On the weekend of March 13-15, the Missoula Bruins Varsity Hockey team went into the State Tournament as the top-seed. They started off strong with a 9-2 win over Great Falls, followed by 5-3 win over Flathead and 5-2 over Helena. The Bruins took the State Championship title by beating Bozeman 6-3 in the finals without losing a single game in the tournament.
“It was definitely stressful,” said Jake Pierson, a senior defenseman for the Bruins varsity team. “I think a lot of us said the semis were a bit more stressful than the final.”
The State Tournament was held in Missoula at the Glacier Ice Rink, which made the win even better because it was at home.
“We played some of the best teams,” Pierson said. “It went pretty well. We won all of our games, so went undefeated throughout the state [tournament].”
After winning their State title, the Bruins made their way to the 2026 Chipotle-USA Hockey High School 1A National Championships where the best teams from all over the country played each other. Making it to Nationals is not based on winning the state title; instead, earlier in the year the Bruins decided they wanted to go to Minnesota and had played Billings three times to decide which team would attend.
“We were in a pool of four…we won two of our pool games and lost one… that sent us into the quarterfinals,” Pierson said. The Bruins beat the Connellsville Falcons (PA) and Frisco (TX). Unfortunately, they then lost 0-1 in the quarterfinals against Bishop Gorman (NV) but still represented Missoula at the National level. “We either got somewhere from 5th to 8th out of the 16,” Pierson said.
When asked about the team and the last time they made it to Nationals, Pierson said, “I don’t think it’s because of skill or anything. I think we have some really good teams. The last time the Missoula varsity team went was a couple years ago.”
The Bruins varsity team is also very close, which contributed to the amazing State and National run. “We worked really hard on and off the ice,” Pierson said. “It was a really fun environment and everyone was super good. We were joking with each other and we are a close group, which in our games kind of translated.”
Overall, the Missoula Bruins had an impressive win in Montana gaining the State title and successful time in Minnesota despite falling short in the quarterfinals.
