December 27, 2021 at 8:37 a.m.
21 for '21: Top local sports games of the year
21 for '21: Top local sports games of the year
This, my 16th edition, may be the most difficult yet when it comes to ranking the best games.
For the sake of brevity, the effort is to keep the list to 10 events. Some years I throw in a couple of honorable mentions. Some years, coming up with 10 games is a stretch.
2021 was not one of those years.
What makes this column so challenging this year is sheer abundance of great games I got to witness or report on over the past 365 days. We've seen wins of historic proportion, dramatic playoff wins that needed more than regulation to decide, crazy comebacks, walk-offs galore and individual feats that made us stop and take notice.
Simply put, stopping at 10 games would be a disservice to what was accomplished in 2021.
So I didn't.
I've come up with 21 games that deserve to be on the list. In reality, it's closer to 25, as a few games have been paired together in a single entry, as you will see.
And that's not counting some dramatic games that Rhinelander didn't win. So you won't see the Hodag football team's playoff loss at Baraboo on this list, nor a penalty-kick playoff loss for the Hodag boys' soccer team, nor the defeats for Rhinelander baseball in both the high school and American Legion seasons that saw the teams come within six outs of two state tournament berths.
We invite you to sit back and relive some of the most exciting and successful moments over the past 12 months. Let's just say this year's list is better than most.
1. Baseball: Rhinelander at Shawano - June 16
Rhinelander's 17-year absence from the sectional round of the WIAA baseball tournament ended in dramatic fashion this past June.
Joe Schneider knocked in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning and Devyn Orth pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings as the Hodags defeated Shawano 5-4 to win a WIAA Division 2 regional title.
Rhinelander led 4-0 with the bases clear and two outs in the sixth when the Hawks rallied to tie the game. From there, both teams buckled down. Schneider threw out runners on the bases in the seventh and eighth before delivering the go-ahead base knock in the ninth. Orth closed it out from there.
"We didn't give up today," Schneider said. "I know early in the season, we'd just lay down and have no energy, but we had energy. No matter what the score was we were fighting every single time."
The Hodags run continued, defeating Seymour in the sectional semifinal game before falling to eventual D2 state champion Denmark, 3-1, in the sectional finals.
2. Girls' soccer: Rhinelander at Marshfield - June 12
When Rhinelander and Marshfield played during the regular season, the Tigers scored a goal in the final minute of regulation to earn a 2-1 victory.
The Tigers stunned the Hodags again in the dying seconds when the teams meet a few weeks later in the WIAA tournament but, this time, Rhinelander got the last laugh.
Marshfield's Kate Schilling scored with one second remaining in extra time to force penalty kicks, but the Hodags prevailed in the shootout to win a WIAA D2 regional title.
Scoreless after 90 minutes of regulation, senior Kat Metropulos put the Hodags on the board just 19 seconds into the 20-minute overtime. It looked as though the goal would hold up before Schilling's last-ditch effort trundled across the goal line.
Undeterred, the Hodags saw Ella Schiek and McKenna Brown convert their penalty chances. Marshfield missed on all four of its attempts, including two shots that rang off the goalposts.
"I love those things. I don't know. They changed the course of the PKs," Rhinelander goalkeeper Kahlie Arneson said.
3. Baseball: Rhinelander vs. Antigo - June 1 & 15
This is the first two-for-one entry on the list and for good reason. Rhinelander logged two dramatic wins two weeks apart against Antigo at Stafford Field. One ended a long losing streak to the Red Robins, the second began the Hodags' Cinderella postseason run.
The two games could not have been more different, despite the same starting pitchers for both games. Sam Schneider's walk-off double with two outs in the seventh gave Rhinelander a dramatic 11-10 win over Antigo June 1. Two weeks later, Isaac Bixby tossed a four-hit shutout as the Hodags downed the Robins 1-0 in the WIAA regional semifinals.
Rhinelander, which committed eight errors in the June 1 contest, trailed 6-0 going into then bottom of the fourth, but scored three in the fourth and took the lead with four runs in the sixth.
Antigo battled back with a four-run seventh to take a 10-7 lead before Rhinelander rallied again, tying it on a Joe Schneider sacrifice fly before Sam Schneider won it with his double to right.
