Meet the couple whose ‘promposal’ at the Minnesota boys hockey state tournament went viral
Not long after Luverne secured its third ever trip to the boys hockey state tournament, senior Brady Bork started racking his brain for ideas. He’s been watching the state tournament since he was as kid, so naturally, he understands the importance of the player introductions.
Most players use the moment as a chance to say hi to Mom and Dad, while others use it as a chance to audition for a All-Hockey Hair Team.
As for Bork, well, he had something else up his sleeve. He taped up his hockey stick and wrote three words on blade. Then he waited for his moment.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now,” Bork said. “I figured I might as well do it.”
As soon he heard his his name, Bork skated to the blue line at Xcel Energy Center and revealed his message to his girlfriend: “Hey Sarah, Prom?” Here’s a TikTok video:
@bauerhockey The best promposal of all time? #hockey #minnesota #prom #thetourney #highschoolhockey
Who exactly was the subject of the promposal? That was would be junior Sarah Stegenga. She woke up early on Wednesday morning and made the 3½-hour drive to St. Paul thinking she was simply going to watch her boyfriend play in the state tournament.
Not go viral.
“It’s funny because Brady had asked me before, like, ‘What should I say when I get up there?’ ” Stegenga said. “His sister told him maybe he should ask me to prom. He was, like, ‘No I’m not doing that.’ Then when he actually did it, I was super shocked.”
As the promposal started to spread like wildfire on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, neither Bork or Stegenga realized it. He was too busy playing in the game. She was too busy watching in the stands.
“It was the end of the second period and Brady’s mom came up to me, like, ‘Sarah! It’s blowing up on Twitter!’ ” Stegenga said. “I was, like, ‘Oh my gosh. Really?’”
At that point, Stegenga figured she had better respond, if only for those invested on social media. She walked over to the Bauer table during intermission, asked if she could use a hockey stick and in big bubble letters, wrote, ‘Yes!’ She took a picture and tweeted it out.
“The people at Bauer were very nice about it,” she said. “They told me I could just keep the stick as a memory.”
After finishing up his game, Bork quickly realized how much attention the promposal had garnered on social media.
“As soon as I got back to the locker room, everyone was saying that Twitter was blowing up,” Bork said. “I actually didn’t really see how she responded to it until I went upstairs to see her.”
The couple is approaching their three-month anniversary. The prom at Luverne High School is scheduled for the last weekend in April.
Though the game itself didn’t go as planned — Luverne fell 6-0 to Hermantown — Bork and Stegenga walked away with a moment they will never forget.
“It means a lot for us to make it to the state tournament,” Bork said. “This is the cherry on top.”