December 21, 2018 at 1:12 p.m.
Top 10 local games of 2018
GNC girls' tennis tourney top local game
Top 10 local games of 2018
Great games stick with you for different reasons. It could be a climatic finish. It could be what's on the line. Or, it could be the roller coaster of emotions the players and fans go through in the course of battle.
This year we were blessed with not one or two, but three games that match all the criteria above and will be recalled just as vividly in 2028 as they were in 2018.
Next year will mark my 14th year of writing sports in the Rhinelander area and I can tell you with absolute certainty the top three games of this year rank right up there were the best sporting events I have ever covered.
The rest of this year's top 10 local games aren't too shabby either. Here are my picks for the best of 2018.
1. Roberts robs the Robins - Great Northern Conference girls' tennis meet, Sept. 22
The way the Rhinelander and Antigo girls' tennis teams went back and forth during the 2018 season, their battle for the Great Northern Conference title seemed destined to come down to the wire.
In this case, down to the wire meant the last point of the last match in the Great Northern Conference tournament at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua
Rhinelander No. 2 singles player Emma Roberts rallied from down a set to defeat Antigo's Ellie Kelly in a super-tiebreaker to win an individual conference crown and, more importantly, regain the team conference championship for the Hodags after Antigo ended Rhinelander's run of seven straight conference titles in 2017.
The day was a microcosm of the season for the teams. Rhinelander's chances looked bleak after Antigo defeated the Hodags 4-3 in a dual meet Sept. 6 in Antigo. The Robins led the conference standings for much of the second half of the season until a 4-3 upset loss to Wausau Newman in the final dual of the year gave the Hodags a four-point lead heading into the conference tournament.
However, following a rough semifinal round that saw Rhinelander lose in four of the seven flights, the Hodags' conference title hopes were on life support again. Rhinelander would have to run the table in the final round, and get a little help from other teams, to win the conference title.
Rhinelander held up its end of the bargain and got the help it needed with wins by Wausau Newman and Pacelli over Antigo in the final round.
That set the stage for Roberts and Kelly, who had just started a 10-point supertiebreaker to determine their match when the last of the other matches had finished and the math became crystal clear - the winner of the Roberts-Kelly match would win the conference title for her team.
Roberts fell behind 5-1 in the race to 10, and later trailed 8-5, but never let Kelly get to match point. She reeled of five straight points, including a couple of bold winners to the corners to defeat Kelly 10-8 and bring the conference championship trophy back to Rhinelander.
"I had expected it to be a little easier, but you've got to do what you've got to do I guess," Roberts said with a wry smile.
Coach Bob Heideman said the Hodags could not have written a better script.
"This is as sweet of a conference championship as I can remember. I don't remember the drama like this. It's one to remember."
2. Ott-lasting the field - Wisconsin State Amateur, July 26
Minocqua Country Club made history at the start of the 117th Wisconsin State Amateur, becoming the northernmost venue for the Wisconsin State Golf Association's crown jewel event. The club made some history at the end of the tournament as well, as it was the stage for the longest playoff in State Am history and perhaps the tournament's most dramatic finish.
Harrison Ott outlasted Thomas Longbella in an eight-hole playoff to finally lift the State Am trophy following a final round epic that saw both golfers hit miraculous shots and let chances to win the title slip away.
That sting was perhaps the most poignant for Longbella, who took a one-shot lead on Ott heading to the final hole of regulation following a tap-in birdie on the 71st hole. But Longbella misfired with a layup off the tee of the uphill par-4 closer and eventually made bogey. Meanwhile, Ott blasted a drive into the center of the fairway and stuck his approach shot to five feet, only to miss the slippery right-to-left birdie putt and send the match to a sudden death playoff.
The players signed their final round scorecards but the drama had only just begun.
Ott missed another short putt for the win on the first playoff hole and settled for par. The two men traded birdies on the second playoff hole, pars on the third and birdies on the fourth. Longbella had a chance to win on the fifth playoff hole, but missed a five-footer for the win on the sixth playoff hole.
Ott, who displayed some short-game wizardry by flopping in from off the green for birdie on the 10th hole during the final round to begin his second-nine charge, pulled off the shot of the tournament on the sixth playoff hole. After hooking his second shot on the reachable par-5 underneath a pine tree short and left of the green, Ott chopped the ball out to within five feet of the hole and made the subsequent birdie putt, while Longbella two-putted for birdie to extend the playoff.
Two playoff holes later, back on the reachable par-5 first, Longbella missed left of the green and could not get up-and-down for birdie, while Ott landed just short of the putting surface, putted from off the green to within 6 feet and made the birdie putt to end an epic battle.
"It's pretty cool. I don't know if it's set in through all of that," Ott said.
