December 24, 2019 at 9:25 a.m.
Holiday tourney preview
Northern Edge to host six teams in Hodagland; four RHS teams to hit the road
Holiday tourney preview
Not only will the Edge's main team be in action in the eight-team tournament, the team will field a varsity-reserve entry - taking advantage of a WIAA rule that allows skaters to compete in up to five periods of hockey a day between the varsity and JV levels.
That's going to mean a lot of ice time, and a taxing schedule for the Edge during the three-day tournament that runs Friday through Sunday.
"I don't know how we'll respond to it. Last night we did a lot of conditioning at practice," coach Tom Roeser said last Friday after the team's 10-3 win at Medford. "That mainly stemmed from that (Northland Pines) game (7-1 loss Dec. 17 in Eagle River). Some of these girls are going to have a lot of hockey under their belt by the end of the weekend, but they're going to have to learn to take care of themselves - eating right, sleeping right and hydrating. I think we'll be all right, but we'll see."
In addition to the Edge's two squads, Beaver Dam, Marquette (Mich.), Medford, Northland Pines, Stoughton co-op and Viroqua will be in attendance. The majority of the teams will play three games, though Medford and Northland Pines opted not to play on the last day of the tournament.
"Due to the unique format, it will be nearly impossible to have a clear tournament champion," RHS activities director Brian Paulson stated in a itinerary emailed to the participating teams. "The schedule was put together to provide for competitive games and least common opponents found during the year."
For the Edge varsity squad, that means a game against Viroqua at 8 p.m. Friday, a contest against Marquette at 2 p.m. Saturday and a contest against Stoughton at 1 p.m. Sunday.
After last Friday's game at Medford, Roeser said the team would have a couple of hard practices ahead of the tournament.
"It's really going to be the test of how practice goes this week," he said. "I'm thinking we're going to learn a lot. We'll see a variety of skill levels out there, but every game should be a battle for us."
The Edge 2 team will face Medford Friday, Stoughton Saturday and Beaver Dam on Sunday.
In addition to the 11 games at the RIA over the weekend, the tournament skills competition will be held at approximately 12:30 p.m. Saturday, following the Northland Pines-Viroqua game. Contests will include hardest shot, a relay race, a skater-goalie shootout and an obstacle course race.
As for other Rhinelander teams in action this weekend:
Girls' basketball
The RHS girls' basketball team will take its show on the road Friday and Saturday to one of the more notable holiday tournaments in the state, the Watertown Holiday Shootout. Rhinelander will face Milwaukee Riverside (3-3) Friday and Milwaukee Pius XI (5-3) on Saturday.
Heading to Watertown is another feather in the cap for the program, and a nod that basketball observers elsewhere around the state have taken notice of how Rhinelander has played over the past couple of seasons.
"I got an email from their coordinator last year. It's an invite-only (tournament) and we had a really good season and they knew that we'd be a pretty good team this year," coach Ryan Clark said. "For our program, it's just a great opportunity that we're getting to play these big tournaments against this type of competition.
"It will make us better. I'm going to tell you right now, they're going to be quick and they're going to be fast but, what a great time to go bond as a team, go down south, have a little time together and then play two really tough teams to get ready for Lakeland (Jan. 3 at Rhinelander)."
Boys' basketball
Five years ago, the RHS boys' basketball team had an opportunity to play at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Hodags will have a similar opportunity Saturday. Rhinelander will travel to Oshkosh to take on West De Pere in a game that will be held at the new Menominee Nation Arena, the home of the Wisconsin Herd - the Milwaukee Bucks' affiliate program in the NBA G League.
Unlike five years ago when the Hodags played at the former home of the Bucks and Marquette University, only the varsity team will be making the trip on Saturday for a game that tips off at 1:30 p.m.
The team will stay in Oshkosh overnight Saturday and catch the Herd's home game against the Lakeland (Fla.) Magic Saturday evening.
"It would have been nice to get the whole program there. It didn't work this year but I hope we still have some fans that come and support us in Oshkosh," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said.
Rhinelander comes in 2-4 while West De Pere is 5-1, scoring 60 or more points in each of its first six contests. Lemmens said, as is a tradition during the holidays, the team has prepared by practicing against RHS boys' basketball alumni.
"It will be nice to have that opportunity to play against alums a bit, a little physicality brought to our practice and just work on what we do instead of preparing for a team and improve what we do," he said. "When we step out on the court against West De Pere, we'll be ready."
Boys' hockey
The second year of a rotating holiday tournament for the RHS boys' hockey team will take place Friday and Saturday as the Hodags travel to Baraboo.
Sheboygan, Tomahawk and Baraboo/Portage are the three other teams in the tournament that began last year in Rhinelander and is scheduled to rotate through the four cities every four years.
Friday night, the Hodags will begin with a rematch of last year's championship game in Rhinelander when they take on Portage. Rhinelander won that game 4-1 a season ago.
"They'll be good. They'll be fast and be a good hockey team," coach M.J. Laggis said. "In terms of strength of our non-conference schedule this year, it's actually probably a degree or two stronger than it was last year - and a lot of it on the road. We're going to see a real good team with Sheboygan, I'm sure. We've got to battle hard, play hard and take a step."
Tomahawk and Baraboo/Portage play in the nightcap on Friday. The winners of Friday's games will meet for the title Saturday afternoon, while the losers will face each other in a consolation game.
Rhinelander comes in struggling heading into the contest, at 3-5-0 overall. The team has dropped five of its last six games - scoring two goals or less in each of the five losses.
"We're going to get three, two-hour practices in, which is a rarity to have that much ice," Laggis said following last Friday's 3-1 loss at Waupaca. "We're going to take full advantage of that ice. We've got some older guys, former players that are coming to practice and can work on us. We're going to keep trying to improve that penalty kill, which I think took a step tonight. We've got to keep trying to improve that power play and get pucks to the net more."
Wrestling
As they have for the past several years, the Hodag wrestlers are heading to River Falls for the Northern Badger Classic, a two-day event that runs Friday and Saturday.
Rhinelander returns three wrestlers who made the placement rounds at the 44-team tournament a season ago - Tim Fox (sixth, 106), Trevor Knapp (9th, 220) and Walker Hartman (11th, 152). Coincidentally, those three are Rhinelander's only ranked wrestlers at this point of the season, with Fox No. 4 at 113 in Division 1, Hartman 12th at 170 and Knapp honorable mention at 220. Rhinelander has been idle since the Battle on the Bay back on Dec. 14. Coach Paul Ellenbecker said the time away from competition has been good as the young squad has been working to refine some things at practice. Like Battle on the Bay, the team's goal is to get better based on its experience at the tournament. he said.
"Right now, the best thing about it is our attitude is good, our demeanor is good, our level of wanting to get better," he said. "It's been very enjoyable working with these kids. It's been so long that we've been non-competitive at tournament like this, it's a different feel, but it's also a good feel knowing how much better we're getting."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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