Pipe Major Geoff Hallberg said he expected the win would mean the band, with an average age of 22, would compete in first grade next year, 10 years after it last took part in that grade.
For Mr Hallberg, who has been playing the pipes since 1990 and describes himself as a veteran at the age of 32, the promotion is the realisation of the goal he set when he took on the pipe major's job six years ago.
At the weekend competition, the band beat four others to make a clean sweep of the music sections (in the street march, the medley and the set).
The grade 2 contest was a South Island battle, with second place shared by Temuka Pipe Band and St Andrews College.
In the competition, the band with the lowest score wins. The Dunedin band scored 12 points, six points below the second place-getters.
Drum major Cameron Taylor (19), who flourishes the mace at the head of the band, took third place in the open drum major competition, a particularly commendable achievement both because of his age and the fact it was his first year with the band, Mr Hallberg said.
He was formerly with John McGlashan College Pipe Band.
Mr Hallberg said the band would be one of the youngest grade 2 bands in the country, but he believed pipe bands had become very attractive to young people.
There had been a lot of interest from young drummers and pipers in Dunedin since the band won the title last year.
There was no secret to the wins, just a lot of hard work. Members will take a couple of weeks off and then start practice in earnest, for the world championships, in Glasgow in August. There, they will compete against about 35 other grade 2 bands from around the world.
A team of 35 will travel to the championships, something Mr Hallberg says is a first for a Dunedin band.
The championships were open to all bands, but ‘‘you don't want to go over there if you're not top of your game'', Mr Hallberg said.
