THE TOURNAMENTS:  The 47th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Hockey State Tournament and the 16th Girls Hockey State Tournament will take place Thursday-Saturday, March 2-4, 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 31 girls teams at the beginning of the championship tournament series this year. 

BOYS SCHEDULE: (* approximate times)

Game-1:  Waukesha North Co-op (24-3) vs. Arrowhead (24-2-1) - 11 a.m.

Game-2:  Bay Port (19-9) vs. Sun Prairie (17-8-1) - 1:15 p.m.*

Game-3:  Hudson (24-2-1) vs. Eau Claire Memorial (19-7-1) - 5 p.m.

Game-4:  Wausau West (23-3-1) vs. West Salem/Bangor (22-3-1) - 7:15 p.m.*

Game-5:  Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 - 5 p.m.

Game-6:  Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 - 7:15 p.m.*

Game-7:  Championship Game - 2:15 p.m.*

Game-1:  Hayward Co-op (19-5-2) vs. Green Bay East Co-op (21-3-3) - 11 a.m.

Game-2:  D. C. Everest Co-op (20-4-1) vs. Sun Prairie Co-op (20-3-2) - 1:15 p.m.*

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:  The Appleton East/West/North co-op won its first championship by edging Hudson 2-1 in the championship game. In the girls final, the Hayward/Ashland/Northwestern/Rice Lake/Shell Lake/Spooner co-op won its first State girls championship by edging the University School/Divine Savior Holy Angels/ Nicolet/Shorewood/Whitefish Bay co-op 4-1 in the final.

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. 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 co-op, with one additional school, skated to the title in 2009. The D.C. Everest and Mosinee co-op program won State crowns in 2008 and 2012. 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:  Eau Claire Memorial is a State qualifier for the 17th time and for the 10th time in the last 11 years, only absent during that span in 2009. The Old Abes won their two State championships in 2008 and 2013. This season, they defeated Chippewa Falls 4-2 in the sectional final held in Eau Claire to advance to the State quarterfinals. Wausau West will be appearing in the State Tournament for the 16th time overall and for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. The Warriors finished runner-up in their most recent appearance in 2015. They played in three consecutive tournament finals from 2010-12, winning the championship in 2011 and finishing runners-up in 2010 and 2012. The first of their four runner-up finishes came in 2000. They edged Stevens Point 3-2 in overtime to advance from the Mosinee Sectional final. Last year’s runner-up Hudson qualifies for the tournament for the ninth time and for the second straight season. The Raiders won the second of their two championships in 2004. Their first came in 2001. They defeated Superior 7-0 in the sectional final held in Hudson to earn another berth in the quarterfinals. Sun Prairie is back in the State Tournament field for the first time since 2004 and for the sixth time overall. The Cardinals have one State championship on the ledger, that came in 1997. In addition, they recorded a runner-up finish in 1990. The Cardinals remain in contention for their second title following a 5-3 victory over Verona in the sectional final held in Middleton. The Waukesha North/Pewaukee/St. John’s NW Military/Waukesha South/Waukesha West co-op is making it’s second straight appearance in the State Tournament after qualifying for the first time in 2016. The Wings advanced to the semifinals before being ousted from title contention. They blanked the Beloit Memorial co-op 4-0 in the Janesville Sectional final. Arrowhead qualifies for the third time. The Warhawks’ previous appearances resulted in a State championship in 2009 and a runner-up finish in 2005. Last weekend, they defeated University School 4-1 in the sectional final to return to the final eight. Bay Port is making its first-ever appearance in the State Tournament following the Pirates’ 3-2 win over the Neenah co-op in the sectional final held in De Pere. West Salem/Bangor will also be experiencing the State Tournament for the first time in program history. The Panthers qualify as representatives out of the sectional held at Lake Delton with a 5-2 triumph over the Reedsburg co-op in the final.

THE GIRLS FIELD:  Defending champion Hayward/Ashland/Northwestern/Rice Lake/Shell Lake/Spooner has qualified for the State Tournament for the third straight season and for the third time overall in its present form. In previous configurations, the co-op qualified twice, which resulted in a State title in 2013 and a loss in the semifinals in 2012. The Hurricanes’ earned a shot at repeating as State champs following their 5-4 win over Hudson in the Chippewa Falls Sectional final. The D.C. Everest/Mosinee/Wausau East/Wausau West co-op, formerly identified as the Mosinee co-op with the same schools, returns to State for the 10th straight season, which also accounts for the overall total. The Storm has won two State titles, one in 2008 and the other in 2012. They also finished runner-up in 2011. The Storm defeated the Xavier co-op 7-1 in the sectional final held at D.C. Everest. The Sun Prairie/DeForest/Madison East/Madison La Follette/Waunakee co-op returns to the ice at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center for the first time since its only other State experience in 2011. The Cap City Cougars lost in the semifinals that year. This season they skated to a 3-2, two overtime win over the Beloit Memorial co-op in the sectional final held in Sun Prairie to earn its second berth in the State Tournament. The Green Bay East/Preble/Southwest/West/Ashwaubenon/Bay Port/De Pere/Notre Dame/Pulaski/Seymour/West De Pere co-op qualifies for the second time in this configuration of schools. The Ice Bears won the title in 2014. A version of the co-op without Pulaski advanced to the State final and finished runner-up in 2010. This season, they downed the University School co-op 3-1 in the final of the sectional held in Fond du Lac.

FUTURE ALL-STATER HOCKEY CLINIC:  The fifth annual Future All-Stater Hockey Clinic will be held for junior and middle school-aged individuals at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison on Saturday, March 4. 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.

FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA:  Receive updates of the State Boys and Girls Hockey Tournaments on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaahockey. Also like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram at wiaawi, and add us on Snapchat at wiaawis.

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.