THE TOURNAMENTS:  The 48th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Hockey State Tournament and the 17th Girls Hockey State Tournament will take place Thursday-Saturday, March 1-3, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis. Ticket prices for the tourney are $8 per session. Individuals 13-years old and under will be admitted for $5 each session.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE AND PAIRINGS:  The single elimination boys tournament features eight teams. The girls tournament features four teams. There were 87 boys teams and 29 girls teams at the beginning of the championship tournament series this year. It’s the first year the boys State tournament is seeded.

BOYS SCHEDULE: (* approximate times)

Thursday, March 1
Game-1: #1 Hudson (25-1-1) vs. St. Mary’s Springs Co-op (21-4-2) - 10 a.m.
Game-2: #4 Notre Dame (18-7-2) vs. Verona (20-3-3) - 1:15 p.m.*
Game-3: #2 Eau Claire Memorial (23-2-2) vs. West Salem/Bangor (20-7) - 4 p.m.
Game-4: #3 Waukesha North Co-op (20-4-3) vs. D.C. Everest (19-6-2) - 6:15 p.m.*

Friday, March 2
Game-5:  Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 - 4 p.m.
Game-6:  Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 - 6:15 p.m.*

Saturday, March 3
Game-7:  Championship Game - 2:15 p.m.*

GIRLS SCHEDULE:

Friday, March 2
Game-1: Eau Claire North Co-op (24-3) vs. D.C. Everest Co-op (19-8) - 10 a.m.
Game-2: Sun Prairie Co-op (20-6-1) vs. Fond du Lac Co-op (19-8) - 12:15 p.m.*

Saturday, March 3
Game-3:  Championship Game - 12:10 p.m.

ON THE AIR:  The finals of the boys and girls State Tournaments will be televised live on WKOW Madison, WAOW Wausau, WXOW La Crosse, WQOW Eau Claire, WYOW Eagle River, WMOW Crandon, WCWF in Green Bay/Fox Valley, KBJR Superior/Duluth and WMLW Milwaukee. The finals will also be streamed live on the State Television Network’s websites.

STREAMS OF PRE-FINALS ON NFHS NETWORK:  The boys quarterfinals and semifinals, as well as the girls semifinals will be streamed live via subscription on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network.  To purchase a subscription to the live programming for only $9.95 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription image in the middle of the page. Archived streams of the sessions will be available On Demand on www.nfhsnetwork.com 72 hours after the tournament without requirement of a subscription.  

LAST YEAR:   Hudson won the program’s third championship by downing the Waukesha North/Pewaukee/St. John’s NW Military/Waukesha South/North Co-op 2-1 in the championship game. In the girls final, D.C. Everest/Mosinee/Wausau East/West/Co-op won its third championship by edging the Green Bay  East/West/ Southwest/Preble/Ashwaubenon/Bay Port/De Pere/ Notre Dame/Pulaski/Seymour/West De Pere Co-op 2-1 in overtime.

TOURNAMENT TEAM HISTORY:  The first WIAA State boys hockey championship game was held in 1971. Superior won the first championship and has won 12 more since to give the Spartans a membership-leading 13 State titles. Madison Memorial has won eight titles, and Madison East has won four. The first girls tournament was held in 2002. The D.C. Everest and Mosinee Co-op program has won three State crowns. Those came in 2008, 2012 and 2017. Hudson won the first two girls titles in 2002 and 2003, and one version of River Falls Co-op won championships in 2010 and 2011. Another River Falls configuration of the Co-op, with one additional school, skated to the title in 2009. One version of the Hayward Co-op won the title in 2013 and another version, adding three additional schools, won in 2016.

