The Dodge County Wildcats beat two top 15-ranked teams to win the Section 1, Class 1A boys hockey championship and earn a trip to the Class 1A state tournament.
Wednesday, the Wildcats will not only face another ranked opponent. They’ll face the No. 1 team in the state.
Dodge County (19-8-1 overall) is the No. 8 seed in The Tourney, and will play the first game of this year’s tournament, at 11 a.m. Wednesday against No. 1 Hibbing/Chisholm (24-2-1) at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
The Wildcats and Bluejackets did not meet during the regular season.
Hibbing/Chisholm won the Section 7, Class 1A championship in overtime, beating rival and No. 9-ranked Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at approximately the same time last Wednesday night that Dodge County finished its 4-2 victory against No. 7-ranked Northfield at the Rochester Recreation Center.
Dodge County beat No. 14 Waseca in the section semifinals, 4-3 in OT.
Other Class 1A state quarterfinal matchups on Wednesday include No. 4-seeded Mahtomedi (17-9-2) vs. No. 5 St. Cloud Cathedral (17-11-0) at 1 p.m., No. 7 Mankato West (19-7-2) vs. No. 2 Delano (22-4-2) at 6 p.m., and No. 6 Northern Lakes (17-10-1) vs. No. 3 Warroad (22-5-1) at 8 p.m.
All championship round games of the state tournament can be streamed at
Prep45.com
, or viewed on Start-TV (ch. 384, Spectrum cable, Rochester area). All consolation round games and the third-place games can be streamed at
NSPN.tv/MSHSL
, for a fee.
The consolation semifinals are set for 10 a.m. and noon on Thursday, March 5, at 3M Arena at Mariucci, in Minneapolis.
Friday’s state semifinals are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at GCA, while Saturday’s fifth-place game is at 10 a.m. at Mariucci, the third-place game is at 9:30 a.m. at GCA, and the championship game at noon at GCA.
• In the Class 2A bracket, Section 1 champion Lakeville South is the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 Moorhead — the defending state champion — at 6 p.m. Thursday at GCA in the state quarterfinals. Other Class 2A quarterfinals include: No. 1 Minnetonka vs. No. 8 Gentry Academy (11 a.m.), No. 4 Rosemount vs. No. 5 Grand Rapids (1 p.m.); and No. 3 Edina vs. No. 6 Andover (8 p.m.).
The Class 2A consolation semifinals are at 10 a.m. and noon on Friday, March 6, at Mariucci, while the semifinals are set for 6 and 8 p.m.at GCA.
The Class 2A state championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.
CLASS 1A TOURNAMENT BRACKET
CLASS 2A TOURNAMENT BRACKET
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