Added Longbella: "I think it was more fun and enjoyable. You don't get to do that very often, honestly. To be in a playoff for eight holes and to go back-and-forth with a guy I've been playing golf with pretty much my whole life was pretty awesome."
3. Danny delivers in OT - Rhinelander vs. Mosinee, WIAA boys' hockey regional semifinal, Feb. 13
There is perhaps no greater spectacle in sports than overtime playoff hockey. The Rhinelander High School boys' hockey team experienced the heartbreak of having a season end in a blink of an eye in 2017 when East/Merrill knocked off the Hodags 3-2 in an extra session. This year, the shoe was on the other foot and the Hodags experienced the elation of surviving and advancing in the most dramatic way possible.
Danny Zuiker delivered a goal 5:53 into overtime as the Hodags defeated Mosinee 5-4 in a regional semifinal at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
"I got the puck, I looked up and saw there was not much room at all," Zuiker said. "So I just wound up and took the shot, saw that it snuck past the kid's leg. That's pretty much all I could see and then I saw the net move and then everyone started cheering."
It was Rhinelander's first playoff win since 2014, when it upset Mosinee 1-0 in the regional semis.
The fact that the game even got to overtime was something of a minor miracle. Mosinee scored twice in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the game to stun the home crowd. The Hodags briefly rallied to tie in the second period, but Mosinee scored a short time later and added a Keign Charneski goal 40 seconds into the third to take a 4-2 lead.
Abe Laggis got the Hodags back to within a goal with 7:48 left in regulation and, roughly four minutes later, freshman Harlan Wojtusik scored on the power play to help bring about bonus hockey.
The win was Rhinelander's 16th of the season, a program record for most wins in a season.
"We've battled a lot of adversity this year," Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. "To come from behind twice in that game sums up a lot of what we worked on. That was win No. 16 for us and that's huge. I'm proud of the kids."
4. Hugh hammers the Evergreens - Rhinelander vs. D.C. Everest, boys' soccer, Sept. 25
While the top three games of 2018 were all-time greats, the rest of the top 10 held its own as well.
It began with a wet and wild Hammer Game between former Wisconsin Valley Conference boys' soccer rivals Rhinelander at D.C. Everest at Mike Webster Stadium.
While the Hodags were struggling to find their footing in the GNC, the Evergreens entered the contest as co-leaders in the WVC standings. Those records didn't matter on this night.
The game was a defensive battle with less than ideal field conditions as a rainy September rendered the Mike Webster turf soft and slippery. Rhinelander sophomore Hugh Wiese finally broke a scoreless deadlock with a goal in the 83rd minute as the Hodags defeated D.C. Everest 1-0 to win the Hammer for the first time since 2011.
Both teams had several prime scoring opportunities, but neither side cashed in until late in the going as the Hodags pressured in the box one more time. Martin Hoger sent in a cross from the right flank that Wyatt Haverkampf grazed with his head and deflected straight to Wiese, who was unmarked on the back post.
"It was a split-second decision and I barely touched, barely passed it into the goal with my left foot," Wiese said.
The Hodags were fortunate that the game was still tied at that point. Keeper Josh Randolph made 12 saves in the match, including a stop on an Andrew Marquardt penalty kick in the 66th minute.
"The kids played a heck of a game," Hodag coach Dan Millot said. "Defensively, we were solid, bent but never broke."
5. T-Birds tamed - Rhinelander at Lakeland, girls' basketball, Dec. 7
Lakeland has had the Rhinelander High School girls' basketball team's number the last couple of seasons. Actually, the T-Birds has had the number of all the schools in the Great Northern Conference as of late as it has posted back-to-back undefeated conference championship seasons. Lakeland came into a home game against Rhinelander earlier this month having won 29 straight contests in the GNC.
The Hodags put that streak to bed. Kenedy Van Zile scored 34 points and the Hodags put the breaks on Lakeland's press and fast break attack to defeat the T-Birds 59-45 at the LUHS fieldhouse in Minocqua.
The Hodags led much of the way, but watched an 11-point halftime advantage dwindle to a single point just seven minutes into the second half. Instead of collapsing under the pressure, Rhinelander rose up with an 18-4 run that put the game away.
Rhinelander nearly knocked off Lakeland in Minocqua last season, losing by two points. Now that the Hodags have that monkey off their back, the are in position to perhaps do something no RHS girls' basketball team has ever accomplished - win a conference championship.
"I think, for our confidence, going into this game we had a lot of mental baggage. Last year, those kids worked really hard and we were so close," Clark said, referencing a two-point loss at Lakeland last season. "But now, I think once you beat them you know you can beat them. Maybe that stigma is out there a little bit."
6. Kings of the ring - Rhinelander at Medford, wrestling, Jan. 25
In 2017 Medford ended Rhinelander's string of three straight Great Northern Conference wrestling titles.
