May 16, 2014 at 3:38 p.m.
'67 RHS ski team inducted into Hodag Hall of Fame
'67 RHS ski team inducted into Hodag Hall of Fame
Those words of wisdom from coach Gene Belmas helped guide the Rhinelander High School Alpine ski team to a WIAA state title in 1967 - its third title in five years.
The team's accomplishments were immortalized Wednesday as the squad was inducted into the Rhinelander Athletic Booster Club's Hodag Hall of Fame during the 34th annual ABC Banquet at Holiday Acres.
It was part of a moving night with over 120 people in attendance. Dave Rivord, a community member who has volunteered his time maintaining the skating rink at Pioneer Park, received the club's "Heart of the Hodag" award and two RHS seniors - Molly Willging and Mitchell Reinthaler - were presented with the club's $1,000 student-athlete scholarships.
The '67 ski team became the third RHS sports team to be enshrined in the Hodag Hall of Fame - joining the 1939 RHS boys' basketball team and the 1987 RHS boys' cross country team. Those teams also won WIAA titles.
The Hodags entered the 1967 state meet as the Northern Ski League champions. Despite finishing second in every league race, their overall time was fast enough to nip Ironwood for the league title.
At state, the Hodags were nearly seven seconds out of the lead following the downhill and giant slalom events, but were by far the class of the field in slalom, winning the event by over 10 seconds to capture the overall title by 5.8 seconds.
Belmas, a first-year coach whose expertise was ski jumping, not slalom skiing, said he gave the team some simple advice as they prepared for their runs.
"The slalom event won it for us and it was very interesting because I'd go to the top of the hill and say to the guys, 'Stand up. Don't DQ,'" Belmas recalled as in his acceptance speed for the team. "I'd go down to the bottom, 'Hey, you didn't DQ. Good job.' I'd run back up to the top. 'Go fast, but don't DQ,' and by gosh they did exactly that."
Dave Haug led the way for the Hodags at state that year, placing fourth overall. Carl Reevs, placed 10th, Bob Tillman was 22nd and Tom Guenther finished 24th. Belmas said the '67 ski team had all the elements of a successful squad.
"I believe that an athletic team has to have an attitude - a winning one," he said. "They have to have skills. I mean, if you can't ski, you don't belong on the team, right? Or you learn and become good at it. So individual skills, also the other thing was team goals. I really believe that they were team-oriented as opposed to (wanting) individual championships.
"All of our guys really took onto that. They were all very good skiers and they could ski like a son of a gun, but the thing of it is, if you DQed, your total wasn't used, so what good is it? That's why this team, I think, should be recognized for their team effort. Because they all had the goal for skiing good, skiing fast but within their abilities."
The entire 19-member team, and Belmas, were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Team members include Andy Davis, Reevs, Ron Skagen, Haug, Steve Schoepke, Max Harris, Charles MacDonald, Kevin Doherty, Dick Jensen, Tim Estabrook, Bob Kolstad, Tom Guenther, Bob Tillman, Tom Robertson, Scott Bradley, John Schneider, Terry Strong and Steve Blumreich, the majority of whom were in attendance Wednesday. Two members of the team - Reevs and Estabrook - were inducted posthumously. Both had family members present to collect Hall of Fame plaques on their behalf.
At the time the Hodag ski team was dominating the state landscape, high school hockey in Rhinelander was played outdoors at Pioneer Park. The rink is still there today located just across from the softball diamond and the community, in part, has Rivord, this year's "Heart of the Hodag" recipient, to thank for that
Roughly 10 years ago Rivord started volunteering his time to maintain the rink - from creating an even, snow-free sheet of ice in the winter, to helping mend boards in the summer.
"Since about 2005 Dave has done his best to keep the rink open for skaters and hockey players alike," Rivord's son, Eric, wrote in a statement that was read by ABC president Brandon Karaba. "Starting when the weather permits, sometimes between the beginning and middle of December, Dave begins to make an even sheet of ice by carefully applying water with a fire hose until the ice is thick enough to skate on. Throughout the winter, he keeps the ice free of snow and continues to add layers of ice to keep the skating surface smooth and free of cracks. It may sound easy, but standing in sub-zero temperatures with a firehose for several hours is not what most of us would consider a good time. Dave Rivord is a wonderful example of a hard working citizen who has stepped up to make our community a better place."
Willging and Reinthaler were honored as part of the ABC's long-standing tradition of giving back those who have been exemplary student-athletes both on and off the field. The ABC uses a number of criteria - including seasons played, letters earned, postseason awards, class rank and ACT scores - to determine its scholarship winners on a yearly basis.
Willging has competed in 11 RHS sports seasons in her career, with four years of girls' soccer, four years of girls' basketball and three years of girls' tennis. She is on pace to earn her 10th varsity letter this spring. She has served as a team captain and received all-Great Northern Conference recognition in all three sports.
Reinthaler has competed in 11 RHS sports seasons. He has logged four years of boys' basketball, four years of baseball, and three years of football, accumulating 7 letters. He has earned all-conference honors in all-three sports, is the reigning GNC boys' basketball player of the year, a NewsChannel 7 All-Star and will represent the Hodags at the WBCA All-Star game next month in Wisconsin Dells.
Willging ranks 30th in a this year's class of 204 students with a cumulative 3.929 grade point average. She will attend UW-Madison next fall, where she plans to major in genetics. Reinthaler ranks 28th with a cumulative 3.982 grade point average. He intends to play men's basketball at St. Norbert College in De Pere where he will focus on business studies.
The Rhinelander ABC is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has given over $10,000 back to the community in the form of monetary grants over the last 12 months. Since 2002, donations to RHS sports teams, Rhinelander area youth sports teams and other projects that fit within the club's mission statement have totaled over $221,000.
For full disclosure Jeremy Mayo is the current vice president of the Rhinelander Athletic Booster Club. He may be reached at [email protected].
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