March 17, 2021 at 10:31 a.m.
Team review: RHS wrestling
Hodags grappled through COVID-impacted season
Team review: RHS wrestling
The Hodag wrestling team saw its schedule greatly reduced and its tournament format altered due to the pandemic, with the main issues being how many teams could compete at a time and how much time was needed between competitions to limit the spread of the virus.
Of course, the Hodags weren't alone. The restrictions were statewide mandated by the WIAA. But coach Paul Ellenbecker said they had a profound impact on the season.
"It was very, very challenging and it continues to be challenging," he said. "I absolutely disagreed with a lot of the COVID stuff that was put in place by the WIAA. I didn't like how they did wrestling this year at all. I didn't agree with any of it and the opportunities that it took away from kids. Looking back, I think this year's going to be very detrimental to a lot of wrestling programs and coaches around the state."
The Hodags tried to make the most of the situation, but got in only eight dual meets during the season, going 1-6-1 in those duals. Rhinelander did finish third at the Great Northern Conference meet and fourth at regionals, but advanced no one to the WIAA state tournament this year after advancing a pair of wrestlers to state a year ago.
Part of the reason was it was twice as difficult to make it to state this year, with the number of qualifiers halved due to the pandemic.
"Looking back on it, I hope the kids had a good experience this year with it all," Ellenbecker said. "I think I told them numerous times, just apologized to them. This is not what the sport's like. We go to tournaments. We compete at a state level. We were not allowed to do that this year."
Here are five key storylines from the season.
Thin and depleted
The Hodags' depth was tested from the get-go between COVID and injuries.
One of the biggest blows occurred before the season even began when Walker Hartman, a third-place finisher at sectionals as a junior, injured his knee in a football game Nov. 2 against Medford and was lost for the 2020-21 season. Fellow upper weights Joe Fugle and Conner Jensen were also injured late in the football season, which delayed the start of their wrestling campaigns.
Rhinelander also had some middle weights out at the start of the season due to COVID concerns. As a result, Rhinelander had only six wrestlers available for its season opening match against Crandon. The team got some of that depth back for duals against Mosinee and Lena, but still forfeited four of the 14 weight classes, resulting in a loss and a tie.
"It drives you nuts when you lose three matches and one kid makes a difference in every match we wrestle," Ellenbecker said. "It's frustrating, but you've got to worry about the guys you have here, and the kids we have here are getting better. We had some great matches and great exhibition matches. The kids that are here are going to get better from it."
Hammer time
Rhinelander won only one dual this season, but it was perhaps the most meaningful of the bunch.
The Hodags reeled off five straight match wins down the stretch to defeat Lakeland 36-27 Jan. 7 and take the Handrick Hammer dual in Minocqua.
Named for Tom Handrick, a longtime assistant coach for both Lakeland and Rhinelander who passed away unexpectedly in 2018, the Hodags have now won all three Hammer duals. The victory carried extra significance for Ellenbecker, who was a close friend of Handrick's.
"Winning the Hammer was the highlight of the night. It's important to our program and it's something we want to win every year," he said. "A lot of the kids now don't really know who Tommy was, but we told stories about him all week long but a lot of the kids, just have a rivalry, it's kind of cool having something like that going on for wrestling.
Home sweet Dome
Rhinelander was able to showcase the newly-constructed Hodag Dome to the wrestling community a couple of times during the season. The first opportunity was Dec. 30 during a non-conference dual against Lena. The second was the Great Northern Conference tournament Jan. 23.
Rhinelander finished third in the GNC tournament, with Tim Fox and Hugh Wiese claiming individual conference titles, but the facility garnered many of the headlines that afternoon.
"I think our dome was eye-opening to the people around our conference," Ellenbecker said. "Every coach said something to me today like, 'Wow, this is awesome. This is impressive.'"
Individual successes
The Hodags did have some individual success this season, especially toward the end of the year. Senior Tim Fox recorded his 100th career win late in the season and went on to win his third consecutive GNC individual championship. Fox took a perfect record into sectionals before losing a couple of matches and finishing fourth in the 120-pound weight class.
Hugh Wiese also claimed a conference title for the Hodags, winning at 126 pounds. Cayden Neri, Ben Sinclair and Owen Kurtz were conference runners up at 160, 195 and 285 pounds, respectively.
Wiese also made it through to sectionals with a runner-up finish at regionals. So did sophomore Tanner Schmidt, who was a surprise sectional qualifier. He ended up winning a match at sectionals to finish sixth in the 113-pound bracket.
With success, there was some heartbreak. Sinclair, a state qualifier last year, did not even make it out of the regional round this year, placing third at 195. Kurtz also failed to advance to sectionals, losing the wrestle back for second place after falling in overtime in the championship match.
Both would have advanced in a normal year, but only two advanced from regionals in each weight class, opposed to four in normal years, to cut down on the number of participants at sectionals and state due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What's next
2021-22 will be a season of transition for the Hodags. In addition to graduating Fox, Wiese, Sinclair and Hartman, the team will have a new head coach.
Ellenbecker announced he is stepping down in the team's season-ended recap video which was published to YouTube Feb. 28. He has gone on record endorsing assistant coach Scottie Arneson as his replacement.
The team will be raw next year, with Kurtz returning as a sophomore as perhaps the team's most decorated wrestler.
"I do like our odds of having a full team next year and I do think things are going to go well," Ellenbecker said. "We have a strong group of coaches. We have a lot of people willing to help out. I think our biggest problem is just going to be experience and mat time."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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