May 24, 2021 at 8:59 a.m.
Signing day: Four Hodags declare college intentions
Signing day: Four Hodags declare college intentions
Three-sport athlete Quinn Lamers headlined the list, signing to play college football at Division I (championship subdivision) University of Montana. He was joined by a pair of seniors who will stay in state to pursue opportunities at the Division III level as Isaac Bixby signed to play baseball at UW-Platteville and Ali DeNamur signed to run track and cross country at Ripon College.
The fourth member of the quartet, Billy Berwig, is heading to Davenport, Iowa to play men's tennis at the NAIA level at St. Ambrose University.
"It's going to take a lot from you, but I know all four of you will represent Rhinelander and we'll be proud of you," RHS activities director Brian Paulson said Friday as the four signed during a press conference at the high school.
Lamers keeping it in the family
There's a family connection for Lamers at the University of Montana. His cousin, Marc Mariani, was a four-year letter winner for the Grizzlies before being selected in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans.
"I went out to Montana my sophomore summer to participate in a camp out there," Lamers explained. "My cousin played out there and I kind of knew the area, so I just wanted to go out and have fun. I got in contact with a couple of the coaches there. After the junior season I was able to get in contact with them again. We were really just kind of waiting for that senior season to come around. Once that happened, we talked about film. They got me on some calls with some of their other coaches and took it from there."
Lamers, who made his first start in the final game of 2018 for the Hodags, ended up being a two-time all-Great Northern Conference pick at quarterback and had a 14-5 record as a starter at RHS. Overall, Lamers completed 45.9% of his passes for 2,141 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over three seasons. His best numbers came this past year as he threw for 1,159 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.
"His passion for the game of football since I've known him has grown exponentially," Hodag football coach Aaron Kraemer said. "He's grown in the understanding of the game and the way that he plays it, in his leadership and the type of person that he is. I'm really not surprised that I'm standing here and talking about him the way that we are and that his career is going in this direction.
"He helped us all the things we've done as a team. I can't be more grateful for the person that he is or the player that he's become."
The Grizzlies played in only two games in a COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, defeating Central Washington and Portland State. The team went 10-4 in 2019 and advanced to the second round of the FCS national playoffs.
"They plan on bringing me in. Freshman year I'm going to redshirt and then I'll come in and have my spot for that sophomore year," Lamers said. "They said they'd bring me in as a quarterback and if I have to change to receiver or d-back, I'll do that, whatever it takes to win."
Hard work pays off for Bixby
Isaac Bixby admitted being devastated when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his junior year of high school and American Legion baseball, but he went and did something about it. Whether it was organizing informal practices during the summer, or getting associated with a travel team in the fall, Bixby's persistence paid off as he will go on to play at UW-Platteville.
"The summer of COVID, my dad (Kevin) started reaching out to teams in Wisconsin," Bixby said. "That's how we got in contact with the Appleton team. That's where it really took off.
"I started to get more contacts with different college. I reached out to the Platteville coach, from there it led to a player interview. We had that interview and he ended up calling me back the next day and offered me a spot on the team."
Bixby has been dominant on the mound so far this spring for the Hodags, going 4-1 with a 1.43 ERA with 41 strikeouts and only six walks over 29 1/3 innings pitched. Coach Joe Waksmonski said he credits that to all the time Bixby has put into the game since his sophomore season.
"Isaac's been a tremendous leader in our program - first one there, last one to leave, putting all the extra time in," he said. "I think he as the first one to open the dome, first one playing catch in there and hitting in the cage. The time that he put in in the mornings, at night, throughout the offseason and with travel (baseball), going to different camps, the growth he's experienced the last two years has just been unbelievable."
By going to Platteville, Bixby will become the third Hodag player currently competing in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, joining 2018 RHS grads Bradley Comer and Jacob DeMeyer. The Miners went 15-26 overall this spring and went 8-20 in the WIAC.
Bixby said he plans to major in civil engineering at Platteville.
DeNamur overcomes to reach next level
Injuries and COVID have cost Ali DeNamur her last two track and field seasons, but she's done enough during the falls in cross country to earn the attention of Ripon College.
DeNamur finished 23rd at in the GNC and was 30th at sectionals as a junior. As a senior, she was the team's top finisher in four of the team's eight races. Her season was highlighted by top 10 finishes in Antigo, Three Lakes and the second Rhinelander race. She was also the Hodags' top runner at conference (16th) and at subsectionals (21st).
"After junior year cross country season I started getting a lot of offers, then I just took a weekend and I just went around to all the schools that had offered me," she explained. "I toured those schools. Ripon was the one that stuck out in my head. I went back there after I toured a couple of other schools, and then I met with the coach and met with the girls. I ran with the girls and I just really, really liked it, so I ended up with them."
RHSâcross country coach M.J. Laggis said he's proud to see DeNamur get a chance to run at the next level.
"I really persuaded her to continue running because she's just persevered," he said. "She's had injuries throughout the way and works even harder in those moments. She always managed to finish even better than anyone thought. Some of the best moments I've had with her is when she's bleeding and roughed up in the course of a race and everything that could go wrong does go wrong and yet she emerges and finishes with her best race."
The Red Hawks' 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Ripon was sixth out of 10 teams in the Midwest Conference Championships and placed 24th in a field of 43 in the NCAA D3 Midwest Regional.
DeNamur said she considering majoring in anthropology, political science and/or economics at Ripon.
Berwig headed to St. Ambrose
Berwig has going 29-12 during his career at RHS, spending most of that time at either Nos. 2 or 3 doubles, yet that was still enough to draw the attention of the small Iowa private school.
"Their coach (John Rohlf) reached out to me, saw some of the stats that I had and I was able to go down and visit with him and talk to him," Berwig said. "He really liked what he saw. We were able to go from there."
Berwig is 11-1 on the season after this past weekend's Hodag Invite, playing most of those matches at No. 2 doubles. Hodag assistant coach Ben Nichols quipped the he watched Berwig play as a sophomore in 2019 while coaching at Wausau West and "saw how good he was, so I decided to come here."
"Billy, he's definitely the life of the party on the team," Nichols said. "I've coached him in matches and I can just see the fire in his eyes. He's such a strong competitor and I'm so excited to continue watching his career as he goes on."
The Fighting Bees are coming off a 2-13 record overall in the 2020-21 season where they went 0-6 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. St. Ambrose already has a Rhinelander tie as RHS alum Devon Gaber completed his freshman season for the university's men's swim team this past winter.
Berwig said he plans to major in finance at St. Ambrose.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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