March 21, 2022 at 7:49 a.m.
Team review: RHS wrestling
Hodags got stronger throughout season
Team review: RHS wrestling
The Hodags finished tied for third in the Great Northern Conference this season, avenging a dual-meet loss to Lakeland by soundly out-pointing the Thunderbirds for third at the conference tournament.
That momentum carried into the WIAA tournament where the Hodags again beat Lakeland, and finished in the middle of a loaded Division 1 regional. The team ended with five sectional qualifiers, and its first boys' state qualifier in two years.
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
Numbers game
Between illness, injury and attrition, a lack of depth was a prevailing story for the Hodags during the first half of the season.
The Hodags won only two contested bouts in a non-conference opener at Crandon and pushed back a conference dual against Mosinee due to low numbers. A spate of illnesses also forced the team to pull out of the Northern Badger Invite at River Falls over the holiday break.
Rhinelander was much closer to a full lineup once the calendar turned to January, but a hole at an inopportune spot proved to be the difference in the team's annual Handrick Hammer dual against Lakeland.
Sophomore Owen Kurtz was scratched from the Jan. 13 meet due to illness, giving Lakeland's Esuabe Brown a forfeit victory in the heavyweight class. Lakeland went on to win the dual 35-32.
Kurtz pinned Brown roughly three weeks later at the GNC tournament and it could have been a potential 12-point swing in the Hodags' direction had Kurtz been able to wrestle in the dual meet.
It was Rhinelander's first loss to Lakeland since the Hammer was established in 2019, however Arneson insisted the team had chances to win, despite Kurtz's absence.
"Not having individuals in our lineup isn't an excuse," he said afterward. "They had starters out in their lineup as well. Kudos to them."
Strong at end
The Hodags closed conference dual meet competition with back-to-back convincing wins over Mosinee and Antigo, which moved the team into fourth in the conference standings entering the GNC tournament Feb. 5 in Mosinee.
Rhinelander had a strong showing that day, winning three individual conference titles and taking nine top-three finishes overall as they placed third on the day - not far behind GNC co-champions Medford and Tomahawk.
Gavin Ostermann, Cole Lehman and Kurtz all walked away as conference champions. Additionally, Aiden Ostermann, Tanner Schmidt, Joe Fugle, Sean Boman, Robert Schramke and Reid Schultz received conference honors for placing in the top three in their weight classes.
"We had some good showings. We were competing hard and avenged some losses," Arneson said afterward. "We taught some different techniques this week and we actually saw some of our athletes that don't like to use real moves, they were using real moves today and it was paying off today. We were avenging some losses with techniques that we learned just this week."
The momentum carried through to the following week at regionals, where the Hodags placed fifth and advanced five wrestlers - Gavin Ostermann, Lehman, Fugle, Kurtz and Aiden Ostermann - through to the sectional round.
Senior standouts
The Hodags finished the season with only three seniors on the roster, but all three made a significant impact.
Gavin Ostermann led the group as he returned to the sport after taking two winters away to be part of the Rhinelander boys' swim team. Not only was Ostermann a conference and regional champion, he finished runner-up at 182 pounds at sectionals and nearly finished on the podium at the WIAA state meet, ending up one win shy of qualifying for the placement rounds. Ostermann finished his season 39-6 overall.
Lehman and Fugle also had strong final seasons in the program. Lehman went out a conference champion at 145 pounds before bumping up to 160 for the regional tournament. He advanced with a third-place finish at regionals and won his first match at sectionals before bowing out with a 26-13 overall record. Fugle (23-18) was the conference runner-up at 220 before dropping down to 195 for the playoffs. Like Lehman, he finished third at regionals and fourth at sectionals.
"All the seniors know they were part of the foundation of the program, where we want to get it too and they represented our program really well," Arneson said.
Girls' history
The Hodag wrestling program was part of history Jan. 29 in La Crosse as the team's lone representative, junior Abby Swanson, placed fifth in the 185-pound weight class of the inaugural WIAA girls' individual state wrestling tournament.
Swanson lost her first match of the day, but won her three remaining bouts by pin as she ended up on the podium.
"She did an awesome job, smile on her face all day," Arneson said. "That's typically hard to find with her, but she was feeling it today and loving it. I think she was excited too that she got to showcase what she was capable of. "It was an awesome day for not only Abby but Wisconsin wrestling, in general, and women's wrestling even more."
What's next
While the Hodags will graduate three strong seniors, there will be plenty fo wrestler with talent returning, led by Kurtz (33-8) and Aiden Ostermann (24-7), who finished third and fourth in their respective weight classes at sectionals.
Arneson said he is hopeful that Gavin Ostermann's state tournament trip will serve as inspiration for the returning wrestlers.
"Hopefully next year we have some guys that step up and fill his shoes. The younger guys that we take with, hopefully they want to be competing down (at state)," he said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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