March 27, 2019 at 5:10 p.m.
Team review: RHS wrestling
New-look Hodag grapplers find stride toward end of season
Team review: RHS wrestling
But Rhinelander showed some signs of life toward the end of the season, with seven all-conference wrestlers and eight WIAA sectional qualifiers.
Here are five key storylines from the season.
COACHING STAFF
A pair of Lakeland alums - Nathan Piasecki and Jake Hairrell - came on board to head up the coaching staff this year. Piasecki is a former U.S. national champion and both he and Hairrell coached on collegiate staffs previously.
They used that attitude training the Hodags this year.
"These were college-level practice and we had to do that," Piasecki said during the team's year-end banquet. "Because we had such a young team, in order to be able to compete we needed to be in extremely good shape and very mentally tough."
CLOSE CALLS
The Hodags went 2-3 in Great Northern Conference duals, but could have easily have been 4-1 had a couple of breaks gone their way. Dual meets against Medford and Tomahawk each came down to the last bout with Rhinelander having a chance to win the dual.
Rhinelander competed despite a short roster this year - especially in the lower-to-middle weight classes. The team went 34-36 in individual conference bouts this year. Eleven of those losses came via the forfeit.
"We won so many of our close matches," Piasecki said, reflecting on the season. "We just keep instilling in you guys the third period is our period. Looking back, with the team we had, being in all those dual meets - even being handicapped by four or five forfeits - that was a beautiful thing. You guys stepped up to the challenge. I'm really happy and proud of you for that. It was a privilege to see you guys give it your all so many times."
HAMMER TIME
One close match that went the Hodags' way was the annual dual meet against Lakeland, which had additional significance this season.
It was the first meeting between the teams since Tom Handrick - a former assistant coach for both teams - passed away unexpectedly last March. The teams established the Handrick Hammer trophy game in his honor. It came down to the final bout, with Eric Grulke's pin at 170 pounds securing a 45-36 win for the Hodags.
"Tom Handrick was such a wonderful guy," said Piasecki, who was coached by Handrick when both were at Lakeland in the late 1990s. "(Lakeland's wrestlers) understand what this meant. They remember Tommy. Their parents knew Tommy pretty good. Both teams wrestled with the inspiration that Tommy would give. They were inspired by that. It was very cool to see. I know Tommy's real happy with the way things went today. Both teams went really hard."
YOUNG SQUAD
Grulke was the lone senior on Rhinelander's team this year. Beyond that, the team had an abundance of sophomores and juniors.
Two of those sophomores - Tim Fox and Walker Hartman - finished their seasons one win away from the WIAA state tournament. Fox narrowly lost a 7-6 decision in the second-place match at 106 at sectionals while Hartman finished third in a stacked 152-pound bracket that featured the Nos. 1 and 2 wrestlers in the state.
Juniors Trevor Knapp and Connor Lund qualified for sectionals for the Hodags, as did sophomore Ben Sinclair and Hugh Wiese. Freshman Gavin Ostermann also reached the sectional round.
Wiese, in particular, went from someone who had not wrestled prior to this year to placing fourth at 113 in the difficult Merrill Division 1 regional.
"I don't use very often - a natural - but there's no doubt in my mind. That's why it's so exciting," Piasecki said of Wiese's potential. "So many of our conversations were about Hugh and how good he's going to be."
WHAT'S NEXT
Given Rhinelander's young core of wrestlers, Piasecki said he's excited for what the future holds for his squad.
"We had eight guys to sectionals and I believe next year, with the proper offseason work, we will send five guys to state," he said. "That could be conservative, to be honest with you. There's no reason we can't win our regional next year and that would be so fun for you guys."
He'll have back a GNC champion in Fox. Two 30-win wrestlers in Fox and Hartman and three others who won at least 24 matches during the course of the season.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.