November 30, 2018 at 2:12 p.m.
RHS grapplers win season opener
RHS grapplers win season opener
The Hodags split the contested bouts in a forfeit-filled dual and defeated Crandon 42-22 Thursday at Crandon High School, picking up a win in their new head coach's debut.
Rhinelander won three of the six contested match, all via the pin, while Crandon picked up two pins and a major decision. There were three double forfeits. Crandon conceded victory in four other weight classes and Rhinelander took a forfeit loss at 138 pounds.
"Crandon is like us. They're young. They don't have a full lineup, but their guys go hard," Piasecki said. "We're in the same boat so just to see we have so many inexperienced guys against their inexperienced guys and we prevailed.
"It was a good ice breaker for the guys to get a first meet in. All the guesswork and wondering what it's like, for the new guys, for the freshmen, for the guys who had never wrestled, they got to get out onto the mat for the first time and we got to see if they would fight or not. That's what we're really trying to instill. We want to see them fight and all of them did that. That's what I like to see."
Two newcomers to the sport got on to the mat for the first time for the Hodags. Heavyweight Alex Olson pinned Crandon's Nick Adamski in the second period while Hugh Wiese went the distance at 120, before giving up a major decision to Crandon's Renn Marvin.
Olson was leading 7-2 and controlling a lighter Adamski in the heavyweight bout before catching the Crandon sophomore in a headlock and earning the pinfall at the 2:46 mark of the match. Piasecki called it a good opening win for the green but talented Olson, who played basketball prior to this year.
"This is a kid who is 290 pounds, has to cut to make weight (285) and he's got good lung power," he said. "He wants to be out there as well. He understands how this can really, really help him in the long run for football, for wrestling, for life in general."
Wiese held a 7-5 lead on Marvin after the first period, but Marvin's experience seemed to take over in a six-point second period for the Crandon freshman. Wiese got back to within 15-11 with less than a minute to go in the match, but Marvin recorded a reversal and then five back points down the stretch to win 22-11.
"I know the kid he wrestled certainly had three, four, five, six years of experience and Hugh scored (11) points on him," Piasecki said. "I give Hugh a lot of credit. He had a great attitude, wanted to get out there and wrestle and that gives me a lot of encouragement to know, by the end of the season, Hugh's going to be a solid, solid wrestler for us."
Tim Fox, a sectional qualifier for Rhinelander last year, made short work of Huston Kane in the 113-pound match, pinning the Crandon sophomore in 34 seconds. Freshman Gavin Ostermann picked up Rhinelander's other win, stopping Bradley Shepherd at the 1:24 mark in the 152-pound bout.
"He was able to get a first-period pin, which was really the best thing he could have done for himself wrestling at 152, which is a tough weight class," Piasecki said.
Crandon's Breed Shepard, a state qualifier in Division 3 last season, stopped Rhinelander's Jesse Mahner at the 1:28 mark in the opening match of the night at 182 pounds. Trevor Schunk picked up the other win for the Cardinals with a second-period pin of Will Swanson.
Walker Hartman (160), Eric Grulke (170), Ben Sinclair (195) and Trevor Knapp (220) recorded forfeit wins for Rhinelander. Carter Bissonette won uncontested for Crandon at 138.
Piasecki credited his coaching staff - including Jake Harrell, Jim Kreitlow and Pat Finlan - for helping prepare his team for the opener.
"Jake's been getting these guys tough, getting them mentally prepared," he said. "Kreitlow is up there with his experience. Finlan's up there were his experience and they're a great, great gift to the community, to the program to the school and to the kids."
The Hodags will return to action today in a multi-dual invite at Wausau West.
Piasecki admitted picking up team wins will be difficult, heading to Wausau with several holes in the lineup, but it will be an opportunity for some of his experienced wrestlers who did not get matches Thursday night to get onto the mat.
"We're going down there two-thirds full, basically. Later in the season, our team's going to look much different," he said. "This is an opportunity, at least for the guys who have a little more experience - the Eric Grulkes, Walker Hartmans - those guys are going to have some nice battles."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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