Since 1990 Milwaukee Marquette University High School has been the winningest state football program. It was a long road for a school that started playing the sport in 1907 to forge to the top spot. Since 1885, when Delafield St. John’ Military Academy began playing football the school led the state in each decade, for 100+ years.
While St. John’s is no longer number one, they still are in the top five of all-time wins. They built up a large lead in the top spot that allowed them to maintain the lead until that lead began to slip in the 1960’s.
Thanks to the advent of the state playoffs, first with the private schools beginning in 1969 followed by the public schools in 1975, a number of teams have been able to climb the lists. St. John’s made the WISAA playoffs a few times and even won a title, schools like Milwaukee Marquette, Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs and Waukesha Catholic Memorial have been able to play extra games to move up the ladder. These three schools have won a number of titles since the WIAA allowed the private schools to join their organization at the end of the 1999 season.
What’s incredible is the fact that several schools…Edgar, St. Mary’s Springs, Catholic Memorial and Waunakee didn’t start their programs until the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. But, thanks to the playoffs and superb coaching by the likes of Jerry Sinz, Bob Hyland, Bill Young and three HOF coaches for Waunakee (Dick Trotta, Gayle Quinn and Pat Rice) these schools have jumped up the ladder. These guy’s have won a combined 46 state titles (19 WISAA and 27 WIAA) in the last 54 seasons. But remember there were no title games during the 2020 COVID year.
Back in 2021 I sent information to MaxPrepos.com (High school football: Programs with the most wins at end of each decade for last 120 years (maxpreps.com)) for a similar story by Kevin Askeland, but of course, it was a national article. Looking at the WISSORTS FORUM that Kenosha’s Bill Dorst posts for the ALL_TIME WON/LOST (All-Time Win/Loss Records - WisSports Playground…scroll down to the December 10. 2023 listing) I began to research seasonal records and while my numbers may differ from that by Bill Dorst, I think my overall listing is correct. Why? Because most of my records were supplied by the schools themselves or my personal research.
The following is the progressive list of the Top 10 winningest programs for each decade beginning with 1899 which covers the first period of Wisconsin high school football beginning 1885. After that it is each for each decade…1900-1909, 1910-1919. 1920-1929, etc. My original list included 26 schools but I’ve parred things down. If I had put all the schools into this story, it would take ages to sift through for you, the reader. So, like the MaxPreps story I’ve kept it at 10 schools. There are a few schools that the records are incomplete with a lack of information…Milwaukee South Side/South Division, Milwaukee Boy’s Tech/Bradley Tech, Milwaukee Washington, Lancaster and Burlington to name a few. While I have the records for Platteville beginning in the 1920’s their early records are missing.
Speaking of Platteville, I’m sure that if you have read some of my previous stories, particularly DARLINGTON: THEN AND NOW (wihifootball.com). You will see that some of the “other” lists that are online aren’t up to date. The person who has the early Platteville records has not sent me the early season by season records otherwise that school would be on the lists much earlier than I have them and in the top 5, if the numbers match up. Another list has Waunakee with 700+ wins which, according to the school’s official web page tally is not even close.
What you should do is look and see how teams rose and fell from decade to decade. Madison High School was a great program until the mid-1920’s and then they began to lose more than they won after the opening of Madison East and Madison West. The same is for Wausau East but in a different matter. Wausau had been a good winning program but picked up steam when Win Brockmeyer became the head coach. After he left in 1970 the program seemed to deteriorate with the opening of Wausau West and Wausau Newman. Look at Green Bay East and West as the two schools were some of the top programs in the state for many years but since 2000, they have had few winning teams. Delafield St. John’s, the school that first played the sport in 1885 hasn’t fielded a varsity 11-player squad since 2021 and has dropped down the list. On the other hand, look at Milwaukee Marquette’s records since the 1980’s. That school won 94 games in the 1980’s, 91 in the 1990’s, 96 in 2000-2009 and 93 in the 2010’s and quickly rose top the top 10.
With Pat Rice stepping down at Waunakee, will they be able to keep their winning ways? What will happen with St. Mary’s Springs when Bob Hyland steps down after the 2024 season? How long will Edgar’s Jerry Sinz and Catholic Memorial Coach
Bill Young keep at it; and will their programs continue strong after they leave? I just wish they all would continue to coach for many years to come as they add so much more to the sport than just wins. We’ll see where the programs are at the end of 2029.
