December 27, 2019 at 11:34 a.m.
Bell Game victory named River News' top game of 2019
Bell Game victory named River News' top game of 2019
After 11 years and 357 days, Hodag nation's long wait finally came to an end.
Rhinelander's 20-10 win over Antigo in the 85th playing of the Bell Game has been named The Northwoods River News' top local sporting event of 2019.
A game's entertainment value and overall meaning in a team's given season were taken into consideration when selecting the list of top games.
The Bell Game was not the closest finish of those among the top 10, but its significance is unquestioned as the centerpiece of a season that saw Rhinelander post a winning record (6-4) for the first time since 1994 and make the WIAA playoffs for only the third time in school history.
What's more, the victory snapped Antigo's 12-game winning streak in the trophy game series - one shy of Antigo's record of 13 straight Bells from 1961-1973.
"We talked about moments all week. We talked about believing and getting to those moments. It's a moment that they're going to cherish for a very long time," coach Aaron Kraemer said afterward.
Rhinelander never trailed in the game, posting 14-3 lead at halftime thanks in part to an 85-yard kick return touchdown by Caleb Olcikas after Antigo scored its lone points of the first half.
Drake Martin rushed for 143 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He nearly had a third, but was stripped inside the Antigo 5 on the Hodags' first possession of the second half, resulting in an Antigo touchback.
Antigo got to the Rhinelander 22 on the ensuing possession, but Martin sacked quarterback Nevin Cornelius on fourth down and ran for a back-breaking 47-yard touchdown moments later.
"I knew I had to make a play and make up for the mistakes I had before. I went all out and did what I had to do," Martin said.
The win moved Rhinelander to 5-1 at that point of the season and one win from qualifying for the WIAA playoffs. The Hodags would clinch that playoff berth three weeks later at Ashland.
The rest of the top 10:
2. Girls' swimming, WIAA sectionals - Saturday, Nov. 9
By the time the 400-yard freestyle relay rolled around, the Rhinelander High School girls' swim team knew their hopes of winning a sectional championship for the first time in a quarter of a century rested on one final race.
Ahead by nine points with one event remaining, the Hodags finished seventh in the 400 freestyle relay, which was enough to claim the sectional title by one point over Rice Lake.
"You cannot be closer than that and, wow, no, I can't believe it," coach Jenny Heck said. "That was so awesome. How exciting. It was very close. We didn't know, of course until the very end, that last relay. We're so delighted it came out the way it did."
The Hodags won five individual races at sectionals and sent seven entries to the WIAA Division 2 state meet the following week. There, Malia Francis captured state championships in the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke as the Hodags finished fifth in the overall team standings.
Ironically, the Hodags finished one point ahead of Greendale to secure the top-five finish.
3. Boys' track, Great Northern Conference Meet - Tuesday, May 14
In two short months, the Rhinelander High School boys' track team went from a Great Northern Conference afterthought to conference title favorite as it entered the GNC outdoor meet at IncredibleBank Field in Minocqua.
The Hodags didn't disappoint, winning two events and securing 13 top-three finishes as it beat Medford by 17 points for the conference championship - Rhinelander's first in track and field since 1967.
"I'm not going to lie. That's the most amazing feeling ever," said senior sprinter Anthony Kowalski. "We've come so far. Freshman year when I first joined this team it was not at all what it is (now). There was no team (mentality). You bring it to this year, my senior year, absolutely amazing the amount of strides we've taken to get to this point."
The Hodags secured the title by going second, fourth and fifth in the long jump with the trio of Peyton Erikson, Drake Martin and Josh Francisco. That gave Rhinelander a 29-point cushion entering the final event, the 4x400-meter relay.
4. Wrestling, Rhinelander vs. Lakeland - Thursday, Jan. 10
On a night dedicated to the memory of a longtime supporter of both wrestling teams, Rhinelander and Lakeland put on a dual meet to remember. Fittingly, it came down to the final bout.
Rhinelander's Eric Grulke pinned Lakeland's Brady Edwards in a 170-pound match as the Hodags defeated the T-Birds 45-36 in the inaugural Handrick Hammer dual.
The traveling trophy is dedicated to Tom Handrick, who served as an assistant coach for both teams during his long wrestling career before passing away unexpectedly just two weeks after the 2018 WIAA individual state wrestling meet.
"I knew Handrick as a person," Grulke said. "It was really big for us to win the Hammer for the first time. Very exciting."
5. Girls' basketball, Rhinelander vs. Lakeland - Friday, Jan. 25
Fifteen days after the Hammer match, Rhinelander and Lakeland were back on the Miazga Gym floor in a different sport, however the result was equally meaningful for the Hodags.
Kenedy Van Zile scored 26 points and Cynthia Beavers added 22 points and 11 rebounds as the Hodags defeated Lakeland 81-63.
The win was significant for Rhinelander in its quest for its first ever conference championship in girls' basketball. Not only had the Hodags swept the regular season series from the T-Birds, the win put Rhinelander two games ahead of Lakeland in the conference title race with four games remaining.
"It's our time to shine now. We just took that step," Van Zile said after the game.
The victory was part of an 13-game winning streak for the Hodags during the second half of the 2018-19 season. Rhinelander wrapped up the conference title a week and a half later with a win at Northland Pines and finished with a perfect 12-0 record in the GNC.
6. Boys' swimming, Rhinelander vs. Shawano - Thursday, Jan. 17
The result of the boys' swimming dual between Rhinelander and Shawano is the most one-sided outcome on this list. The Hodags won all 11 events and defeated the Hawks 114-54, but that's not why the meet was significant.
