May 23, 2018 at 12:58 p.m.
Hodag netters send five flights to sectionals
Hodag netters send five flights to sectionals
The Hodags went 10-2 on Monday and advanced five flights to sectionals in a WIAA Division 2 subsectional at the RHS tennis courts.
Top singles player Markus Johnson entered Wednesday's sectional round in Kohler one win away from qualifying for the WIAA state tournament. The same was true for the Hodags' No. 1 doubles team of Connor Young and Jared Haug.
Rhinelander also advanced Jacob Weddle in singles and the doubles teams of Jared Fabich and Grant Gilbert, and Cade Aschenbrenner and Logan Oestreich.
For Rhinelander, that's all five seniors, a junior and a freshman who advance to sectionals - a fitting tribute said coach Bob Heideman.
"This senior class, first of all it's unusual to have five," Heideman said. "We don't get many with five and all such individual stories with Markus and Jared being there since freshmen and the rest really not playing a lot of tennis before their freshman years. It's a nice story and it's strong leadership and I'm happy they're going to be there at Kohler to play."
Johnson had to survive a bit of a scare in his only match at No. 1 singles, after splitting the first two sets with seventh-seeded Tanner Stueck of Antigo with matching 6-3 scores. Johnson got a break to go ahead 4-2 in the third set and never looked back.
"I think Markus, our most experienced player, had the biggest case of nerves," Heideman said. "He just kind of waited it out and played enough tennis that he started to get some confidence. Once he got that confidence and he was hitting some shots, it wasn't much of the match."
Weddle, a freshman, had no difficulty at the No. 3 singles flight. As the top seed in the draw, Weddle routed Wausau Newman's Nick Thums 6-0, 6-0 and then Lakeland's Zach Kane 6-1, 6-1.
Heideman said he expected Weddle to face a stiffer challenge in Wednesday's sectional round.
"That's the thing about tennis. You win and you move up a notch," he said. "It will be interesting to see how he handles the next level. But, he's a solid player and I'll be real interested to see that."
Both Russell Benoy and Freddy Wisner were stopped one round shy of sectionals in singles play. Benoy needed a spirited third-set rally against fourth-seeded Noah Steinberg of Fox Valley Lutheran just to get to the second round. Down 5-2 in the third set, Benoy won five straight games to defeat Steinberg 6-2, 1-6, 7-5. From there, he lost to top-seeded Brady VanStraten of Xavier 6-1, 6-1.
Wisner cruised past Lakeland's Gavin Thompson 6-3, 6-2 in the first match but lost a rematch with Pacelli's Trevin Milbauer 6-0, 6-4 in the second round. Wisner defeated Milbauer 7-5, 7-5 for the No. 4 singles conference title last Friday.
"Freddy and Russell were playing guys who were at least equal, if not better," Heideman said. "Even though Russell lost (the second match), it shouldn't be forgotten he was down 2-5 in that third set (in the first match) and he played a guy that was a backboard. My point is he wasn't giving (Freddy) points. That guy was getting a lot of balls back and you've got to respond to that."
Rhinelander had a relatively easy go in all three doubles flights. Young and Haug overcame a slow start to defeat Shawano's Carter Peplinski and Cesar Ramirez 7-5, 6-3 at No. 1. Fabich and Gilbert recorded a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lakeland and a 6-3, 6-0 win over Shawano to advance at No. 2. Aschenbrenner and Oestreich, the top seed in the No. 3 doubles draw followed to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Shawano in the second round after drawing a first-round bye.
"All the doubles I think played some pretty solid tennis," Heideman said. "At our level it's not that there aren't mistakes, but position was generally good, being at the net and hitting the right shot. That combination in doubles is something we really try to pound - be in the right position and then put it in the right spot. They pretty much did that."
The sectional round took place yesterday in Kohler and concluded after deadline. Heideman said his team would have its hands full against a talented southern half of the sectional.
"The gold, as far as going to state, is at the top," he said. "Markus and Jared and Connor are going to have a tough time there. They're going to have to play their best tennis to make it."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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