July 6, 2021 at 7:58 a.m.
Team review: RHS boys' tennis
New era for Hodag netters begins with familiar results
Team review: RHS boys' tennis
The 2021 vintage of the Hodags looked vastly different than the group that won the Great Northern Conference title in 2019. Long-time head coach Bob Heideman had retired and the Hodags had only four starters back from the 2019 team. Yet, on the court, the results were as strong as ever.
With Matt Nichols at the helm, and featuring one of the deepest teams in the area, the Hodags went 16-0 in dual meets during the regular season, won its seventh straight Great Northern Conference championship and took first place in its Division 1 subsectional.
Here are five key storylines from the season.
Dominance
The Hodags weren't just the best tennis team in the GNC, they were arguably the best squad in the north-central part of the state, as evidenced by a perfect dual meet record.
Rhinelander was 123-20 in individual matches this season, including a 58-9 mark within the Great Northern Conference.
Medford, which finished fourth in the GNC two years ago, proved to be a surprising challenger to the Hodags' conference dominance this year. Both teams met with 4-0 overall records May 11 and while the Hodags won the dual, 6-1, Medford pushed Rhinelander to a pair of three-set matches.
The teams met again on June 1 and Medford nearly ended the Hodags' GNC winning streak, but Rhinelander got a three-set win from Joseph Heck and Jake Losch at No. 3 doubles to secure a 4-3 win. Two days later, Rhinelander downed Antigo to run its winning streak in GNC matches to 39 dating back to the 2016 season.
From there, Rhinelander comfortably won the GNC tournament, taking five of the seven flights while placing second at No. 3 singles and third at No. 4 singles.
"It's very exciting. The guys worked hard for this," Nichols said after capturing the conference crown. "They played really well today, whether they won their flight or didn't. Everyone put in a great effort. They improved a lot over the season and came to show off their talent today."
With Mosinee softball's run of 11 straight conference titles coming to an end this spring, the Hodag boys' tennis team now has the longest active GNC championship streak at seven in a row.
Depth to spare
In a season when three of the five GNC schools struggled to field a full lineup, and even a couple of Wisconsin Valley Conference schools registered some forfeits, Rhinelander proved to be the exception to the rule.
The Hodags had 32 players go out for the team this year. While some squads were struggling to fill out a lineup, Rhinelander had the exact opposite problem - struggling to get matches for those who weren't in the 10-man starting lineup.
Rhinelander used a non-conference invite at Wausau West to get some matches, sending some extra players over to get matches where Lakeland had forfeited due to low numbers. A couple of other non-conference invites served as chances for others to get in matches as well - such was the case for the Hodags' fourth doubles team of Charlie Heck and Braden Mork. They were undefeated (4-0) in the matches they played this spring, but just did not have much of an opportunity to work into the starting lineup.
"They're both playing at that level, we just have such a competitive team they can't start there every time," Nichols said following the Hodag Invite on May 18. "It awesome to get these tournaments where we can move them up and have them play at the varsity level, get some experience there."
Postseason
The Hodags parlayed their regular season dominance into some strong seeds for WIAA subsectional play at Wausau West. Despite being the only GNC school in a seven-team field that included all three major Wausau-area high schools, plus Bay Port, Pulaski and Green Bay East, the Hodags racked up No. 1 seeds in three flights and four first-round byes overall as they cruised to the subsectional title, advancing to sectionals in all seven flights.
Rhinelander found the sledding more difficult in the sectional round, which included a number of schools from the Green Bay Area and the Fox Cities. Rhinelander went only 4-8 in those matches and failed to send anyone to the WIAA D1 state meet.
"We knew they were a strong sub and we came in just wanting to play our best game possible," Nichols said. "We were looking for good matches, good competition and the boys really grew from the experience of playing those tougher teams ... Looking ahead, they know what's out there."
Joseph Heck and Jake Losch had the highlight of the sectional, winning both of their matches en route to a title at No. 3 doubles. Rhinelander also got a win from Joey Sturzl at No. 4 singles and the No. 2 doubles team of Billy Berwig and Layne Roeser as they took third in their respective flights.
Statbook
Though it did not end in a trip to the WIAA state meet, senior Jacob Weddle had a strong season at No. 1 singles, going 16-1 overall. His only loss was to Notre Dame Academy's Alan Schneider in the sectional quarterfinals. Weddle defended his Great Northern Conference No. 1 singles title from 2019 and finished his high school career as a three-time GNC champion after taking the No. 3 singles crown in 2018.
Freshman Joey Belanger performed admirably as he was thrust into the No. 2 singles spot at the start of the year and went 15-4 overall in the flight. Leo Losch went 13-7 and Sturzl was 13-5 to round out the singles starters.
Juniors Luke Ring and Elijah Evers won the GNC title at No. 1 doubles after winning the second doubles flight at conference in 2019. They went 16-2 overall together on the season before falling to De Pere's Hayder Alkhalisy and Jackson Harpt in the sectional semifinals.
Berwig and Roeser went 16-2 together at No. 2 doubles while Joseph Heck and Jake Losch were a perfect 17-0 together at No. 3 doubles.
What's next
The depth Rhinelander displayed this year will be tested next year as the team is slated to replace half of the starters from this year's squad - beginning at the top with Weddle.
A question to be answered over the offseason is will Ring and Evers stay partnered at No. 1 doubles or do they work their way into the singles lineup? Belanger, Leo Losch and Roeser are the three other starters due back. Nichols said the experience last month at sectionals will help all five.
"A lot of the strategies we talked about were implemented against us," Nichols said. "(We) were able to see that level of play and what we're trying to develop them into and what strategies we're going for. They got to see that firsthand. On the same note, it exposed some of their deficiencies. Over the summer and the offseason they can work on those, come back stronger for the next year."
The Hodags will also likely tap into to some of their junior varsity depth from this season. Among the players who saw spot starts on varsity were Charlie Heck, Mork and Eli Lundt - all of whom are eligible to return next year.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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