February 1, 2021 at 9:55 a.m.
Hodags advance three in WIAA wresting tournament
Hodags advance three in WIAA wresting tournament
Tim Fox won the regional title at 120 pounds, and Tanner Schmidt and Hugh Wiese both advanced with runner-up finishes, as the Hodags took fourth out of seven teams in a meet that included five Wisconsin Valley Conference schools, plus Rhinelander and Lakeland from the Great Northern.
The Hodags had three other top-four finishers which, in a normal year, would have been good enough to advance to the sectional round. Only the top two made it through this year as the WIAA cut the number of Division 1 qualifiers in half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"You never know what's going to happen in the regionals, especially when you cut it back down to two kids (advancing), compared to four like we used to," Rhinelander coach Paul Ellenbecker said. "In our case that was unfortunate today in a couple of ways, but it is what it is. You make the best of the situation and some of our guys did and some of our guys didn't."
Fox (14-0) made short work of his brackets after receiving a bye into the semifinals. He pinned Merrill's Jon Hart in the first period of the semifinals and then controlled D.C. Everest's Terrance Banks in a 7-0 decision to earn the regional title.
"Tim did an awesome job all day today," Ellenbecker said. "He's wrestling really well right now when he should be. This is the point of the year where you've got to turn it on. He turned it on today. He wrestled a really good match in the finals."
Wiese (12-4) also made it through as he battled in a trio of matches that went the distances. Wiese started with a 5-3 decision over D.C. Everest's Cameron Saari in the semifinal before falling to Wausau West's Gabriel Galang 8-3 in the championship match. Relegated to a wrestleback for second, Wiese fought off Lakeland's Ben Nemcek 5-1 to secure the final sectional berth at 126.
"Hugh taking second today, he wrestled very well in spurts, but he can still get better," Ellenbecker said. "He's getting better every day and it's fun to watch Hugh transform. He could have won the tournament today and he's disappointed he wasn't a regional champ."
The surprise of the day was Schmidt, a sophomore, who came into the tournament just 3-3 on the year. Schmidt pinned Marshfield's Landon Taylor in 45 seconds in the semifinal match at 113 before getting pinned by D.C. Everest's Easton Cooper in the championship match. Schmidt then pinned Wausau West's Logan Brewer in the second period of the wrestleback to advance to sectionals.
"Tanner had a nice day. He had a pretty nice bracket, but he's still got to go out there and win matches, and he did that," Ellenbecker said. "He's got a couple good moves that he's been working at and he's been getting better all year long. Now he's down to 113, where he should have been wrestling all year. He really put it together today."
Rhinelander narrowly missed qualifying for sectionals in two other weight classes. The more stunning of the two defeats came at 195 where senior Ben Sinclair (11-3), a returning state qualifier, finished third and did not advance. Merrill's Wyatt Bathke pinned Sinclair in the semifinal match and those Sinclair pinned Marshfield's Jaden Wilhelm in the third-place match, he did not get the chance to wrestle back for second as Bathke lost in the championship match and was awarded second place by virtue of his win over Sinclair earlier in the day.
"The kid hit a beautiful throw on him, put him to his back and it's unforgiving this year," Ellenbecker said. "It's not top three or top four. It's only the top two and that kid got pinned in the finals, which we kind of expected. It's just one of those deals where the kid's a big upper body kid and he hit Ben with a very good move.
"It sucks to end that way for him. Fortunately last year he got to experience the state tournament, but that's wrestling for you. You have your good days and your bad days."
Freshman Owen Kurtz (12-4) also was knocked out despite nearly winning the regional championship at 285. D.C. Everest's Jack Johnson edged Kurtz 2-1 thanks to an escape in the first tiebreaker period to win the regional title and then Kurtz was pinned in the wrestleback by Wausau West's Athan Somers.
"He had a chance for a reversal early in overtime and he just kind of a paused for a second and the kid (Johnson) grabbed his leg and held on," Ellenbecker said. "Then trying to hold a kid down for 30 seconds, a 280-pounder, that's not the easiest thing in the world and Owen just couldn't quite come through on it. He wrestled really well and gave everything he had. The thing with wrestling, you lose a heartbreaker like that in the finals, and you see it all the time, the next match the kid just doesn't have it. He didn't have it in the wrestleback. He wasn't moving well and the kid hit kind of a sloppy throw, but it worked for him and it was enough to catch us."
Cayden Neri placed fourth for the Hodags at 152, Joe Fugle was fifth at 182 and Rhinelander got sixth-place finishes from Robert Schramke (132) and Joe Evenson (220).
For Schmidt, Fox and Wiese, sectionals will take place this coming Saturday at Wausau East High School. To advance to state, the wrestlers must place first or second in their eight-person brackets.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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