Hodag wrestlers go 1-3 in dual meets

After going winless in dual meets during the 2022-23 season, the Rhinelander High School wrestling team finally got back into the win column on Friday night. The Hodags got three pins and received three forfeit victories, which was just enough to edge Amherst 36-30 as part of a triangular meet in Amherst.

That was part of a busy stretch of wrestling for the Hodags as they went 1-3 combined in duals Thursday and Friday. Rhinelander fell 48-30 to Mosinee and 71-9 to Medford as part of a GNC quadrangular in Medford on Thursday night. The Hodags lost to another GNC opponent, Tomahawk, during Friday’s meet. Additionally, the Hodags had a number of JV wrestlers, plus Mya Swanson from the girls’ team, travel down to Shawano for a tournament on Saturday.

“Lot of good stuff, lot of not so good stuff, but at the end of the day we come out with the first dual meet win of the year,” coach Scottie Arneson said. “You’ve got to get the first one out of the way before you get the second one.”

GNC quadrangular

Ultimately, the ability to fill weight classes decided Thursday night’s dual against Mosinee. The sides split the contested bouts, with four pins for each team. However, Rhinelander was unable to fill five weight classes, compared to only two for Mosinee. The 18 extra points for Mosinee via the forfeit proved to be the final margin of victory.

“It got pulled away from us at the end with quite a few forfeits at the end,” Arneson said.

The Hodags started with back-to-back pins for Owen Kurtz at 215 and Reid Schultz at 285 for take a 12-0 lead, but Mosinee ran off the next five matches with three pins and two forfeit wins to go up 30-12. Rhinelander took two of the next three bouts as Robert Schramke stopped Andrew Beatty at the 3:54 mark at 138 and Aiden Ostermann needed only six seconds to defeat Noah Nechuta at 150. 

“Robert had a really solid win, but a lot of points on the board and ended up getting pin,” Arneson noted. “Aiden got a big pin to keep us in the dual.”

That ended up being the final contested bout. Both sides forfeited at 157, Mosinee got forfeit wins and 165 and 190 and Logan Schwinger picked up a forfeit win for the Hodags at 175.

    Rhinelander’s Reid Schultz tries to put Medford’s Max Dietzman into a headlock during a GNC dual meet in Medford Thursday, Dec. 14. (Matt Frey/Star News)
  

Kurtz and Schultz were Rhinelander’s lone winners against defending GNC champion Medford. Schultz started the dual with a 3-1 decision over Max Dietzman at 285 and Kurtz pinned Medford’s Braxton Weissmiller at 215 to end it.

The Raiders took the seven other contested bouts with six pins and a technical fall. The Hodags forfeited five weight classes.

“Owen pinned up a state qualifier from last year and Reid wrestled a really quality opponent at heavyweight,” Arneson said. “Having those two guys grind out good matches, and even just seeing the fight in some of the lower weights (was good to see) … We’re seeing good things and, when we get healthy, we’re going to turn the corner.”

Amherst triangular

On Friday, the Hodags benefitted from the holes in Amherst’s lineup to sneak out a six-point win. Both teams won three matches via the pin. Rhinelander was able to fill one more weight class than Amherst and broke a 30-all tie with freshman Hoyt Dantoin getting a forfeit victory at 113 pounds in the penultimate weight class of the dual. Neither team put a 120-pounder on the mat as the Hodags held on for their first dual meet win since defeating Antigo on Jan. 27, 2022.

Anthony Boldt (126), Gage Anderson (132) and Ostermann (150) earned pins as Rhinelander jumped out to an early 18-6 lead. It was the first win for Anderson, a freshman. Two more freshmen — Shayden Hylleberg and Brock Sternitzky — got their arms raised thanks to forfeit wins at 215 and 285.

“Kids were excited. Gage got his first win of the year. I didn’t tell Shayden or Brock that they were getting forfeits,” Arneson said. “They thought they were replacing our big dogs (Kurtz and Schultz) and when they went out there and got forfeits, they were all confused. Kids were all pumped up for them and they both came off with big smiles on their faces. That, at the end of the day, is what it’s all about.”

Arneson confirmed that Tomahawk edged Rhinelander in the second dual. An official record of that match had not been posted online prior to press time nor had the team provided the scorebook from the match to the River News.

Arneson did note that Gavin Liebherr (106), Schwinger, Gavin Snider-Dotter (190), Kurtz and Schultz won matches in the Hatchet dual.

“Tomahawk was second in the conference last year and we were one flopped match away from being with them in the dual,” he said. “We’re right there. I know that both teams aren’t 100% healthy so when we get to dual Tomahawk again at home in January, it will be really fun to watch.”

Swanson in action

Sophomore Mya Swanson was the only representative for the Hodag girls who traveled to Shawano on Saturday for the annual Shawano Holiday Classic. Swanson went 1-2 in the 126-pound weight class, finishing one win short of the placement rounds .

After getting a bye into the quarterfinals, Swanson was pinned by second-seeded Addisen Olson of Peshtigo in the first round. She pinned Shawano’s Breliegh Thronock in the consolation bracket but was eliminated after dropping a 9-0 major decision to Bonduel’s Hailey Berg. Swanson (7-3) also wrestled a pair of exhibition matches Thursday at Medford, splitting the matches.

“I think, overall, her bracket had a lot of good competition in there,” Hodag girls’ coach Eric Gobin said. “If you look at the seeding, a lot of girls had similar records. I think when you come out to the Shawano tournament, you see a lot of competition we haven’t seen before. I think it’s really good, early in the season, to figure out some of those areas you need to work on.”

In addition to Swanson, the Hodags took eight boys down to wrestle in the JV portion of Saturday’s tournament. Avrom Barr, Anderson and Maxi Singhammer all went 2-1 on the day and finished second in their brackets. 

Up next, the Rhinelander boys and girls will both be in action Thursday as the team hosts the Hodag Invite in the Hodag Dome. Wrestling will begin at 11 a.m.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].