THE BOYS FIELD: Defending champion Hudson qualifies for the tournament for the 10th time and for the third straight season. The Raiders are the top seed in the tournament. They have now won three State titles. The first came in 2001, and the second followed in 2004. They also advanced to the championship final in 2016 and finished runner-up. This season, they defeated Superior 4-1 in the sectional final held in Amery to stay in the chase for the school’s fourth title. Second-seeded  Eau Claire Memorial is a State qualifier for the 18th time and for the 11th time in the last 12 years, only absent during that span in 2009. The Old Abes won their two State championships in 2008 and 2013. This season, they turned back crosstown rival Eau Claire North 4-0 in the sectional final held in Eau Claire to advance to the State quarterfinals. Last year’s runner-up Waukesha North/Pewaukee/St. John’s NW Military/Waukesha South/Waukesha West Co-op is making it’s third straight appearance in the State Tournament after qualifying for the first time in 2016. The Wings were issued the third seed. They advanced to the semifinals before being ousted from title contention in their first experience in the State tournament. They downed Marquette 5-2 in the Marquette Sectional final to advance to the quarterfinals. Notre Dame, the fourth seed, is making its sixth overall trip to the State tournament and its first since 2014. Their first five appearances came consecutively from 2010-14. The Tritons’ one State championship came in 2012. In each of the other four appearances, they advanced to the semifinals before being eliminated from title contention. The Tritons qualify this season following a 6-4 victory over the Neenah Co-op in the sectional final hosted by the Green Bay East Co-op. Verona returns to State for the first time since winning the championship in 2014 and for the seventh time overall. The Wildcats also advanced to the title game in 2013, coming away with a runner-up finish. They advance to the quarterfinals this season following a 4-3 double overtime triumph over Edgewood in the Madison Memorial Sectional final. West Salem/Bangor will experience the State tournament for the second time after making its first appearance a year ago. The Panthers fell in the quarterfinals. They qualify this year as representatives of the sectional held at Onalaska following a 4-0 shutout over Onalaska in the final. D.C. Everest will experience the State tournament for the first time in program history following the Evergreens’ 2-1 double overtime victory over Stevens Point in the sectional final played at D.C. Everest. It will also be the first appearance in the State tournament for the Saint Mary's Springs/Campbellsport/ Kewaskum/Lomira/North Fond du Lac/Oakfield Co-op. The Ledgers earned their advance to the State quarterfinal by knocking off University School 1-0 in the final of the Fond du Lac Sectional.

THE GIRLS FIELD:  The D.C. Everest/Marathon/ Merrill/Mosinee/Wausau East/Wausau West Co-op makes its first State appearance with this configuration of schools. The Co-op, without Marathon and Merrill included, won the title last year. The Storm made 10 State appearances with two other State titles. The first came in 2008 followed by another in 2012. They also advanced to the championship game in 2011 and finished runner-up. The Storm defeated the Marshfield Co-op 6-3 in the sectional final held at D.C. Everest to advance to the semifinals. The Sun Prairie/DeForest/Madison East/ Madison La Follette/Waunakee Co-op will make its second straight State appearance and its third overall. The Cougars lost in the semifinal in 2011 and again last year. This season, they skated to a 3-2 win over the Beloit Memorial Co-op in the Middleton Sectional final held in Sun Prairie to earn its return to the tournament field. The Fond du Lac/Beaver Dam/Campbellsport/Dodgeland/Kewaskum/Kohler/Oshkosh North/Oshkosh West/St. Mary's Springs/ Waupun/Wayland Academy Co-op will embark on its first State experience with this configuration of schools. Various other forms of the Fond du Lac Co-op have advanced to State a number of times, which have produced two State titles and three runner-up finishes. The Warbirds appearance this season comes virtue of a 5-2 victory over University School in the Fond du Lac Sectional final. The Eau Claire North/Altoona/Fall Creek/Eau Claire Memorial Co-op will participate in the State tournament for the first time in program history. The Stars skated past Hudson 6-1 in the sectional final played in Hudson to begin celebrating its first State appearance.

JEFF SAUER MEMORIAL HOCKEY CLINIC:  The Jeff Sauer Memorial Hockey Clinic will be held for junior high and middle school-aged individuals at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison on Saturday, March 3. The clinic runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. with registration at 8:30 a.m.  Cost of the clinic is $25. Vic Levine with serve as the head instructor. Register at: http://www.wahahockey.com/scripts/wiaa/clinic_reg.php.

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NEED RESULTS?:  The quickest way to get State hockey results will be to access the WIAA website at www.wiaawi.org and navigate to the respective hockey homepage.