Thanks to all the schools who helped with the original list which really is about 23 schools that I tracked. Thanks to Patrick Foran at Marquette, Travis Winkers at Darlington, Troy Andreshak at Edgar and the people from Bloomer, Peshtigo and West De Pere and Catholic Memorial who helped greatly with the research and the school and city libraries of Marinette, Waunakee, Muskego, Port Washington, Oshkosh and the Milwaukee Public Library and the Milwaukee County Historical Society.
And a special thanks to Bill Dorst and Cliff Christal for helping in so many ways.
Delafield St. John’s Military Academy
Most football wins at the end of each decade:
1885-1899
Delafield St. John’s Military Academy 68
Madison H.S. 30
Oshkosh 29
Darlington 24
Milwaukee South Side 19
Eau Claire 17
Beaver Dam 16
Neenah 16
Green Bay East 15
Marinette 9
1900-1909
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 129
Madison H.S. 72
Oshkosh 69
Eau Claire 61
Marinette 49
Beaver Dam 48
Darlington 47
Green Bay East 40
Green Bay West 29
Neenah 24
1910-1919
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 176
Madison H. S. 118
Oshkosh 112
Eau Claire 94
Marinette 89
Green Bay East 81
Green Bay West 72
Darlington 63
Beaver Dam 60
Marquette 51
1920-1929
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 226
Madison H.S./Central (Name changed in 1929) 181 Marionette 161
Green Bay East 148
Oshkosh 140
Eau Claire 138
Green Bay West 128
Darlington 101
Beaver Dam 97
Marquette 97
1930-1939
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 286
Green Bay East 213
Madison Central 210
Marinette 195
Eau Claire 190
Green Bay West 183
Oshkosh 176
Darlington 145
Beaver Dam 130
Milwaukee Marquette 129
1940-1949
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 335
Green Bay East 259
Marinette 258
Green Bay West 239
Madison Central 239
Eau Claire 224
Oshkosh 207
Darlington 196
Wausau 195
Milwaukee Marquette 185
1950-1959
Delafield St. John’s M.A 369
Marinette 309
Green Bay East 306
Green Bay West 300
Eau Claire 276
Madison Central 267
Wausau 262
Darlington 257
Milwaukee Marquette 240
Oshkosh 240
1960-1969
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 395
Green Bay West 352
Marinette 347
Green Bay East 340
Eau Claire Memorial (Name changed in1962) 337
Wausau 331
Beaver Dam 305
Darlington 304
Oshkosh 303
Milwaukee Marquette 301
#11 on the list is Madison Central which closed after
the 1968 football season with 275 wins.
1970-1979
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 436
Marinette 413
Green Bay East 402
Green Bay West 385
Eau Claire Memorial 384
Beaver Dam 370
Milwaukee Marquette 369
Wausau East (Name changed to East in 1971) 361
Darlington 354
Oshkosh West (Name changed to West in 1972) 351
1980-1989
Delafield St. John’s M.A. 479
Marinette 476
Milwaukee Marquette 463
Green Bay East 454
Green Bay West 442
Eau Claire Memorial 439
Beaver Dam 419
Darlington 402
Antigo 395
Wausau East 386
1990-1999
Milwaukee Marquette 554
Marinette 549
St. John’s Northwestern Academies (Name changed
when St. John’s and Lake Geneva’s Northwestern Naval
and Military Academy merged in 1995) 517
Green Bay East 515
Darlington 514
Green Bay West 483
Eau Claire Memorial 482
Beaver Dam 449
Mayville 435
Antigo 431
2000-2009
Milwaukee Marquette 650
Darlington 584
Marinette 575
Green Bay East 555
St. John’s Northwestern Academies 545
Eau Claire Memorial 521
Mayville 509
Mayville 509
Green Bay West 495
Peshtigo 482
2010-2019
Milwaukee Marquette 733
Darlington 675
Marinette 605
Green Bay East 576
St. John’s Northwestern Academies 576
Eau Claire Memorial 575
Platteville 547
Peshtigo 541
Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs 534
Mayville 533
2020-2023
Milwaukee Marquette 765
Darlington 713
Marinette 610
Eau Claire Memorial 584
Delafield St. John’s Northwestern Academies 579
Green Bay East 578
Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs 575
Mayville 567
Platteville 566
Waunakee 561
Other schools I tracked:
Stevens Point 553
Peshtigo 545
Antigo 540
Beaver Dam 529
Bloomer 529
West De Pere 528
Neenah 518
Edgar 513
Waukesha Catholic Memorial 513
Oshkosh West 503
Green Bay West (They have won only 2 games in the 2020’s)
500
Wausau East (They have also won only 2 games in the 2020’s).
479
Prairie du Chien 474
If you have season by season records for a team that might make my list, please let me know. Thanks.