replaced by Mass High School in Mass City. Watersmeet left the Porcupine Mountain Conference's basketball roster in 1960 to compete as an independent, but retained membership for other sports. The entrance of White Pine into the loop in 1961 increased the basketball roster back to seven members. Conference membership reached its high-water mark at nine schools in 1965 when Mercer Public School in Wisconsin joined.
1965-1970 As the Porcupine Mountain Conference entered the second half of the 1960s, it began to lose members to rural school district consolidation in the upper peninsula. Trout Creek left the conference in 1966 to compete as an independent, one year before its merger with Ewen. The new school (Ewen-Trout Creek) inherited their predecessors' membership when they opened in 1967. That same year, St. Ambrose High School merged with St. Paul High School in Negaunee to create the new Ironwood Catholic High School, which continued St. Ambrose's PMC membership. In 1968, Mass left the loop after consolidation into the Ontonagon school district. Two years later, Mercer left the Porcupine Mountain Conference when it was invited to join the Wisconsin-based Indianhead Conference as members.
1970-2015
After Mercer's exit, the Porcupine Mountain Conference entered a period of roster stability before further changes occurred in the 1980s. It started in 1984 when Bergland closed, and their high school students were redistricted to Wakefield before the district was consolidated into Ewen-Trout Creek in 1985. Ironwood Catholic High School also closed that year, and membership dropped to its low point of four schools. In 1990, the Porcupine Mountain Conference added Bessemer and Wakefield after both schools left the Great Western Conference. The PMC stayed at six schools throughout the 1990s, until White Pine High School was closed and its district consolidated into Ontonagon in 2003. The merger of Wakefield and Marenisco in 2004 brought membership to its final roster of four schools. The Porcupine Mountain Conference ceased operations in 2015 when its members were absorbed into the Copper Country Conference, but the name lives on as the Porcupine Mountain division.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBessemerBessemer, MIPublic109Speedboys 19902015Copper CountryEwen-Trout CreekEwen, MIPublic58Panthers 19672015Copper CountryWakefield-MareniscoWakefield, MIPublic88Cardinals 20042015Copper CountryWatersmeetWatersmeet, MIPublic48Nimrods 19582015Copper Country
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationEnrollmentMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBerglandBergland, MIPublicN/AVikings 19581984Closed (folded into Ewen-Trout Creek)EwenEwen, MIPublicN/ABulldogs 19581967Closed (merged with Trout Creek)Ironwood CatholicIronwood, MIPrivate (Catholic)N/ARamblers 19671985ClosedMareniscoMarenisco, MIPublicN/AMilltowners 19582004Closed (merged with Wakefield)MassMass City, MIPublicN/ARockets 19591968Closed (folded into Ontonagon)MercerMercer, WIPublic41Tigers 19651970Indianhead (WIAA)Northern Lights (WIAA)RocklandRockland, MIPublicN/ABlackhawks 19581959IndependentClosed in 1965 (folded into Ontonagon)St. AmbroseIronwood, MIPrivate (Catholic)N/ARamblers 19581967Closed (merged with Negaunee St. Paul)Trout CreekTrout Creek, MIPublicN/AAnglers 19581966IndependentClosed in 1967 (merged with Ewen)WakefieldWakefield, MIPublicN/ACardinals 19902004Closed (merged with Marenisco)White PineWhite Pine, MIPublicN/AWarriors 19612003Closed (folded into Ontonagon)
Membership timeline
List of state champions
Fall sports +Girls BasketballSchoolYearDivisionOrganizationEwen-Trout Creek1973Class DMHSAA
Winter sports +Boys BasketballSchoolYearDivisionOrganizationEwen-Trout Creek1972Class DMHSAA Spring sports +Boys GolfSchoolYearDivisionOrganizationEwen-Trout Creek1992Class C-D (UP)MHSAAEwen-Trout Creek1993Class C-D (UP)MHSAAEwen-Trout Creek2000Class D (UP)MHSAAEwen-Trout Creek2001Division 3 (UP)MHSAAEwen-Trout Creek2005Division 3 (UP)MHSAA
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsEwen-Trout Creek291968, 1972, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013Bergland71960, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978Bessemer61996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2014, 2015Watersmeet51989, 1990, 1994, 2005, 2006White Pine51962, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1988Trout Creek41959, 1961, 1964, 1966Mass31963, 1964, 1965Ironwood Catholic21979, 1985Ewen11967Marenisco0Mercer0Rockland0St.Ambrose0Wakefield0Wakefield-Marenisco0 References