ST. PAUL via MSHSL – Moorhead began the 2025-2026 Boys Hockey season as the defending Class AA champion and the preseason favorite to repeat. Lingering in the background, meanwhile, was Minnetonka, a team that had similar championship aspirations. The Skippers were hopeful of returning to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2023.
The two big-school powers met on Dec. 20 and Minnetonka skated away with a two-goal victory. The narrative changed and the Skippers were soon tagged as the team to beat.
Not so fast, Moorhead said.
The two would meet again in the season finale and Moorhead, awarded the No. 2 seed in the Class AA field, hoped for a chance to atone for the early season with a victory over the top-seeded Skippers. The journey the Spuds took to prove their point was one that will provide lasting memories for all that witnessed one of the most dramatic and stirring championship games in Minnesota State High School League history.
Junior forward Evan Wanner scored with 6:24 remaining in double overtime to complete a stunning 5-4 comeback victory over top-seeded Minnetonka when the No. 2-seeded Spuds were twice down by three goals. Moorhead (27-3-1) is the first Class AA school to repeat as state champion since Edina won consecutive crowns in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
In an end-to-end second overtime session, Wanner flew down the right side of the rink and fired a wicked wrist shot that found a narrow opening on the right side of the goal, a shot that made its way past Minnetonka senior goalie Chase Jerdee and set off an electrifying championship celebration.
“I got through the blue line, had a lot of room,” Wanner said. “Their gap wasn’t great, they were kind of tired. I found a way to shoot it through and it ended up going in. It was a pretty good shot. But then, I just kind of blacked out after that. I don’t even really remember what happened – just going down and thinking, wow, what a game. Everybody played unbelievable.”
It was the second game of Championship Saturday that required overtime to determine a champion. Earlier, No. 3 seed Warroad defeated No. 1 Hibbing/Chisholm/VCA for the Class A championship. The drama-filled day and night of hockey was further evidence that the League’s Boys Hockey State Tournament is arguably the marque state tournament event in the nation.
A Moorhead comeback seemed unlikely when Minnetonka (26-3-2) built a 4-1 lead on a goal by junior forward Max Aronson late in the second period. But the Spuds found another gear in the third period with three unanswered goals, including two from junior forward Zac Zimmerman. His second goal came with 36 seconds left in regulation time, with an extra attacker, that lifted the Spuds into a 4-all tie.
Minnetonka was cruising through nearly two periods of play behind Aronson, sophomore forward Cash Hardie and junior forward Liam Schultz, who all had two points each.
A season ago, Moorhead outpaced Stillwater for a 7-6 victory in the Class AA championship game and the program’s first state title. With Saturday’s successful repeat, the Spuds are 2-6 in championship games.
“Incredible character from the kids,” Spuds head coach Jon Ammerman said of his team’s successful title defense. “There was never a murmur on the bench of doubt. Just a tremendous, obviously, third period, but even in the second with all the things that went against them, we loved the second period. We still didn’t close the gap but for them to stick with it and to just dig in and to make those plays – the plays that were made and the goals that were scored were just phenomenal.”
