May 1, 2023 at 8:10 a.m.
Hodag tennis goes 2-1 in Wausau
Hodag tennis goes 2-1 in Wausau
The Hodags worked around a pair of rainouts to get in three matches on Friday in the Wausau West/East Invite, going 2-1 in those matches. Rhinelander began Friday's play with a 5-2 win over Marshfield at Wausau West before going across town. At Wausau East the Hodags beat Menomonie 4-3 before falling to Oshkosh North 6-1.
The event was supposed to be a two-day affair, but rain washed out Saturday's final day of play. Rhinelander also had a GNC match at Antigo postponed Thursday due to persistent sprinkles.
"Those were some of the bigger matches we were looking for, competitive teams. It's a win just to get outside and play. It was a beautiful day for tennis," Hodag coach Matt Nichols said of being able to play on Friday.
Doubles once again led the way for Rhinelander. The Hodags swept all three doubles flights against the Tigers and nearly did the same against Menomonie. Rhinelander's top pair of Joey Belanger and Layne Roeser fell in a long match tiebreaker 4-6, 6-2, 11-13 to the Menomonie tandem of Noah Reckin and Cole Witucki.
Though the Hodags went only 1-2 in doubles against Oshkosh West, all three matches went to decisive tiebreakers. Belanger and Roeser came out on top in their match against Ryan Jorgensen and Hans Larson 2-6, 6-4, 10-3.
"Three match tiebreaks, we got one of them, lost the other two but they were really close games," Nichols said. "It was back and forth. No one really got into a rhythm. It was fun tennis. Talking to the guys, a lot of them were talking about how much fun it was to get pushed and pushing the other team. It was a fun day with a lot of growth.
"Doubles just proves to be really strong, consistent and teams that are going to compete with the best of the other teams out there."
The Hodags' third doubles team of Eli Lundt and Dawson Pontell went 2-1 on the day, as did the No. 2 squad of Charlie Heck and Leo Losch. Heck and Losch's day included an error-free "golden" set against Marshfield, part of a 6-0, 6-1 win.
"They both had thought of it during the match, but they didn't say it to psych each other out," Nichols said. "That just speaks just to how good of players they are. Part of tennis, most of it seems like your just playing yourself, and it's always super rewarding if you're able to do that. It's a tough feat."
Dalton Fritz went 0-3 on the day at No. 1 singles. He rallied from down a set to force a match tiebreaker against Marshfield's Kai Reis, but lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-10. John Currie was 2-1 on the day at the No. 2 flight with straight-set wins in the Marshfield and Menomonie matches.
"It really tested the mental strength, especially the Nos. 1 and 2 singles, they grew a lot, really pushing points and developing finishing shots and incorporating that into gameplay," Nichols noted.
Friday's play featured a tweak in the Hodags' lineup with Gavin Denis and Nick Lesch flip-flopping positions at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. Denis went 0-3 on the day at the third flight while Lesch was 2-1 at No. 4.
"We're just trying to get the best No. 3 singles we can. Gavin was pushed. He puts in a lot of effort, great hustle. He's not finding great success, score-wise, but it's nice to see that. He's a junior so he'll grow and get better," Nichols said. "If Gavin's at No. 3 that puts Nick at No. 4 and that makes it a good No. 4 singles. We got a couple of wins there, which was nice and helped the team out."
The Hodags travel to Stevens Point on Tuesday for a non-conference dual against the Wisconsin Valley Conference-leading Panthers. Rhinelander returns home Thursday to face Stevens Point Pacelli in GNC play.
"Tuesday's going to be a really fun day," Nichols said. "That should be another competitive team and this one is going to be important, especially when we think about subs and seeding there ... Thursday we've got Pacelli again. We saw them once. We might modify the lineup a little bit and, hopefully, get some more conference points going into the tourney coming up."
In rescheduling news, last Monday's Rhinelander-Medford dual meet will be made up as a doubleheader May 9 in Rhinelander. The matches will start at 1 p.m. and the Hodags will keep their 5:30 p.m. non-conference match against D.C. Everest, also scheduled for that day. No make-up date had been announced for the Rhinelander-Antigo rainout prior to press time.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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