The younger Schneider brother also drove in what proved to be the game-winner in the playoff rematch - a groundout in the fourth that plated Joe Schneider. From there, the Hodags held on, including a play at the plate in the sixth inning where Quinn Lamers threw home just in time to cut down Elliott Orgeman representing the tying run.
4. Boys' hockey: Rhinelander vs. Mosinee - Jan. 30
Joe Schneider factored prominently in our No. 4 entry as well. Perhaps that's fitting as he scored four goals to help lift Rhinelander to a 5-3 victory over Mosinee in the Great Northern Conference tournament championship game in Wausau.
The first goal broke a 1-1 tie in the first period and each subsequent goal gave the Hodags a two-goal cushion.
"Before the game the coaches told us to get shots on net and that's just what I did," Schneider said. "Luckily for me all the pucks that I shot were just finding there way to the back of the net. I couldn't have done it without all my teammates passing me the puck."
The win capped a Cinderella run for the Hodags as the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. After defeating Waupaca, the Hodags bounced top-seeded Northland Pines 5-2 (more on that game later) before defeating Mosinee to earn a share of the overall conference title - the first in program history for the Hodag hockey team.
5. Boys' basketball: Rhinelander vs. Shawano - Jan. 16
Seemingly done for with 5 minutes to play, the Rhinelander High School boys' basketball team pulled off one of the craziest comebacks I've seen on the hardwood.
Down 47-31 with 4:23 left in regulation, Rhinelander stormed back to beat Shawano in overtime, 54-51.
The Hodags outscored the Hawks 18-2 down the stretch, including Ross Skeen's game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. Skeen, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds on the night, hit another 3 midway through the extra session to help Rhinelander complete the incredible comeback.
"It's a great lesson that it's not over," coach Derek Lemmens said. "You just have to keep playing. There's a lot of time on that clock. You just keep playing and that's what the guys did."
6. Little League : Rhinelander vs. Appleton National - July 12 & 16
The Hodag Little League 12U All-Star team reached the Wisconsin Little League state tournament for the first time in nine years this summer. The team's trip to state required a pair of dramatic victories over the team that finished second in the district tournament.
The Hodags defeated Appleton National 5-4 in the first-round of the double elimination tournament. Vince White was the hero, hitting a walk-off double in the sixth for the winning run. He also drove in the tying run in the fourth, as the Hodags rallied from an early 4-2 deficit.
The Nationals made it through the losers' bracket to get another crack at Rhinelander and was three outs away from forcing a winner-take-all championship game when the Hodags rallied again. Jackson Weinzatl proved to be the hero this time. He drove in three runs in the contest, including a single with the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth to give Rhinelander a 4-3 win and a trip to state.
7. Boys' hockey: Rhinelander at Northland Pines - Jan. 28 & Feb. 9
Rhinelander's first win over Northland Pines in boys' hockey in nearly 30 years, back in late 2020, was historic. The Hodags' two subsequent wins over the Eagles had just as much context within the story of the 2020-21 squad.
The Hodags proved their first win over the Eagles in the Eagle River Sports Arena wasn't a fluke, knocking off Pines a second time, 5-2, in the second round of the GNC tournament and then a third time, 6-4 in the WIAA D2 sectional semifinals.
The Hodags scored three third-period goals in both contests. The wins helped Rhinelander secure its first boys' hockey conference title and then its first trip to the WIAA sectional finals.
"To go up there and win three times, I still think about it. It was such an unbelievable feeling," coach M.J. Laggis said after the Hodags added a fourth straight win over the Eagles earlier this month in Rhinelander.
8. Football: Rhinelander at Medford - Sept. 17
Though Rhinelander football's bids for a Great Northern Conference championship and a WIAA playoff victory fell short this season, the Hodags earned a signature win on the road during the fifth week of the regular season.
Cayden Neri scored twice, including a defensive touchdown, as the Hodags defeated Medford on the road 28-14. It was Rhinelander's first win over Medford since 2010 and avenged a 24-7 loss to the Raiders in the conference championship game in 2020.
Neri scooped and scored a fumble from seven yards out early in the third quarter and the Hodags held on as Neri and backfield mate Caleb Olcikas combined to rush for 235 yards.
9. Boys' soccer: Rhinelander at Lakeland - Oct. 5
The Hodag boys' soccer team had an up-and-down season in its GNC title defense. The highest point undoubtedly came in Minocqua against eventual conference champion Lakeland.
