February 4, 2019 at 11:21 a.m.
Hodags finish fourth at GNC wrestling meet
Hodags finish fourth at GNC wrestling meet
Tim Fox was the conference's 106-pound champion, and the Hodags had eight wrestlers finish in the top three of their respective weight classes, as the team placed fourth in the GNC tournament at Raider Hall in Medford.
"On the whole, the way the guys wrestled, I couldn't be more pleased," Rhinelander coach Nathan Piasecki said. "The effort, the fight, the execution of technique, the way we wrestled six minutes on all of our matches - they really impressed me to be honest with you. I couldn't have asked for more out of this group of guys."
Joining Fox on the all-conference team for Rhinelander were Walker Hartman, Ben Sinclair, Connor Lund and Alex Olson, who finished runner-up in their weight classes. Eric Grulke, Gavin Ostermann and Trevor Knapp made the all-conference team as well with third-place finishes in their weight classes.
Fox went 3-0 on the day in his four-man bracket at 106 to earn the title. He started by pinning Antigo's Seth Beaber in 2:59, then took care of Tomahawk's Blake Felser in an 11-4 decision and finished off the day by pinning Lakeland's Sawyer Duir in 1:11.
"Tim's really turning it on lately. He's won a bunch of matches in a row," Piasecki said. "We expected him to win. I don't think he gave up an earned point to be honest with you. I think all the points he gave up were when we asked him to let a guy go. He just showed some real grit for stepping up in every match ... He kind of walked through the tournament. That was good for him. I was impressed."
Hartman was undefeated at 152, with a decision a technical fall and a major decision to his credit before running into top-seeded Gage Coppock of Mosinee in the final round. Coppock, currently honorable mention in D2 at 152 according to Wisconsin Wrestling Online, pinned Hartman in 1:36 for the title.
"Walker had a tough bracket, had some tough kids and he wrestled well," Piasecki said. "Second in conference in a really tough bracket is nothing to hang your head about."
Sinclair went 4-1 on the day at 182. His only loss came via pin to eventual conference champ Collinn Eldridge of Antigo in the third round. Sinclair earned a 4-2 decision over Medford's Hayden Johnson and defeated Tomahawk's Kade Wenninger in overtime in the final round to secure the runner-up spot.
"Ben wrestled great. Ben wrestled the way he wrestles, with a lot of heart," Piasecki said. "He wrestles all six minutes. I think he had an overtime match where he avenged his loss to the Tomahawk guy. That was a fun match to watch."
Despite going 2-2 on the day, Lund used a first-period pin of Antigo's Brady VandeWeerd to help win a tiebreaker for the runner-up spot at 195. Alex Olson pinned his first two opponents at 285 before being stopped by Tomahawk's Tony Matti 3:35 into their final round match.
"Connor's going out there with a lot of determination. He's a big 195-pounder. He had some close matches and he beat a Medford guy that was quite good," Piasecki said. "Alex wrestled a couple of decent heavyweights and he handled himself really good. I think he's 11-4 on the season and getting better by the day."
Ostermann went 4-1 at 170, including a 15-13 overtime win over Medford's Clay Bowe in the fourth round after trailing 7-0 match at one point. Ostermann lost a shot at a conference title after getting pinned by Lakeland's Xavier Burgess 45 seconds into their final round match. Ostermann, Burgess and Bowe all finished 4-1 on the day, however Bowe and Burgess both beat Ostermann in a tiebreaker based on the most pins in the least amount of time.
Grulke was 3-1 in his first four bouts of the day at 160, before taking a medical forfeit loss to Medford's Cody Church in the final round. Knapp went 1-2 in his four-man bracket, pinning Lakeland's Ian Valliere in the final round to take third place at 220.
Hugh Wiese finished fourth for the Hodags at 113. Will Swanson (126) and Tyler Olson (145) were fifth in their weight classes. Rhinelander did not enter the 120, 132 or 138-pound brackets.
The Hodags rallied past Lakeland in the final round to secure the fourth position. Medford, in its home gym, wrapped up the conference title, beating Antigo by 20 points on the day. Tomahawk, which entered the day tied for first with Medford and Antigo, finished third 35 points behind.
"For being a rebuilding season, I love the way the guys are doing. I can't be more proud of them to be honest with you. A fourth-place finish at this conference, with three really good teams and us right behind them ... we're right on the cusp with a very young team. That's exciting to me."
Next up, the Hodags travel to Merrill Saturday for a WIAA Division 1 regional.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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