The Hodags weren't about to let the Raiders beat them again.
Rhinelander left little doubt as to which team was the most dominant in the GNC in 2018, walloping Medford in its own gym 48-22 in a conference dual meet.
Rhinelander won the first four contested bouts and led 33-3 at one point before cruising to the win. A senior-dominated team, the Hodags got things rolling with a come-from-behind pin by Scott Fox in the opening match and never looked back.
"I'm happy for our seniors that they took care of business," coach Paul Ellenbecker said. "It was a pretty cool environment. It was a big-time dual meet. That little Raider Hall, that's an awesome wrestling facility because everything's boxed in there. They had half their town there and it was quiet for a lot of the match."
The Hodags clinched a fourth conference title in five years by winning the GNC tournament a week and a half later.
7. Schickert saves the season - Rhinelander vs. Medford, WIAA Division 2 baseball regional semifinals, May 29
The Rhinelander High School baseball team had a first-team all-state player in Jacob DeMeyer and another all-state honoree in Brad Comer. Yet, with the team's playoff life on the line, someone else stepped up for the Hodags.
Junior Bryce Schickert came up with 4 1/3 strong innings of relief and delivered the go-ahead hit in the sixth inning as Rhinelander defeated Medford 7-6 at Stafford Field in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal.
With the game tied at 5 in the third inning, Schickert relieved an ineffective DeMeyer on the hill and fanned six batters the rest of the way. He added an RBI single in the fourth to give Rhinelander a 6-5 lead, and did it again after Medford tied the game in the fifth.
"He came in today and shut them down," Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said of Schickert's performance. "You can't say enough about what he did with his bat and then, in that last inning, coming in and striking out the side."
8. Upon further review - Rhinelander at Ladysmith/Bruce/Flambeau, girls' swimming, Sept. 20
The Rhinelander High School girls' swim team was unsure if it had won a GNC dual meet at Ladysmith/Bruce/Flambeau. The scoreboard said the Hodags had lost. The Great Northern Conference constitution said otherwise.
Ladysmith had credited itself with an 89-87 win over the Hodags, which was eventually changed to an 87-83 win for Rhinelander. At issue were six points Ladysmith had awarded itself for diving, which ran afoul of the GNC bylaws because Rhinelander does not offer diving as part of its swim program.
Item 4 under girls' swimming in the GNC constitution states, in part, "If the host team has diving and wants to dive and opponent doesn't have diving, the host team can dive but we will not score the diving."
The result, and the two extra conference points the Hodags received for winning the dual, proved important for Rhinelander as it finished second in the final conference standings for the second year in a row.
Still, it made for a bit of an unnerving ride home for the Hodags that night, while conference officials worked to sort through the confusion.
"I said at the end of the meet, 'You know what, we outswam them,'" coach Jenny Heck said. "That's exactly what we did. We had more points than they did swimming. That's what we're going by. They swam well and went after it."
9. Volleyball gets one - Rhinelander vs. Chequamegon, volleyball, Aug. 21
It was a rough season on the court for the Rhinelander High School volleyball team under first-year head coach Brianna Scheuermann, but the Hodags did have a positive note during their first tournament of the season.
The Hodags won a marathon match with Chequamegon to defeat the Screaming Eagles 23-25, 30-28, 15-13 as part of the Hodag Invite at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. The Hodags staved off match point down 27-26 in the second set and rallied back in the third set after trailing 7-1 and 13-9.
"It was definitely a nail-biter," said Scheuermann, in her first match after replacing long-time coach Kathy Wawrzynowicz on the Hodag bench. "I just kept telling them to 'push it, push it.' We came back and finished it out in the third (set)."
Unfortunately for Rhinelander, it was the only win of the season for a young team that featured only two seniors.
10. Bridger and the blizzard - WIAA Division 2 cross country sectionals, Oct. 20
Last year's top 10 list was rounded out by a cross country meet that featured a weather anomaly - an event was stopped mid-race due to lightning at Northland Pines. Weather and cross country find themselves paired together in the No. 10 spot again this year, except in a completely different fashion.
The WIAA Division 2 sectional in Freedom, which the Hodags raced in, was a weather spectacle to behold. Sleet fell periodically during the boys' race at Irish Waters Golf Club and by the time it was the girls's turn to take to the course, snow squalls had turned the scene into a real-life snow globe.
"We thought maybe rain and high 30s or low 40s, but this has just been the most unbelievable scene," coach M.J. Laggis said.
Beyond the weather, the meet was memorable for the fact that Rhinelander's Bridger Flory punched his ticket to the WIAA state meet with a fourth-place finish in the boys' race.
Also considered: Boys' basketball, Rhinelander vs. Medford (WIAA regionals); Boys' swimming, WIAA Division 2 sectionals; Gymnastics, WIAA Division 2 sectionals.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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