June 10, 2021 at 8:05 a.m.
Hodag tennis cruises to victory in subsectional
Hodag tennis cruises to victory in subsectional
Rhinelander advanced all seven flights and won a seven-team subsectional Monday at Wausau West High School. The whole squad moved on to Wednesday's sectional round in Green Bay.
With seven teams in the field, the Hodags took advantage of four number-one seeds and four first-round byes to make their path to sectionals easier. Rhinelander won all eight matches it played on Monday, seven of which came in straight sets.
"I couldn't be more excited and proud. These guys worked hard and they earned every win," Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. "We talked about that early on, that we needed to build a strong record and play our best tennis from the get-go so we get those seeds. We earned those seeds and proved that we were meant to get those."
A great regular season meant a day off for Weddle at No. 1 singles. He received the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye thanks to his 16-0 record. Since the top four players at No. 1 singles moved on to sectionals, Weddle advanced without have to take the court.
"He had a great season coming into sectionals, and is a strong player," Nichols said. "He got the day off. Hopefully that will help him come into sectionals fresh and play well there."
The player with the most difficult path to sectionals was junior Leo Losch (12-5) , who squeaked in as the No. 2 seed in the third singles flight.
The junior cruised past Green Bay West's Thomas Erler 6-1, 6-0 in the first match of the day before running into Bay Port's Rodney Ehrhardt in the second round. Losch dropped the first set, 4-6, and was on serve 4-3 in the second set before breaking Ehrhardt's serve in the eighth game and serving out for a 6-3 win that forced a decisive 10-point supertiebreaker, played in lieu of a full third set. Losch took control late in the tiebreaker, winning 10-6 to advance.
"He had me on my toes the entire time, but he played a very consistent game and had some great strokes out there," Nichols said. "There were some great points. (Ehrhardt) was a strong opponent, so it was nice that he was able to finish in that tiebreak. It goes to show he's really improved with all of his strokes, but his mental game is there as well.
"We were struggling with consistency that first set, so just getting a couple more balls in. We also started hitting some bigger shots when we had that opportunity when (Ehrhardt) made a bit of an error."
The only other real spot of bother came at No. 1 doubles with the team of Elijah Evers and Luke Ring (16-1). After winning their opening set 6-0 against Wausau West's Axel Mahler and Ethan Steinbach, the Hodag juniors found themselves down a break point early in the set before finally getting back on serve at 5-4. After a couple of holds, Ring and Evers broke Mahler and Steinbach in the 12th game to win 7-5 and avoid a set tiebreaker.
"They were playing some of the best tennis I've seen in the first set and they got through, so that's huge," Nichols said.
The Hodags parlayed the top seeds at No. 4 singles, No. 2 doubles and No. 3 doubles into easier paths to sectionals. Rhinelander received first-round byes in all three flights to advance to the semifinals. Joey Sturzl (12-4) rolled 6-1, 6-0 over D.C. Everest's Aaron Pozorski to advance at No. 4 singles; Billy Berwig and Layne Roeser (14-1) were 6-2, 6-1 winners over Pulaski's Ryan and Jacob Ebent at No. 2 doubles and Jake Losch and Joseph Heck (15-1) rolled over Wausau West's Will Kronzer and Josh Rebeck 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 doubles.
Joey Belanger (15-2), the second seed at No. 2 singles, needed to win two matches to advance and did so with matching 6-1, 6-1 victories over Green Bay West's Charlie Adams and Bay Port's Dillyn Zuelke.
"They earned those seeds. They played some weaker teams but they still played some solid tennis," Nichols said. "They still swing through the balls, still earned the points and it will set them up well for sectionals."
Rhinelander crossed over against a strong subsectional that featured Appleton North, Notre Dame Academy and West De Pere Wednesday in Green Bay, where the hopes for automatic bids for the Hodags' No. 1 players came to an end. Weddle suffered his first loss, falling to Notre Dame's Alan Schneider, 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals with a berth to state on the line while Ring and Evers were defeated by De Pere's Hayden Alkhalisy and Jackson Harpt, 6-0, 6-0.
The top four in the No. 1 flights receive automatic berths to next week's state meet, as well as the sectional champions in the No. 2 flights. The remaining flights are jockeying for individual position as the team with the most points at the end of the sectional round will advance to the team state tournament.
"That is a really strong sub we're crossing over to," Nichols said. "Sectionals is going to be difficult all the way from one to four. It's going to be a fight at every position and we're going to have to bring our best game and play the best we can."
The event was ongoing as of press time for today's edition.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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