The Hodags ended Lakeland's run at a perfect conference season, scoring three unanswered goals in the first half and playing the Thunderbirds to a 4-4 draw at IncredibleBank Field. Rhinelander then stole another conference point from Lakeland, winning a penalty kick shootout 4-2.
Rhinelander had gone 2 1/2 games without scoring entering the Lakeland contest, while the T-Birds had not allowed a goal through its first seven games. That changed in a big way as Beau Howard scored twice in regulation while Braden Mork, Charlie Heck, Tucker Frederickson and Shane Petrick all converted in the shootout.
"Whatever happened tonight, the boys learned how to finish again and they had a helluva game," Hodag coach Nathan Bates said. "Lakeland played strong. We played strong and, in my opinion, that was the best we played all season."
10. Softball: Rhinelander vs. Mosinee - May 18 & June 1
D.J. DeMeyer had been 0-for-12 against Mosinee in his tenure as Rhinelander High School softball coach. Though the Hodags won only six times in 2021, they broke the curse against Mosinee in a big way.
The Hodags stunned Mosinee 6-1 when the two teams met in Rhinelander May 18. Rhinelander took the rematch in Mosinee 8-4 in eight innings after Mosinee rallied to tie the game in the last of the seventh inning.
"I can't beat them in seven years and now I beat them twice in one year," coach DeMeyer quipped. "I'm really, really proud of the girls. It's been a rough season for us. We've been getting beat pretty easily. I've been trying to find the magic lineup. I don't know if I've found it yet, but the girls could have folded up on the season, but they didn't. I'm really proud of them. The bench was very loud. It was a whole team effort. That's what I like to see."
11. Football: Rhinelander vs. Antigo - Sept. 24
It's one of the biggest blowouts on our list, which is exactly why it made the list.
The reversal of fortunes over the last three years for the Rhinelander and Antigo football programs was underscored spectacularly on a rainy night at Mike Webster Stadium in September.
After losing 12 straight Bell Games to the Red Robins, the Hodags won their third in a row against their archrival, but how the Hodags won it was the most stunning.
The Hodags defeated Antigo 42-0 in a historic beatdown at Mike Webster Stadium that included a pair of defensive touchdowns for Rhinelander. The Hodags set school records for most points and largest margin of victory in the 87-year-old trophy trade series. It also marked the first time that Rhinelander shutout Antigo since 2002.
12. Wrestling: Rhinelander at Lakeland - Jan. 7
The Hodag wrestling team won only one dual meet in a condensed 2020-21 season, but it was the most important one to outgoing head coach Paul Ellenbecker.
Rhinelander won the final five bouts and rallied from down 27-9 to defeat Lakeland 36-27 in the Handrick Hammer dual in Minocqua. The Hodags moved to 3-0 in the rivalry series named after former Rhinelander and Lakeland assistant wrestling coach Tom Handrick, who passed away unexpectedly shortly after the conclusion of the 2017-18 wrestling season.
"If there was a dual that meant anything to me this year, this was the one," said Ellenbecker, who was a close friend of Handrick. "It's COVID, everything should have an asterisk by it and, unfortunately for us we've seemed to have a lot of bad things happen to our team this year, but this was the one match that I truly cared about."
13. Girls' basketball: Rhinelander vs. Medford - Jan. 12
Senior Rebecca Lawrence dominated the first of three close battles during last season between Rhinelander and Medford.
Lawrence scored 34 points as the Hodags defeated Medford 41-38 in Rhinelander. Medford was tied for first in the GNC at the time. Lawrence used a personal 13-2 run to help give Rhinelander a 33-20 lead at the midway point of the second half, but Medford got to within one before Lawrence sank two key free throws with 6.7 seconds to play.
14. Boys' basketball: Rhinelander vs. Mosinee - Feb. 19
In back-to-back seasons, the Rhinelander High School boys' basketball team has recorded thrilling home playoff victories.
The 2021 edition was a 58-56 win over Mosinee that was back and forth down the stretch. Quinn Lamers, who was 0 for 8 from the field at the time, hit a go-ahead 3 with 1:02 to play and Devyn Orth got a key steal in the final seconds as Mosinee tried to set up for a tying shot.
