February 5, 2018 at 2:40 p.m.
Back where they belong
Hodags have five individual champs, win GNC outright
Back where they belong
The Hodags earned five individual conference championships, and placed in the top three in 11 of the 14 weight classes, as they took the Great Northern Conference title Saturday at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua.
Tied with Medford for first place halfway through the final round, the Hodags put the hammer down and eventually won the meet by 42 points while the Raiders faded to third place on the day behind Antigo.
After losing the conference title to an upstart Medford team last season, the Hodags and their strong senior class left no doubt about their dominance this year. It was Rhinelander's fourth conference title in five years, but their first outright title since the 2014-15 season.
"We bounced back this year," Hodag coach Paul Ellenbecker said. "To get the conference title, it's a good feeling. It's a really good feeling. It never sucks winning conference, especially this year with the GNC being as tough as it is. It's the best conference it's been in seven years and our guys just came together today and did what they're supposed to do."
The senior class again carried the banner for the Hodags. Reuben Guzik, Tyler Olson, Jacob DeMeyer, Alec Kurtz and Colton Krueger all won conference titles. Fellow senior Scott Fox finished in a three-way tie for first at 170 pounds, but was awarded third place based on tie-breaking criteria.
"I knew we were going to pull it out in the end with this great senior class and I'm excited to celebrate with these guys," said Krueger, who put the bow on a great day for the Hodags with a 9-2 decision over Mosinee's Jose Mohr in the championship match at 285 pounds.
The day was filled with drama as Medford, Rhinelander and Antigo were locked in a close three-way battle for the lead much of the way. The Hodags were tied with Medford 294-294 heading to a championship bout at 145 pounds between DeMeyer and Medford's Andy Poetzl. DeMeyer controlled the first period, but appeared to take a foot to the face as Poetzl tried to make an escape and was down on the mat for a brief period of time as the team and the trainers looked at him.
"You could tell he was OK when he looked at me and said, 'I'm going to pin him,' or something like that, not those exact words," Ellenbecker said.
Moments later, DeMeyer rose to his feet, collected himself and fulfilled that promise, pinning Poetzl midway through the second period to become a four-time conference champion.
After that, there was no holding the Hodags back. Rhinelander went 10-4 in the final round, including 5-1 in head-to-head matches against the Raiders. Kurtz put the exclamation point on the day by pinning Medford's Jake Rau in the championship match at 195 pounds.
"It felt pretty good to finally pin him," Kurtz said. "That was my third time wrestling him and I felt like I've dominated every match I've had against him, but I finally got him on his back and stuck him."
Kurtz and Guzik had similar paths to the title as they dominated their opponents all day. Kurtz earned pins in the three contested matches that he had. Guzik pinned his first three opponents before controlling Medford's Jake Brunner 8-2 in the final round, earning his first conference title in the process.
"Reuben's been close a number of times," Ellenbecker said. "He lost a three-way one year, but Reuben dominated the competition today. He's ready to go (for the postseason). He's such a good athlete and he's got so many good wins on the season. I'm excited to see what he's going to do."
Olson also claimed his first conference title and, perhaps, had the most difficult road of the Hodag championship quintet. He had his own injury scare in a fourth-round bout against Lakeland's Dejay Nordrum. Olson was slow to get up after hitting the hardwood floor when he and Nordrum tumbled off the mat. Olson eventually lost a 6-4 decision, but beat Medford's Dane Higgins 1-0 in the final round to create a three-way tie for first between himself, Higgins and Nordrum at 4-1. Olson won the title via tiebreaker. Of the three, Olson had the most pins (2) in the shortest amount of time (3:36).
"T.O. (Olson) pinned people and we talked all week long that pinning people was going to make the difference in this tournament," Ellenbecker said. "We got an awful lot of pins and did some awesome things. T.O.'s just continuing his year and beat a very good kid from Medford in the finals."
Bumping up to heavyweight, Krueger dodged a bullet in his first match of the day after getting put to his back and nearly pinned by Lakeland's Delsin Flemming.
"I was glad to get away with one there in the first round," said Krueger, who recovered to beat Flemming 19-7. "Then I recaught my bearings and wrestled a lot smarter the rest of the day."
Krueger scored first-period pins in his next three matches before knocking off Mohr in the finals, 9-2.
"Pretty much everything went our way and I rode that momentum and I got a win against Jose that I'm really proud of," he said. "I was giving up a lot of weight and he's a really good wrestler, really strong."
Scott Fox didn't join his teammates on the top step of the podium, but set the tone early by edging top-seeded Xavier Burgess of Lakeland in the first round, 4-3. He, Burgess and Antigo's Korbin Krueger all finished 4-1 at 170, but Burgess and Krueger each had three pins to Fox's none.
"We've been waiting for this from Scott all year to have that good moment," Ellenbecker said. "It's unfortunate he couldn't be on the podium as the first-place guy but we know he tied for first, and we're happy for that. (His match against Burgess) was one of the best matches of the day. That really got us going."
Fox's younger brother, Tim, finished second in a disputed championship match at 106. Leading 7-4 late in the third, Fox gave up a reversal to Mosinee's Chase Kmosena. Then Mosinee successfully argued that Kmosena should be awarded a penalty point after the referee cautioned Fox for stalling, for what they claimed was the second time in the match. Fox eventually lost in overtime, 13-7.
Walker Hartmann (138 pounds), Kyle Kuester (160), Hunter Greyhair (182) and Trevor Knapp (220) all recorded third-place finishes for the Hodags.
"We didn't lose many matches the last round and a half," Ellenbecker said. "The light switch came on and I'm super excited that we can be conference champs again and am looking for to regionals."
Rhinelander will compete in a WIAA Division 1 regional this coming Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids.
Freelancer Bob Mainhardt contributed to this report from Minocqua.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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