April 17, 2019 at 12:42 p.m.
Hodags 6, Mother Nature love
RHS netters beat the weather, Wausau Newman in home opener
Hodags 6, Mother Nature love
The Hodags cruised in every match and defeated Wausau Newman 7-0 in a Great Northern Conference dual in Rhinelander. The win moves the Hodags to 3-0 in the GNC and 5-1 overall.
Perhaps the more notable achievement is that Rhinelander played in the first place and, by doing so, became the first Hodag squad to host an event this spring. This came just five days after the Hodag city received eight inches of snow in a late winter storm.
The logistics of the match did not go exactly as planned. The event was originally supposed to be a triangular between Rhinelander, Ashland and Newman but, with the RHS varsity tennis courts still snow-covered, that didn't happen. The team was able to get four of the six auxiliary tennis courts located between RHS and James Williams Middle School ready for play, however. Those courts receive more direct sunlight during the day than the varsity courts, and a high temperature that soared into the low 60s helped matters - that, and a little elbow grease from No. 1 doubles partners and captains Connor Young and Logan Oestreich.
"They came out here at 2 and worked right up til 4:30 when we played, worked hard," RHS coach Bob Heideman said. "We really got these courts in good shape and the weather (helped). I think if it would have been 10 degrees cooler, we wouldn't have been able to do it. It wouldn't have evaporated enough. Everything got in line and we got to play and the kids responded. It was a great night."
Young and Oestreich were rewarded for their hard work by getting a bit of a rest when the match began, sitting out while Nos. 1, 2 and 4 singles, and No. 2 doubles played on the four available courts. Once the senior pair got on to the court, they rolled past Newman's Charlie Schields and Zongcha Lo in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
That was the story of the night for the Hodags, who dominated every match. No one dominated more than Jacob Weddle in the top flight. Weddle had a golden set, and nearly a golden match, as he defeated Nick Thums 6-0, 6-0. He did not lose a single point in the first set and conceded only one point in the second.
"To go that many points without making a mistake is truly a feat," Heideman said. "That's very, very (rare). Many players are lucky to get a golden game, few players in their lives will get a golden set. It's a testament to Jacob's consistency. Hat's off to Jacob."
The Hodags were without No. 2 singles player Russell Benoy, who Heideman said was off on a college visit. The rest of the singles lineup moved up one flight and performed well.
Freddy Wisner shook off some early struggles in both sets to defeat Peyton Heinz, 6-3, 6-2, in the second flight.
"I told him that I thought he was playing the best at the end and he said, 'You know coach, I just kind of let everything go and I felt looser,'" Heideman said. "That's exactly what happened."
Ian Conkey, moving up to the third flight, had little difficulty with John Zeismer, winning 6-1, 6-1.
"Ian hits with a purpose, and that's so important about moving the guy around, going to his weaknesses and so forth," Heideman noted.
Bryan La made his second start of the season at No. 4 singles and picked up his first win, routing Ashton Butts, 6-0, 6-0.
"Bryan filled in and did a nice job. So often, when I say a nice job, (I mean) when I look over there, I'm not seeing mistakes," Heideman said. "If you do that, (play) within your game, at our level in this league, you will be a competitive tennis player. That's what I saw out of Bryan."
Luke Ring and Elijah Evers defeated Sam Beck and Andy Lor 6-0, 6-0 in the second doubles flight. Newman, with only eight players, forfeited the third doubles flight to Bridger Flory and Billy Berwig. Flory and Berwig played an exhibition match against Beck and Lor at the end of the dual and won, 6-0, 6-0.
"Bridger took a bump on his serve tonight and I thought Luke took a bump on his groundstrokes, too," Heideman noted. "Elijah's serve is coming along. It's a little adjustment away from being good."
Compared to most spring sports teams, the Hodag netters have gotten off rather easy this spring despite the late thaw. It was able to move its season opener against Pacelli to Stevens Point April 4 and has had only one snow out - last Thursday's match at Antigo, which has been rescheduled for Monday. The Hodags hope to catch another break from today's rainy forecast to get in a conference match at Lakeland this afternoon. The team will travel to Stevens Point Saturday for an invitational.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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