March 16, 2018 at 2:00 p.m.
Seniors honored at RHS wrestling banquet
DeMeyer, Kurtz co-MVPs
Seniors honored at RHS wrestling banquet
All seven seniors - Reuben Guzik, Tyler Olson, Jacob DeMeyer, Alex Monk, Scott Fox, Alec Kurtz and Colton Krueger - won the team's Ironman Award during a banquet in the RHS commons. Five of the seven were conference champs and state qualifiers this year. Three of them wound up placing at the WIAA state meet - the first time the Hodags have had three state placewinners in one season.
As iron men, the Hodag seniors will have their pictures displayed in the team's wrestling room as role models for future RHS grapplers to look up to.
"This senior class, as a whole, we can't pick one (for the award)," coach Paul Ellenbecker said. "What these guys brought to the table, what these guys did, they're examples for kids in the future. Every single one of them deserves to (have their picture) hung up in the wrestling room. These guys are all going to be part of Hodag history for a long time to come. They're going to remember this group as a special group."
The Hodags had to narrow that list of seniors down to find an MVP. Even then the team could not settle on one as DeMeyer and Kurtz shared the award.
"These two boys right here are two of the most dominant kids I've seen in the room and both very deserving of the award," said assistant coach Joe Mullikin, who presented the award to the two wrestlers. "I can't say enough about these two. It's been an absolute honor and privilege to coach them."
Both DeMeyer and Kurtz had equally impressive resumes this year. Kurtz went 48-2 on the season with conference, regional and sectionals
titles en route to a third-place finish at the WIAA state tournament.
"You look at the total body of the work this year, it's pretty impressive, 48-2," Ellenbecker said. "He only loses two matches and, earlier on we talked about our schedule, that's crazy. He absolutely tore through the competition this year. Unfortunately, the state tournament is pretty unforgiving. You have one match that doesn't go your way (and it's over). Alec I thought had a good chance to be a state champ. That's how talented he is, but one moment isn't going to take away from everything he accomplished this year."
DeMeyer was 47-2 on the season and also won conference, regional and sectional titles on his way to a third-place finish at state. Additionally, DeMeyer was a fourth-place finisher at state as a junior, a four-time state qualifier and finished his career with a school-record 162 wins.
"You look at Jacob's resume over the last four years and the records speak for themselves," Ellenbecker said. "He's the all-time wins leader in Rhinelander and that might stand there for a while. As far as the wrestling goes, we know the accolades are there. Ultimately though, you look at Jacob's big impact ... he likes wrestling and what he did in practice, what he did to prepare for this journey to get to where he's at, it's pretty remarkable."
Olson took home the team's most-improved wrestler award, going 41-8 this season, en route to his first conference championship and first WIAA state tournament appearance.
"Tyler, overall this year, made a big jump," Ellenbecker said. "Wrestling 12-13 years, it's easy to go through the motions your senior year, but Tyler made a big jump this year from a kid that would win 30-32 matches. This year he picked it up a notch and you could just tell. He went out, competed and beat, I would estimate, 8-10 ranked kids this year. He embraced it. He went after it and he made his senior year the best year he could possibly make it."
The Hodags handed out several other awards during the course of the banquet. Freshman 106-pounder Tim Fox was named the team's rookie of the year after finishing second in the GNC and qualifying for sectionals. Sophomores Hunter Greyhair and Trevor Knapp, and freshman Walker Hartman received the team's "next level" awards given to wrestlers the coaching staff feels are primed to make a jump and improve the following season.
Ben Sinclair received the "mini-machine" award, a special award presented by assistant coach Jim Kreitlow, nicknamed "The Machine" by the team for his commitment to staying in shape.
The Hodags won their fourth Great Northern Conference championship in five years this season, placed third as a team at regionals and second at sectionals. With a brutal non-conference schedule that included two invites at Pulaski, the Battle on the Bay in Suamico, the Marty Loy Classic in Fond du Lac and the Northern Badger Classic in River Falls, Ellenbecker said his team "ran the gauntlet," during the course of the season.
"We (compete) the best schedule of any team in Rhinelander by far and I don't think a lot of people realize that outside the people in this room who actually go see it," he said.
Also during the banquet, the team took a moment to honor former assistant coach and friend of the program, Tom Handrick, who passed away earlier this month.
"The guy had a heart of gold. I don't know how many kids he helped out, how many people he helped out," Ellenbecker said. "He's going to be missed. I just wanted to bring him up tonight and his appreciation for everyone, not just in wrestling but in life. He lived life like you should. A lot of people talk good but Tom backed it up. He put time in and did whatever he needed to do to help people out."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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