May 23, 2022 at 8:53 a.m.
RHS tennis wins GNC title again
RHS tennis wins GNC title again
Rhinelander once again demonstrated its superiority over the other schools in the GNC Thursday, clinching its eighth consecutive boys' conference title at the GNC tournament in Antigo.
Some of those titles have been nail-biters. This one wasn't. Mathematically, Rhinelander had its 10th conference championship in 12 years secured before a ball was hit on Thursday. The Hodags received first-round byes in six of the seven flights, which was enough to clinch the overall title.
Rhinelander then proceeded to go out and match or exceed its seeds in every flight scoring 37 out of a possible 42 points in the tournament.
"They all played really hard. We worked hard for this," Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. "It was a team goal from the beginning of the season and it's just super exciting and well-deserved for them to end up on top here at the tourney."
It continued a dominant run in the GNC for the Hodag tennis program. Only once since joining the GNC in 2011 have the Hodags not won the conference title, that came in a weather-condensed season in 2013. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the girls' side of the ledger, Rhinelander has 11 titles in the 13 years its has been a member of the conference.
The Hodags claimed championships at five of the seven flights Thursday, including No. 1 doubles where junior Layne Roeser and sophomore Joey Belanger romped to earn conference doubles player of the year honors. Rhinelander won the championship in all three doubles flights, and also claimed titles at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. All five champions were No. 1 seeds going into the tournament and completed undefeated conference seasons.
Roeser and Belanger rolled through their semifinal, defeating Pacelli's Mateo Koch and Eli Robinson 6-0, 6-1 before knocking off Antigo's Calvin Jansen and Nolan Bunnell 6-3, 6-2 in the finals.
"Against Antigo, I'd say we played really good," Belanger said. "We were hitting the ball good, we were following through. We had really good volleys. I thought Antigo improved a lot from when we played them last. It was a fun match to play in and it was good to get the final win."
The two moved to 10-2 together since being paired together in an April 29 tournament in Wausau. Roeser said he and Belanger, also teammates on the RHS boys' hockey team in the winter and the Rhinelander Northwoods Composite Mountain Bike team in the fall, have a natural chemistry.
"We just know each other really well," he said. "We've been friends for a while. That helps with our chemistry on the court and not getting too mad at each other."
Charlie Heck and Leo Losch made short work of their opponents en route to the No. 2 doubles title. They defeated Pacelli's Marcus Lansing and Keagen Austreng 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals and Medford's Conner Klingbiel and Brett Lundy 6-1, 6-2 in the finals. Similarly, Eli Lundt and Dawson Pontell cruised at No. 3 doubles, dropping a total of three games in straight set wins over Pacelli and Antigo.
"The No. 2 and the No. 3 doubles are just very solid teams," Nichols said. "We have the depth in the doubles, so it was no surprise to me that went through pretty easily, all the way through the finals."
Sophomore John Currie rolled to the title at No. 3 singles, defeating Antigo Seth Beaber 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals and Medford's Saskatoon Damm 6-1, 6-3 in the championship match.
"He has a little bit of a shoulder injury so he wasn't able to do first serves but I think that actually maybe added to his game," Nichols said. "He was a lot more controlled in his shots and worked the points a lot better, then just consistency up to the net and angling. It was fun, some of the best tennis I've seen from him."
Sophomore Dalton Fritz was pushed a little bit at No. 4 singles, but beat Lakeland's Jack Stepec 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals and held off Antigo's Landon Nelson 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the finals.
"Antigo had very good singles and its was back and forth for a lot of the match," Nichols said. "Dalton played well. He just had a great opponent and it was fun to watch. It was just a great win. Those are the most fun where it's competitive and end up on top. It's awesome to see him up there with the conference win at No. 4 singles."
Senior Luke Ring got a rematch with Antigo's Garrett Husnick, who he defeated earlier this month, in the finals at No. 1 singles. Husnick controlled play on Thursday, however, and was leading 6-0, 5-1 in the second set with the seventh game at deuce when rains came and halted play.
When play resumed Friday afternoon, Ring broke Husnick's serve to take the seventh game, and eventually got on a run to force a tiebreaker, before falling 7-6 (4) in the second set.
Elijah Evers, seeded fourth at No. 2 singles, finished play just before the rains, defeating Lakeland's Dominic Gironella 6-2, 6-4 for third place, giving Rhinelander all-conference representation at all seven flights.
Rhinelander was set to host WIAA Division 1 subsectionals on Monday, with the top four at No. 1 singles and doubles, and the top two in every other flight, advancing to Wednesday's sectional round in Wausau.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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