When discussing the best athletic conferences in Indiana, there's plenty that come to mind.
The ones that tend to push to the forefrontare Indianapolis' Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference and the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, perhaps Fort Wayne'sSummit Athletic Conference or Evansville's Southern Indiana, maybe even Conference Indiana.
All have valid and rightful claims to be at the top. Schools like Carmel, Center Grove, Brownsburg, Fishers,Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger and Snider, Evansville Mater Dei, Columbus East, Bloomington North and South, they all possess powerful programs with deep histories.
No matter the case, there's one conference often overlooked in the process.
The Mid-State Conference.
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Perhaps the schools in the Mid-State don't posses the flash or flare of other schools, or maybe they're forgotten about being primarily tuckedin the southwest corner of Indianapolis. But if there's one thing the Mid-State breeds, it's success.
Take last weekend for example. Two Mid-State schools, Mooresville and Franklin, battled it out to decide who goes to thegirls basketball Class 4A state championship. No matter who advanced, the Mid-State won, and not many conferences get to say that.
Taking a closer look
The Mid-State may not be powerful in every sport.After all, every conference has its weaknesses. But each team within the Mid-State has its own brand of success, and combining them all together, they hold a long list of state finals appearances.
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Martinsville may be the most decorated team in the conference, historically speaking, with 20 state titles across all programs. The girls golf team holds 11 of those with the next closest beingboys basketball (3), volleyball (2), softball (2) and girls basketball (2).
The Artesians and fellow Morgan County school Mooresville layclaim to girls basketball, with the Pioneers leading the Mid-State with 10 regional titles and 21sectional titles, but Martinsville holds the two state titles in the sport.
All seem to havedecorated wrestling programs. Perry Meridian owns three team state titles. Combined, all of the schools make up for 50 total individual state champions with Decatur Central and Perry Meridian having 15 apiece.
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Franklin is seen as the powerhouse in the natatorium, consistently breeding high level swimmers to formulate state-bound individuals and teams. Decatur Central, Mooresville Martinsville and Whiteland take the cake in football.
Decatur Central has had a big part of the success in football, having won or shared the conference in all but one season since 2014 (only 21 losses during that span) and are the most recent to make a state finals appearance (2018). Had it not been for Cathedral joining Class 5A, there could be more.
Martinsville has had success historically, but much of it wasn't in the Mid-State Conference.
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Martinsville and Franklin each have three titles in boys basketball, but Plainfield has the most to-date title with a 3A championship win in 1999 and also went 24-3 last season en route to the regional championship game. Perry Meridian has bolstered a strong soccer program (12 sectional titles between boys and girls since 2006).
Plainfield and Decatur Central have each scored a state title in softballthe last 10 years. Extend that to 20 and Martinsville adds two more. The Hawks also added a 4A crown in 2008 in baseball.
The list goes on
Listing the history and success is really only the half of it. That list could run on for quite a while.Producing high caliber athletes (all schools have had their hand in the all-state squads this season) and teams is the other half, and all schools seem to do that at a similar rate as the other major Indiana conferences.
Sure, the Mid-State isn't on the same level as the MIC, or at least what remains of it after the exit of Carmel and Center Grove. But that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be in the same conversation.
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Teams in the Mid-State, especially this season, have outmatched many within the MIC and HCC. Mooresville's girls basketball team took out Brownsburg, North Central and Ben Davis on their wayto semi-state, ultimately losing to another Mid-State Conference school.
Decatur Central boys basketball has defeated Ben Davis and Pike. Martinsville topped Carmel, Center Grove, Westfield and Zionsvillein volleyball. Perry Meridian and Plainfield did similar things in soccer.
At the end of the day, the results are there. The success is there. It's time to start acknowledging it.
The Mid-State is one of Indiana's premiere high school athletic conferences.
Contact reporter Devin Voss at dvoss@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @DevinVoss23.
