Hodag tennis goes 3-1 in Wausau

The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team suffered its first loss of the season on Friday and quickly made amends for it on Saturday.

The Hodags ended the Wausau Invite with a 3-1 record against Wisconsin Valley Conference schools. After suffering a 4-3 loss to D.C. Everest Friday afternoon, the Hodags ended the tournament with a 4-3 win over the Evergreens in a rematch on Saturday. In between the Hodags scored a 5-2 win over Wausau East and a 6-1 victory over Wausau West. 

“As a team, it’s a really good start to the year, a lot of good points, a lot of good rallies,” said coach Matt Nichols, whose Hodags closed out their first week of play with a 4-1 mark. “Everyone is very reflective on the tourney. If we think about the things we worked on and the things we want to work one, we’re just going to expedite the growing process.”

A shuffled lineup helped the Hodags overcome the Evergreens in Saturday’s rematch. The top doubles pair of Dalton Fritz and Joey Belanger moved to Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, for the dual and won their matches in straight sets. Meanwhile, Gavin Denis and Dawson Pontell won at No. 1 doubles and Zacha King and Payton McCue got the decisive point with a straight-set win at No. 3 doubles. 

“It was a great day, everyone played hard,” Nichols said after Saturday’s play. “We got two nice wins, and it was a great feeling to beat a team that had just beat us yesterday.”

Friday’s first matchup came down to a couple of match tiebreakers. McCue won his at No. 4 singles but the No. 3 doubles squad of Aiden Ostermann and Michael Schiek lost theirs 10-4, which put the decisive point in the Evergreens’ column. 

Overall, the Hodags had a total of four set or match tiebreakers against Everest, splitting them evenly.

“There were opportunities. I think we played well. Early season it was just a good test of our skill, but I’d say more so mental, especially in those tiebreaks,” Nichols said. “It didn’t work out (Friday) but I think we learned from it and will move forward stronger.”

It was a strong weekend for the Hodags doubles. Belanger and Fritz went 3-0 together at the No. 1 flight before moving to singles for the second Everest match. Denis and Pontell also went 4-0 on the weekend, playing three matches at No. 2 doubles before moving up for the Everest rematch. 

“No. 1 and 2 doubles, they’re both just very strong teams, very well-disciplined in doubles, very composed and great shots all around,” Nichols said.

For Belanger, who missed last Tuesday’s opener against Ashland, it was his first matches with Fritz as his new partner. Nichols said it’s so far so good for the pairing as Belanger aims to make a return trip to the WIAA state tournament. 

“Joey was very strong. It’s fun watching him and Dalton,” he said. “They’re a very composed and confident team with a really high tennis IQ. Their doubles game is only going to grow from here.”

Denis, who played No. 2 singles against Ashland, appeared to mesh well with Pontell, and Nichols hinted that the pairing could stick moving forward.

“We’re looking at keeping that spot really competitive and hopefully a long postseason run is in there future,” he said. 

McCue went undefeated in his first action of the spring. He won a pair of matches at No. 4 singles on Friday, bumped up to No. 2 singles Saturday morning and staved off Wausau West’s Breton Wayde in a match tiebreaker 6-3, 4-6, 10-5 and paired with King for a win at No. 3 doubles Saturday afternoon.

“Payton had a great weekend,” Nichols said. “He played a little bit of No. 4 singles, played No. 2 singles this morning and then ended at No. 3 doubles. Wherever he was at, he competed hard. He had a couple of tiebreaks and won them all. He was ready to get after it and he had nice strokes.”

John Currie split his matches at No. 1 singles, losing twice in straight sets to Everest’s Ted Kitchell. Nick Lesch dropped both of his matches Friday and did not play Saturday. Calvin Loomis went 1-3 between Nos. 3 and 4 singles for the Hodags.

“The singles side of things, just trying to work on consistency and just the fundamental strokes,” Nichols said. “If we can get that down, we’ll have long, consistent rallies. The next step would be getting the finishing points.”

The Hodags (4-1, 1-0 Great Northern) are scheduled to travel to Lakeland for a conference dual this afternoon.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].