May 19, 2017 at 4:51 p.m.
Rhinelander tennis wins quad invitational
Hodags use event to prep for subsectional
Rhinelander tennis wins quad invitational
The Hodags hosted an invitational featuring Ashland, Newman Catholic and Shawano at Rhinelander High School for a sub-sectional primer.
Rhinelander started the afternoon by squaring off with Newman Catholic, a team the Hodags are going to see in the subsectional on Monday, followed by a matchup with Ashland in the second round, managing to defeat the former 6-1 and the latter 4-3.
Newman Catholic
Just a few days before Rhinelander will see Newman Catholic in subsectionals, it got an up-close and personal view.
The Hodags dominated this dual, getting wins in first singles from Logan Wild, Markus Johnson in second singles, Matt O'Melia in third singles and Russell Benoy in fourth singles, all in straight sets.
The second doubles tandem of Conner Young and Jared Haug, along with the third doubles team of Marshall Bessette and Logan Oestreich also earned wins in straight sets.
"Going in we were particularly concerned about Newman," RHS head coach Bob Heideman said. "The 6-1 was important. We knew they had a good first doubles team, but I think that those matches will help us in some seeds."
One of the highlights was a comeback win for Johnson, who outlasted his opponent, 6-2, 7-5.
"Markus had a very nice comeback in that match," Heideman said. "He played a nice athlete who had a good forehand. He had to just stick with it and the guy kind of came down -- his level of play came down and Markus was right there to take advantage. That was an important match for us."
The first doubles team of Jared Fabich and Grant Gilbert represented the only loss in that flight.
Ashland
In the second dual, Rhinelander's lower positions propelled it to victory.
Wild and Johnson both lost in first and second singles, respectively. Fabich and Gilbert also lost in first doubles, but the others pulled through in a dual that featured three different three-set matches.
O'Melia won 6-2, 6-1, while Benoy also earned a 6-2, 6-0 win.
Young and Haug came from behind to win second doubles after dropping the first set, while Bessette and Oestreich won two sets in third doubles.
"Our lower positions came through with some straight set wins," Heideman said. "I think Logan Oestreich and Marshall Bessette have blossomed here late in the season and they're playing some good doubles. I could say the same thing about Russell Benoy. They have just come into their own at the right time and I think that's going to help the team."
Subsectional outlook
The win against Ashland also earned an indirect win for Rhinelander, as the Oredockers defeated Shawano, which is also in the subsectional.
The Hodags believe that they can advance all seven positions to sectionals.
"Likely or not, we're shooting for it," Heideman said.
Antigo, whom Rhinelander beat twice this season should pose the biggest threat, along with Xavier, which beat the Red Robins 5-2 on Tuesday.
Although, Heideman doesn't believe the Hodags will see much of Xavier.
"In a sense, in many positions I don't think we'll face them the way the subsectional seeds out," Heideman said. "In one way I'm hoping that."
The WIAA Subsectional is set for Monday at Rhinelander High School, with a start time of 10:30 a.m.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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