11/20/13 - Update

I just heard back from Tom Shafranski, Director of Hockey for the WIAA. He says that the Bracket.pdf on the WIAA website is good for showing the Sectional assignments for the schools, it is not the State Tournament bracket. The actual schedule shown below is the correct matchup, with Section 1 vs. Section 6, etc.

Game on!

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Or is it "who plays whom?" I'm not a grammer guru like Webjr.

Alert reader Preston Witt was asking us about this season's State Tournament matchups. So we checked out the Tournament Bracket on the WIAA web site. I've got it attached over there on the right column.

According to that document, the pairings are Sections 1 vs. 2, Sections 3 vs. 4, Sections 5 vs. 6, and Section 7 vs. 8. Preston pointed out that this matchup just happened recently. I checked and he is correct, this is the grouping used in 2010. There is supposed to be a master rotation schedule that they follow so that every section plays a different section over a 7 year cycle.

Digging deeper on the WIAA site, I found their Tournament Regulations. According to that document, the pairings are:

Thursday, March 6 - 12 noon (Boys Quarterfinals)
     Game 1 – Sectional #1 winner vs. Sectional #6 winner
     Game 2 – Sectional #2 winner vs. Sectional #5 winner
Thursday, March 6 - 6 p.m. (Boys Quarterfinals)
     Game 3 – Sectional #3 winner vs. Sectional #8 winner
     Game 4 – Sectional #4 winner vs. Sectional #7 winner

This grouping hasn't been used since 2003. This doesn't represent a 7 year rotation either, but it is a different matchup than we have seen in a while. Is there a master plan? Do they just pull the sections out of a hat each year? Inquiring minds want to know. Heck, I'd like to know which document is correct, then we can ask why.

Further details as we find them.