November 14, 2018 at 12:35 p.m.
Winter practice notebook
Clock ticking for Hodag Hoops
Winter practice notebook
The team held its first practices of the winter on Monday and are already five days away from their season opener against Shawano this Tuesday at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
For a team that graduated seven seniors, including three starters, that's not a lot of time to prepare.
"We already play a very meaningful game next week Tuesday and we have a scrimmage," coach Derek Lemmens said, noting that Shawano is a potential playoff opponent. "There's not a lot of practice time before that first game. So it's really important that we are focused and engaged in practice and get the most out of every minute."
Lemmens said playing a game only eight days into the season is earlier than he'd prefer, but it was the only date that worked to play Shawano.
"I don't think it's such a big deal because we've got guys who have been in the program for awhile now and we're not going to be doing things that much different than we have in the past," he said.
The will have a dress rehearsal next Monday in a scrimmage at Wausau West, but that gives the team essentially only 10 practices, five sets of two-a-days, before the ball goes up for real.
While Lemmens said the majority of returning players put in time during the offseason, the team is still looking for players to step into the leadership roles vacated by all-state honoree Owen White, all-conference guard Brad Comer and others. Lemmens said filling those holes has been a major point of emphasis in the first few days of practice.
"The things we knew we'd struggle with this season, we're struggling with - things like communication, leadership. Hopefully we start to see some change there," he said.
Lemmens said not much will change from a formula that has been successful for the Hodags in the past, though he hinted the team may play a bit more man-to-man defense than the previous few seasons.
Piasecki gets defensive on Day 1
New RHS wrestling coach Nathan Piasecki went straight to the basics on the first day of winter practice.
Much of the roughly two-hour session was spent working on stance, preparing for shots taken by opponents and how to turn defense into offense.
"Today we're trying to shake off some of the rust, focus on some positions that are very, very, very important to winning and losing - which is shot defense and correct stance, some toughness, mental toughness," said Piasecki, a Lakeland Union alum and former USA Wrestling national champion. "And we're just slowly but surely getting the guys in shape. We've been lifting for three weeks quite hard now and we intend on continuing that throughout the season."
The biggest challenge facing Rhinelander at the start of the season is numbers. The team barely has enough wrestlers to fill a lineup of 14. Even then there may be some holes in some classes with wrestlers at duplicate weights. Piasecki put some of the onus on the team to get some former wrestlers back out for the sport, and convince their friends who might not be participating in a winter sport to join.
"We have a lot of talent in this school. We have a winning atmosphere and we have to keep that rolling. So if we get the guys that have the experience, or the athletes that are good athletes who don't have the experience, up into the room with the plethora of good coaches we have and the quality kids, we come together as a team and commit to the sport for 3 1/2 months, we will be a force by the end of the season," he said.
Piasecki said that objective will be accomplished by maintaining an upbeat atmosphere in the wrestling room, while working on strength and conditioning in the weight room.
The Hodags open the season with a non-conference dual meet Nov. 29 at Crandon. Piasecki said he has two objectives for the team ahead of that match.
"I want the guys to be in shape," he said. "We're going to work our cardio, continue to lift and we're just going to stick to the basics in the beginning. We're going to try to limit mistakes and just have the mentality when they step on the mat, they give 100 percent. If they do that, in my book, that's a win."
Hodag swimmers enthused for big season
Rhinelander swim coach Jenny Heck joked about enjoying a well-earned vacation between the end of the girls' swim season and the start of the boys' swim season.
"I didn't know what to do for that one hour of time," she quipped.
There was no rest for Heck, who was in Madison last Friday as Makenna Winnicki competed in two events at the WIAA Division 2 girls' state meet. On Monday, it was back in the pool to kick off the boys' season.
Welcoming a team which boasts WIAA state meet experience with more than half of its roster is a good way to help ease the transition from one season to the next.
"The boys are excited, they're ready and, wow, there was a lot of enthusiasm in the pool tonight," Heck said.
The boys had six state qualifiers last year and figure to get a shot in the arm this year as Nolan Francis, a two-event podium finisher at the WIAA state meet in 2017, is back on the team after electing to swim the club circuit a year ago.
With that strong core of swimmers, Heck and the Hodags are excited to see how far they can go.
"The returning swimmers, especially those who went to state last year, all put in a tremendous amount of time this summer, which is critical," she said. "You can't swim for three months of the year and think you're going to do well. They were all really devoted and ambitious for the season. I think they know they hard work was necessary to put in over the summer."
That training will come in handy for the Hodags, who open GNC competition at home against Tomahawk Nov. 27, but that doesn't mean there were not some tired swimmers by the end of Monday's opening practice.
"I think they were a little more winded than they thought," Heck said. "I think they realized, 'Wow, I have a lot of work to do before we see the results.'"
If there is one thing that may hinder the Hodags, especially in dual meet competitions, it's the overall size of its roster. Currently the team has 12 swimmers, barely enough to field a full lineup for a dual. That leaves no breathing room should anyone miss a meet due to injury, illness or other circumstances.
Heck said there's still time for new swimmers to join, and no prior experience is required.
"Hopefully the boys can recruit some other guys to come out because we can teach kids to swim," she said. "They can point right away. You're not going to sit on the bench. You're going to have a chance to perform and compete. That's pretty cool. I hope we can get some other swimmers out there to join us."
Record numbers for Hodag Nordic
Now in her fifth season as head coach of the RHS Nordic ski team, coach Charil Reis has more skiers than she's ever had before - 24 to be exact.
"This is what we've been working toward, this kind of roster," she said.
That's part of the reason why Reis said she's more enthused for the start of this season than any other season since her first. The fact that it looks like winter outside with a bit of snow cover doesn't hurt either.
Though it's not enough snow to formally groom the trails and practice outside on skis, it's as close as the Hodags have come to being able to ski this early in the season since Reis' first year.
"It's a godsend to have that much white stuff outside to keep them excited about why they're coming to practice and spending lots of money on equipment," she said. "They're anxious to do something different. A lot of them came from cross country running. They're done running. They don't want to run anymore. The only difference is I can stick poles in their hands and tell them to run and it's a little bit different, but it's not as fun as getting out there and sliding around on our skis."
The team continues to reap the benefits of its rejuvenated middle school program. Jim Wood, who oversaw the middle school team the last four years, has joined Reis on the high school staff - a move made out of necessity due to the team's increased numbers.
Not only will the incoming freshman and depth to the team, Reis said they are already quick on their skis, too.
"We've got a really great group of freshmen in, and they're focused," she said. "I think that's what Emma Roberts, one of my team captains, was referring to when she said, 'Wow, they're a lot of experience coming in and they're fast.' They've had three, four years to ski from SnoDags on up. They've had a lot of race experience. They're no more less equipped to do well this year than an upperclassman is."
Though the weather looks inviting, Reis said the team is practicing indoors much of this week. Much of the team's dryland training is geared toward proper alignment and technique while on the trails.
"Pretty much everything we did tonight - they don't know it yet - is going to translate to those two things and into a lot of good speed," Reis said Monday evening.
The team's first race of the season is the Ice Age Opener set for Dec. 8 at the ABR/Wolverine Trails in Ironwood, Mich. That area has already received plenty of lake effect snow. Barring a late-November thaw, Reis said she's optimistic that the race will go off as scheduled.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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