With the outcome of the meet never in doubt, and Rhinelander possessing its best team in a quarter century, the Hodags took aim at some long-standing Heck Family Community Pool records - and hit their marks with resounding accuracy.
The Hodags took down four Heck Pool records, as well as an RHS varsity record in the meet.
Seniors Nolan Francis and Russell Benoy were catalysts in the bright night. They, along with junior Devon Gaber and sophomore Joseph Heck, took down the pool records in the both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Francis added a pool record in the 50 freestyle and both a pool and school record in the 100 butterfly.
All four records had been on the boards for at least 12 years. The oldest record to fall was that of Menomonie's Kevin Forber in the 100 butterfly (53.78 seconds), that had been around since 1980. Francis beat it by exactly two seconds.
"Our names are going to be up there for a while," Gaber said afterward. "Seeing us break those really old records was really amazing."
7. Football, Rhinelander at Ashland - Friday, Oct. 18
It was not the Rhinelander High School football team's most impressive victory of an incredible 2019 season, but it was arguably the most important.
The Hodags, needing to win to lock up a spot in the WIAA playoffs for only the third time in school history, ground their way to a 16-12 victory at Ashland in the regular season finale.
Rhinelander had three chances to make the playoffs after beating Antigo in the Bell Game, but squandered 13-point leads in back-to-back losses to Mosinee and Merrill to enter Week 9 at 5-3 overall, and 2-3 in the Great Northern.
Despite an 0-8 record, Ashland did not make it easy, holding standout running back Drake Martin to 73 yards on 22 carries, and the Hodags to less than 200 yards of total offense.
A Walker Hartman touchdown run to start the second half put Rhinelander ahead 16-6, but Ashland closed to within four on a late fourth-quarter touchdown pass before Caleb Olcikas recovered an onside kick and Rhinelander was able to run out the clock.
"It was just a grind. We knew we had to finish in the second half and that's exactly what we did," Hodag senior Trevor Knapp said.
8. Girls' basketball, Rhinelander vs. Crandon - Friday, Dec. 20
The most recent of the games on the top 10 list was a dandy, as the Hodags rallied from down 17 points at halftime to shock seventh-ranked (D4) Crandon 50-48 just eight days ago at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Cynthia Beavers hit back-to-back 3s to help Rhinelander take a 43-41 lead with 5:35 remaining and the Hodags held on down the stretch after trailing 34-17 at the break - in part because Crandon shot 75% from the field in the first half.
"You win a game like this and it says a lot about your character as a team. Great win," coach Ryan Clark said.
The Hodags had to dodge a bullet late. After Megan Brown missed a layup in the final seconds, Crandon's leading scorer, Tabitha Renkas, got off a 3-point attempt for the win at the top of the key that missed short and right as time expired.
9. Girls' hockey, Northern Edge vs. Lakeland - Monday, Feb. 11
An unusual set of circumstances surrounded the regular season girls' hockey finale between the Rhinelander/Antigo co-op and Lakeland.
The teams had been slated to meet three days later in the WIAA tournament opener, but Lakeland had just been barred from the playoffs as a result of its third game disqualification penalty of the season.
The Northern Edge validated its playoff forfeit win over Lakeland by defeating the T-Birds 3-2 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. It was Rhinelander/Antigo's first win in three tries over Lakeland during the course of the season.
"They're a decent team and tonight we just had it," Northern Edge coach Tom Roeser said afterward. "When you have a goalie playing like ours has over the last couple weeks, anything can happen and we kind of proved that tonight."
Alicia Turunen made 51 saves in the win and Taylee Tucker got the game-winner for the Edge, scoring off a rebound with 4:29 left in the third period.
The two squads became further intertwined a couple of months later when Lakeland and the Northern Edge, citing low numbers for the 2019-20 season, agreed to merge their programs.
10. Boys' basketball, Rhinelander at Mosinee - Friday, Dec. 13
Given a long-standing tradition of success, rarely do the words "Hodag boys' basketball" and "upset win" go together in the same sentence. But, what happened a couple of weeks ago in Mosinee certainly fits the bill.
Rhinelander held on despite a 38-point performance from reigning GNC player of the year Luke Spink to shock the Indians 78-72 on their home court.
Mosinee came into the season as the near-consensus favorite to repeat as conference champs after going 12-0 in league play last year. The Hodags had dropped three of their first four games, including a home loss to Northland Pines to open the conference schedule.
Rhinelander wouldn't be denied - leading by as many as 20 points at one juncture. Drake Martin finished just shy of a triple-double with 27 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Ross Skeen added 20 points in the Hodags' victory.
"Tonight we played the right way, and that's the difference between winning and losing," coach Derek Lemmens said. "They're buying into that. Hopefully, we can continue to move forward with that mindset."
Honorable mentions: The RHS football team rallied from down eight with less than two minutes to go to force overtime on homecoming night Oct. 11 against Merrill, but eventually lost 27-21. The comeback included a crazy 47-yard pass that Travis Towne caught off of a deflection at the Merrill 11 with under a minute remaining ... The RHS boys' soccer team had a 3-0 lead in the first half against Lakeland in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal game Oct. 22 in Rhinelander. The T-Birds rallied to tie the game early in the second half and neither team would score after that, resulting in a penalty kick shootout that Lakeland won 5-4. Though the result ended Rhinelander's season, it officially counted as a double-overtime time for the team's overall record - the team's sixth tie of the 2019 season ... The RHS boys' hockey team beat Antigo for the first time since 2009 on Jan. 15. Hunter Hicks scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, as the Hodags defeated the Red Robins 3-2.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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