MIDDLETON, Wis. — The high school hockey season came to an end Saturday.

What You Need To Know

  • The WIAA held its annual state hockey tournament Saturday

  • The Division II matchup saw the defending champions, the New Richmond Tigers, facing the Saint Mary's Springs Academy Ledgers

  • Saint Mary's Springs pulled ahead in the second period

  • The Ledgers took the Division II state title, 6-2

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) held its annual state tournament.

Competition got going right away Saturday morning. The Division II matchup saw defending champions, the New Richmond Tigers, facing the Saint Mary’s Springs Academy Ledgers.

LeVar Ridgeway, an assistant director with the WIAA, said Saturday capped off an exciting week of competition.

“Competition has been amazing,” Ridgeway said. “We’ve had some shootouts; we had some come-from-behind wins. The atmosphere has been electric.”

Fans of both teams packed the stands and players said they fed off that energy.

“It was just great to celebrate the team, especially the seniors coming out,” said Brendan Gaertig, a senior goalkeeper at Saint Mary’s Springs. “Students brought it, so we wanted to go share it with them. So, we’re just happy.”

Ridgeway said the energy and excitement for youth hockey has grown over the years. He said competitions like this have spurred that momentum.

“We have youth groups coming up,” Ridgeway said. “Hopefully, they’re here to see them in high school, where they could be in high school. So, we’re hoping that events like this create a buzz within the hockey community.”

For the teams, that excitement fuels their drive to succeed.

“There’s a lot of sleepless nights watching film, trying to figure out lineups, practice plans, it pretty much never ends,” said Kevin Collien, head coach at Saint Mary’s Springs.

For Saint Mary’s Springs, the hard work paid off. They pulled ahead in the second period and eventually took the title.

“Couldn’t imagine that at the beginning of the year, we always had hopes for that,” Gaertig said. “When we started 3-7 there was glimpses of it, but not until recently is this something that we really thought would happen.”

As competition wrapped up for the year, Ridgeway said he has high hopes for the sport’s growth in the future.

“Our hope is to expand the number of teams that we have within the WIAA, to expand the teams and create more opportunities for hockey around the state,” he said.

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