April 2, 2018 at 12:48 p.m.
Team review: RHS wrestling
Team review: RHS wrestling
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
Standout seniors
The story of this year's team begins with the senior class of seven wrestlers - Jacob DeMeyer, Alec Kurtz, Reuben Guzik, Tyler Olson, Colton Krueger, Scott Fox and Alex Monk. Three of them placed in the top five of their weight classes at state, five qualified for state and six of them earned all-conference honors.
Two of them leave Rhinelander as all-time record holders. DeMeyer has Rhinelander's career wins record at 162. In addition to the career pins mark, Kurtz set an single-season wins record with 48 this season.
"These guys are all going to be part of Hodag history for some time to come," coach Paul Ellenbecker said. "People are going to remember this group as a special group."
The gauntlet
The Hodags' non-conference schedule read like a who's who of notable statewide tournaments. Rhinelander went to the Pulaski Dual, the Bay Port Battle on the Bay, the Marty Loy Classic in Fond du Lac and the Northern Badger Classis in River Falls - and that was just in the month of December.
The Hodags didn't just compete at these tournaments, they had success. Both DeMeyer and Kurtz won titles at the Battle on the Bay, Kurtz added a title at the Marty Loy and DeMeyer captured the Northern Badger title. Team-wise the Hodags placed in the top quarter of the field at the Battle on the Bay and the Marty Loy and were fourth overall in a 44-team field at the Northern Badger.
"We did it. We ran the gauntlet this year," Ellenbecker said. "Little, small victories wrestling teams like that and good wrestlers and seeing our kids get better, that was the whole purpose of the schedule.
"We earned a lot of respect around the state and that's a tribute to our kids."
Reclaiming the GNC
By the standards of the Hodags' tough non-conference schedule, recapturing the Great Northern Conference title was a breeze - not that the GNC was a pushover this year.
"Antigo had their best team in at least 10 years. Medford had their best team in at least 10-12 years for sure. Lakeland probably had their best team in 10 years," Ellenbecker said. "The level of competition at our conference tournament has gone up tremendously."
The Hodags got progressively better in dual meet wins over Tomahawk, Lakeland, Mosinee and Antigo to set up a showdown for first in the conference at Medford, which had unceremoniously defeated the Hodags the season before.
The Hodags returned the favor this time around, jumping out to an early 33-3 lead on their way to a 48-22 win and sole possession of first place entering the conference tournament.
"We probably had our best match of the year. We just crushed them that night," Ellenbecker said of the Medford dual. "It was so much fun, after how they beat us hear the year before, that match in Medford I don't think anyone expected us to be up 33-3."
The Hodags rode that success into the conference meet where they pulled away in the final round to defeat Medford and Antigo for the conference title.
State tournament
Rhinelander's group of seniors simply would not be denied during the WIAA tournament series. Guzik, Olson, DeMeyer, Kurtz and Krueger all won regional titles. Olson, DeMeyer and Kurtz added sectional titles and all five made it to the state meet.
DeMeyer reached the state semifinals for the second straight year, losing to eventual champion Drew Scharenbrock of Sun Prairie. Guzik met a similar fate in his bracket, running into undefeated state champ Eric Barnett of Hortonville in the semifinals. Both rebounded to win their last match, with DeMeyer finishing third at 145 and Guzik taking fifth at 113.
Kurtz nearly joined the two in the semis, but gave up a third-period lead to Kimberly's Alex Mischka in the quarterfinals. Kurtz worked his way through the wrestleback and settled the score with Mischka, holding on for a 3-1 win in the third-place match.
Even though Olson and Krueger didn't place at state, both qualified for the second day of the tournament.
"Unfortunately we didn't get anyone in the finals like we hoped, but you're going to win some, lose some. We competed and I can't say enough about our effort this weekend," Ellenbecker said.
What's next
Losing five state qualifiers will certainly be a big hit for the RHS wrestling program moving forward, but the Hodags will return a trio of sectional qualifiers in Tim Fox, Walker Hartman and Eric Grulke, along with all-conference recipients Trevor Knapp and Hunter Greyhair.
Ellenbecker said it's on the underclassmen to uphold the reputation this year's seniors have built.
"We have a reputation now in the conference and when people beat Rhinelander they are going to be happy about it and they're going to be excited about it because it's going to be a big deal," he said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.