Grand River Conference

The Grand River Conference
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2026-2027
FormerlyGrand River Six
AssociationMSHSAA
FoundedDecember 4, 1929; 96 years ago (December 4, 1929)
Organizing bodySuperintendents Of Member Schools (GRC)
No. of teams17
RegionNorthwest / Northeast Missouri
Most recent
champions
Softball: GRC - South Harrison / GRC West - Albany (2025)

11-Man Football: Putnam County (2025) 8-Man Football: Worth County (2025)

Basketball (Boys): GRC - Gallatin / GRC West - Princeton (2026)

Basketball (Girls): GRC - South Harrison / GRC West - Albany, Stanberry (2026)

Baseball: GRC - Marceline / GRC West - King City (2026)

Track & Field (Boys): GRC - Putnam County / GRC West - Worth County (2026)

Track & Field (Girls): GRC - South Harrison / GRC West - St. Joseph Christian (2026)

Golf (Boys): GRC - Maysville / GRC West - King City (2026)

Golf (Girls): GRC - South Harrison / GRC West - Stanberry (2026)

Wrestling (Boys): GRC - Marceline / GRC West - Stanberry (2026)

Wrestling (Girls): GRC - Brookfield / GRC West - Rock Port (2026)

Volleyball: South Harrison

Scholar Bowl: GRC - Marceline / GRC West - King City (2026)
Most titlesSoftball: South Harrison (10)

8-Man Football: Worth County (4)

11-Man Football: South Harrison/Princeton (18)

Baseball: Putnam County/St. Joseph Christan (4)

Basketball (Boys): South Harrison (18)

Basketball (Girls): South Harrison (18)

Track & Field (Boys): Hamilton/Worth County (15)

Track & Field (Girls): Hamilton (16)

Wrestling (Girls): Polo (3)

Volleyball: South Harrison (5)

Scholar Bowl: Princeton (5)
Websitegrandriverconference.com

The Grand River Conference, is a high school athletic conference comprising small-size high schools located in northwest and north central Missouri. The conference members are located in Andrew, Buchanan, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Linn, Mercer, Putnam, Sullivan, and Worth counties.

History

Founded in December 1929, the conference was formed with six schools: King City, Stanberry, Maysville, Bethany, Albany and Grant City as the Grand River Six. By 1936, the conference had grown to eight teams. Various schools joined and dropped over the years, with several schools switching to 8-player football a contributing factor. By 2011, the conference had ten members, and by 2016, the conference was at 16 teams. On March 3, 2023, the superintendents of the conference voted to split into 2 separate conferences, Grand River Conference (GRC) and Grand River Conference West (GRC West), based on the previous divisional lines with Princeton joining the GRC West and giving the GRC the Brookfield Bulldogs (formerly of the Clarence Cannon Conference) and the Marceline Tigers (formerly of the Lewis & Clark Conference), who began GRC play in the 2024-2025 school year. On September 19, 2025, the GRC voted 8-1 to remove Polo from the conference at the end of the 2025-26 school year. Polo was the third school in conference history to be dropped from the conference by the membership.

Member schools

As of 2026, the Grand River Conference consists of seventeen high schools split into two separate conferences.

Grand River Conference

SchoolNicknameColorsCity
BrookfieldBulldogs   Brookfield
GallatinBulldogs   Gallatin
MarcelineTigers   Marceline
MaysvilleWolverines   Maysville
MilanWildcats   Milan
Putnam CountyMidgets   Unionville
South HarrisonBulldogs   Bethany
TrentonBulldogs   Trenton

Grand River Conference West

SchoolNicknameColorsCity
AlbanyWarriors   Albany
King CityWildkats   King City
North AndrewCardinals   Rosendale
North HarrisonShamrocks   Eagleville
PattonsburgPanthers   Pattonsburg
PrincetonTigers   Princeton
St. Joseph ChristianLions   St. Joseph
StanberryBulldogs   Stanberry
Worth CountyTigers   Grant City

Affiliate Members of The Grand River Conference West (Wrestling)

SchoolNicknameColorsCity
Rock Port Blue Jays     Rockport
East Atchison Indians     Tarkio

References

  1. ↑ Thorn, Cody (February 6, 2015). "Grand River Conference adds 4 to league's ledger". St. Joseph News-Press. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Grand River Conference begins new era". Bethany Republican-Clipper. August 4, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  3. ↑ "GRC History". www.grandriverconference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  4. ↑ "GRC Boys Basketball Standings". Grand River Conference. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  5. ↑ Conger, Phil (October 23, 2020). "North Harrison to join Grand River Conference". Bethany Republican-Clipper. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  6. ↑ "North Harrison joins GRC, as four Lady Shamrocks named to all-state softball teams". KTTN-KGOZ Sports. November 5, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2022.