May 10, 2021 at 8:34 a.m.
RHS tennis off to a perfect start
RHS tennis off to a perfect start
The Hodags went undefeated in their first two events of the season, sweeping Pacelli 7-0 Friday afternoon in the GNC opener in Stevens Point before knocking off a trio of Wisconsin Valley Conference teams Saturday in the Wausau West Invite.
Rhinelander swept Wausau West and Wausau East by matching 7-0 scores on Saturday, and earned a 5-2 win over D.C. Everest. All three schools will be part of the Hodags' Division 1 subsectional next month.
First-year head coach Matt Nichols said it was an impressive start for his deep, but relatively unproven, squad.
"I think the biggest thing was just the squad proving the depth and talent that they had," he said. "I had a couple of other coaches come up, and even the athletes that were not on that 10-spot varsity team, and just talked about how nice their strokes looked, how smooth they are. They were super impressed with the depth from top to bottom - and that was all 20 guys we brought this weekend they were talking about."
Three of the four returning players from the Hodags' 2019 GNC championship team got off to strong starts. Reigning GNC singles player of the year Jacob Weddle went undefeated in the four matches at No. 1 singles while Luke Ring and Elijah Evers, the GNC champs at No. 2 doubles two years ago, won all four of their matches at No. 1 doubles.
Weddle, a senior, rolled through his four matches on Friday and Saturday. He routed Pacelli's Isaac Kosobucki 6-0, 6-0 on Friday night and won all three of his matches Saturday in straight sets, dropping a total of five games between them.
"Jacob is playing really well. He hasn't seen much competition," Nichols said. "He's improved a lot since his sophomore year and we continue to work on his game. He's put in a lot of hard work on his own and he wasn't pushed. I'm hoping to get some more competitive matches coming up and really see how far he can go, but he proved that he's come to play and a huge contender among the (GNC), and even beyond conference in the subsectional."
Ring and Evers were pushed a little more on Saturday in the top doubles flight. The juniors rallied from down a set against Wausau East's David Bautsch and Henry Stifler to win 2-6, 6-3, 7-10. They added straight set wins over D.C. Everest, Wausau West and Pacelli.
"It was a tough match, good competition, the best we've seen for sure," Nichols said. "It was nice to see them get pushed and they responded really well. Not only are they clicking well with their rackets, but their mental game and chemistry is coming along. It was exciting to see the two of them click and just demonstrate why they deserve that No. 1 spot on the doubles side."
The Hodags featured a brand new singles lineup behind Weddle. Freshman Joey Belanger emerged during practice last week to get the start at No. 2 singles, and went 3-1 over the weekend, which included a three-set win over Wausau West's Luke Vandenberg. He lost a competitive straight-set match to D.C. Everest's Lucas Allen, 5-7, 3-6.
"He walked out there and played a tough D.C. Everest opponent and he played well, pushed his opponent, but fell short," Nichols said. "Then he ended up playing a strong West player and beat him in a tiebreak. Joey's playing well. He's gaining some confidence in that spot, just learning a little bit what it is to be that No. 2 singles player, and just learning the game. I expect him to grow a lot throughout the season."
Senior Joey Sturzl, back with the team after spending his sophomore season at St. Mary's Catholic in Neenah, went 3-1 at No. 3 singles while the Hodags split time at No. 4 singles with Eli Lundt and Leo Losch both going 2-0 on the weekend.
Behind Ring and Evers, the Hodags used seven different combinations at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles over the weekend, all of whom came out winners. Senior Billy Berwig, a GNC champ at No. 3 doubles as a sophomore, played all four matches at No. 2 doubles over the weekend with three different partners, resulting in four straight-set wins. He played twice with sophomore Layne Roeser, which Nichols said is a pairing that may stick moving forward.
"They played both against Pacelli and one of the matches today. They played well together and I think the chemistry and skill level match each other quite well," he said.
Joseph Heck, Jake Losch, Charlie Heck, Leo Losch, Lundt and Braden Mork all saw at least one doubles match over the weekend as the Hodags try to lock in their No. 3 team.
"We're still a little uncertain of who's going to take that place, but we dialed in some partners who play well together, that complement each other's strengths," Nichols said. "We're going to play off Monday to determine who has that final varsity flight."
There were several other members of the squad who played exhibition matches on Saturday, helping to fill out a Lakeland lineup that was short on numbers. Nichols said, that's where the team really showcased its depth.
"It's unfortunate Lakeland has such low numbers but, as far as development, we have such a big team and such depth that it was awesome to get (that many matches)," he said. "We traveled 20 guys. We got 10 guys exhibition matches. They all got at least 2 1/2 matches in and they got to see other varsity players. It was fun to see them get that experience. A lot of them were new freshmen, sophomores and juniors that kind of moved up into that position on the team. To get them that experience was awesome."
Rhinelander comes home this afternoon to take on a Medford team that's also off to a hot start. After defeating Lakeland 7-0 in GNC play on Friday, the Raiders went 3-0 at the Baldwin-Woodville Invite on Saturday with 7-0 wins over Baldwin-Woodville, Ashland and Osceola.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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