15. Legion Baseball: Rhinelander vs. Merrill - July 25
Though the Rhinelander Post 7 American Legion baseball team ended up faltering less than six outs from a Class AA state tournament berth, the Rebels would not have been in that position if not for a miracle comeback a day earlier.
Down 10-5 in the seventh, the Hodags rallied for seven runs in the top of the inning and held on for a 12-10 win over Merrill in an elimination game. After Merrill misplayed a potential game-ending double play chance, Ryan Jamison and Ian Miller delivered back-to-back two-run hits to give the Hodags the lead.
16. Boys' hockey: Rhinelander vs. Tomahawk - Dec. 23
A last-minute addition to the list, and rightfully so. The Reader's Digest version - Joe Schneider returns to the lineup, exactly one month after what was feared to be a season-ending knee injury. In limited action, Schneider scores twice, which proves to be the difference in Rhinelander's 5-3 victory over the Hatchets.
17. Football: WFCA All-Star Game - July 17
Rhinelander had the chance to show some of its recent football magic on a state-wide stage this past summer. Coach Aaron Kraemer guided the North Large school squad to a 7-0 over the South victory in the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association's All-Star Game weekend at UW-Oshkosh.
The North won a defensive struggle on a 27-yard interception return in the fourth quarter by Kimberly's Damon Loker.
Hodag seniors Jackson Labs and Quinn Lamers played in the contest. Labs, who had a state-high seven interceptions during the 2020 traditional fall football season, intercepted two passes in the game while Lamers was the most effective quarterback in the contest, going 6-of-6 for 35 yards and added an 11-yard scramble.
The event raised nearly $296,000 for Children's Wisconsin. Labs was the top individual fundraiser, bringing in $9,345. His sister, Jasmine, a former Children's Wisconsin patient served as ambassador for the game and was honored on the field prior to the contest.
18. Boys' swimming: Rhinelander at D.C. Everest - Jan. 14
The Hodag boys' swim team was a perfect 11-0 in dual meets last season before winning the Great Northern Conference championship and a WIAA Division 2 sectional crown. But the Hodags needed a little good fortune to complete an undefeated season.
It came in a non-conference dual at D.C. Everest. The Hodags trailed 80-75 going into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Everest appeared to have won the race, and the dual meet, but its top relay was disqualified for an illegal exchange, and the 14-point swing gave Rhinelander an 87-80 victory.
19. Boys' tennis: Rhinelander at Medford - June 1
In another instance where Rhinelander needed some heroics down the stretch to preserve an undefeated season, Joseph Heck and Jake Losch rallied for a three-set win at No. 3 doubles to give the Hodag boys' tennis team a 4-3 victory in a dual meet at Medford.
It was Rhinelander's closest win of the season as the Hodags went 16-0 in dual meets. The Hodags ended up taking first at in the Great Northern Conference tournament and in WIAA subsectional play before finishing fourth at WIAA sectionals.
Heck and Losch ended up winning the sectional title at No. 3 doubles.
20. Girls' swimming: Rhinelander at GNC Meet - Oct. 22
This is another event that makes the list less because of the final score and more for its historical context.
There was never any doubt that Rhinelander would win its third straight GNC title in convincing fashion, but what the Hodags did was record-breaking.
As a team the Hodags scored a meet-record 435 points and won by a record 231 points over runner-up Medford. Along the way, the Hodags set four Heck Pool records, five conference records and Malia Francis set school records in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 backstroke.
With its performance at conference, Rhinelander now holds the GNC record in all 11 events.
21. Girls' tennis: Rhinelander at GNC Meet - Sept. 25 & 27
The last game on our list was a bit of an oddity, as it took two separate days to complete the Great Northern Conference girls' tennis tournament. The Hodags won the meet convincingly, but had some exciting moments along the way.
The teams ran out of daylight to finish play on the tournament's scheduled date Sept. 25 in Antigo. Tori Riopel finished her last match on one of Antigo's two lighted courts and completed a comeback to win the conference title at No. 3 doubles in a supertiebreaker.
The Hodags had four of their championship matches delayed until two days later in Wausau. Rhinelander won two of them, including a three-set win for Annika Johnson over Wausau Newman's Becky Larrain to earn the No. 1 singles title and conference player of the year honors.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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