Hodag swimmers win GNC double dual, Wis. Rapids Invite

Despite being a bit short-handed late last week, the Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team continued its winning ways. 

Rhinelander took 10 of 11 events as it beat both Tomahawk and Medford in a Great Northern Conference double dual in Medford on Thursday. The Hodags then turned around and won nine events Saturday to claim the five-team Wisconsin Rapids Invite.

Rhinelander beat Tomahawk 92-42 and Medford 97-36 in Thursday’s double dual. The Hodags were without senior Zacha King for both meets due to a pre-planned family commitment while head coach Jenny Heck was also unable to attend Saturday due to a prior obligation. Assistant coach Brent Olson skippered the team to a 21-point victory over Baraboo in Wisconsin Rapids.

“It took all eight of them,” Olson said. “All eight of the guys there today really learned how to fight through. None of them gave up on anything and won pretty much every close race that was out there.”

Medford double dual

Only a disqualification due to a mistimed exchange in the 400 freestyle relay kept the Hodags from sweeping all of the events Thursday in the conference opener. Otherwise, it was business as usual for the five-time defending GNC champions.

“It was a fun meet. It was better to have three teams, to do it that way was a lot more fun,” Heck said after Thursday’s meet. “We had the guys in maybe not their favorite events, and I thought they did really well. Their times were right at where they left off last year.”

    Rhinelander’s Samson Shinners competes in the 100-yard breaststroke during a GNC double dual meet against Medford and Tomahawk in Medford Thursday, Nov. 30. (Matt Frey/Star News)
  

Junior Mathias Fugle won all four of his races. He took the 100-yard butterfly (58.62 seconds), led a 1-2 finish with teammate Samson Shinners in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.60) and was on the team’s winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. 

Junior Shawn Denis claimed the 200 freestyle (2:02.05) and the 100 freestyle (52.69), beating out Tomahawk’s Sam Zastrow in both events. The Hodags swept the top three spots in the 50 freestyle with Brock Arrowood (23.49) edging teammates Dolan O’Malley and Charlie Antonuk. Arrowood (5:23.13) and Dolan O’Malley also went 1-2 on the 500 freestyle while Charlie Antonuk led a Hodag freshman 1-2 in the 100 backstroke (1:02.35), edging Judson O’Malley to the wall by 0.64 seconds. 

“The freshmen were really good and the returning swimmers, it was great to have Brock and Samson back in the mix,” coach Heck noted. “The other guys swam right at their best or best times. Bubba (Fugle) had a best time in his 100 breast, which is really fun to see.”

Shinners, Judson O’Malley, Fugle and Denis made up the winning quartet in the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.03) and the Hodags, with all eight swimmers they had available on Thursday, went 1-2 in the 200 medley relay. The team of Fugle, Shinners, Antonuk and Judson O’Malley rallied over the final 50 yards to hit the wall in 1:50.51 and edge the team of Dolan O’Malley, Denis, Arrowood and Christopher Larson by 0.56 seconds.

“Brent got the relays racing, the A and the B medley relays and it came down to the finish,” coach Heck said. “It was a good race for them. It was a great way to start the meet. I guess I would say what stood out most is how they meshed as a team and came together, supported each other had fun.”

Wisconsin Rapids Invite

Fugle and Denis led Rhinelander’s lone 1-2 finish on the day Saturday, with Fugle (23.26) edging Denis to the wall by 0.07 seconds in the 50 freestyle. 

Denis excelled in the breaststroke for the Hodags last year, and also made it to state in the 200 individual medley, but has also looked strong in sprint freestyle so far this season. 

“He came on right at the end of the year last year, just wasn’t able to show it because we had too many fast freestylers. We were able to see it as coaches, but he wasn’t able to show it to the rest of the world. We’re proud that he was able to bring it back,” Olson said. “It was a phenomenal race between Shawn and Bubba. Shawn was ahead of him, but Bubba was taller was pretty much what it came down.”

Fugle also claimed the 100 freestyle as a part of another four-win day. He broke the 50-second mark in both the 100 (49.58) and in his split in the 400 freestyle relay (49.23).

“He was happy with that,” Olson noted. “He had another race (in the 100) where the Baraboo kid pushed him right to the finish. He actually had him at the 75 and then Bubba turned on the jets and pulled away by just a little bit.”

The Hodags cleaned up in the freestyle races on Saturday. Shinners took the distance freestyle races, winning the 200 (1:05.67) and the 500 (5:15.46). Rhinelander went 1-3 in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Arrowood, Denis, Fugle and Shinners got the win (1:33.16) with the O’Malley brothers, Antonuk and Larson placing third. Shinners, the O’Malley brothers and Fugle claimed the 400 freestyle relay (3:28.60).

Denis added a win in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.61) while Arrowood took the 100 butterfly (55.90) and was second in the 100 backstroke (56.30). 

Rhinelander opened the day with a win in the 200 medley relay as the team of Antonuk, Denis, Arrowood and Judson O’Malley (1:46.04) inched away late to beat Baraboo by three-quarters of a second. 

“That medley relay really stood out. It was a great way to start. Baraboo was right on our tail the whole way and we had a much better finishing two legs than they did,” Olson noted.

Dolan O’Malley added a runner-up swim for the Hodags in the 200 individual medley and was third in the 100 backstroke. Antonuk finished third in both the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke.

The Hodags (2-0 Great Northern) are idle from Great Northern Conference play this week, but will be back in the pool this coming Saturday as they host the Hodag Relays at the Heck Family Community Pool.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].