Bates to return to sidelines for RHS boys’ soccer

Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the RHS boys' soccer player being hugged in the above photo as Will Gretzinger. It was Charlie Heck. The caption has been corrected. We regret the error.

The last time Nathan Bates coached the Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team, the Hodags were standing on a waterlogged Uihlein Soccer Complex in Milwaukee following a dramatic run to the 2022 WIAA Division 3 boys’ soccer state tournament. 

Following a one-year hiatus, Bates will be patrolling the sideline for the Hodag boys again this fall. 

Bates’s return to the program was confirmed to the River News last week by both Bates and RHS activities director Brian Paulson.

John Weigel, who served as an assistant under Bates, took the helm of the boys program last year but looked to turn back over the reins after his son, Neil, graduated from the team.

It was a similar situation that prompted Bates to step aside in the first place. He wanted to spend more time with family and watch his son, Landon, who was a key figure for the Hodag football team last year. 

“We had an assistant in Johnny Weigel who was going to take over for a year. I asked Nate (to come back),” Paulson said. “He didn’t know with his new job, and we’re lucky enough to have him back this year. There were some kids that spoke to him also because they know what it’s like to have him as a head coach. I think that a lot of the kids respect coach Bates.” 

Not that Bates’s return was a slam dunk. Both Paulson and Bates said that it took Bates long into the summer to reach a final decision.

“We’ve been talking and I finally made my decision in July that I’d come back and see if we can have a good season this year,” Bates told the River News. “I’m excited. I’m looking forward to coming back. I enjoy fall, enjoy coaching. We had a good year with the girls this year and hopefully we can come back and try to have a successful season with the boys’ this season.”

Between Landon graduating and a change in full-time jobs, Bates said the timing was right to make a return to the boys’ sideline.

“It’s one of my passions. I really enjoy it. I still feel like I have something to offer for the kids,” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s my time yet to just step aside completely. I just like coaching, being a part of the kids’ lives, helping them out and watching them success. That’s my ultimate reason why I came back.”

Bates became head coach of the boys’ team in 2019, taking over for longtime coach Dan Millot. He guided the Hodags to a 32-20-17 record in his first four seasons, which including a GNC title in 2020. Though Rhinelander didn’t win conference in 2022, it put together a magical postseason run that included three consecutive penalty kick victories over Lakeland, Medford and Rice Lake to clinch the program’s first ever trip to the WIAA state tournament. The fourth-seeded Hodags nearly rallied from down two goals against top-seeded Green Bay Notre Dame, eventually falling 2-1 in the D3 state semifinals. 

    In this March 18, 2024 file photo Nathan Bates addresses members of the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team during practice in the Hodag Dome. In a combined eight seasons as head coach of the RHS boys’ and girls’ teams, Bates has compiled an overall record of 78-44-24. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Bates continued to coach the Hodag girls’ team during his sabbatical from the boys’ sideline. He has a compiled a 46-22-7 record in four seasons with the girls’ program, including a 12-3-4 mark this spring. 

“The body of work that he’s done, he’s done an amazing job keeping soccer, especially at the high school level, at a pretty high level,” Paulson said.

The Hodag boys went 9-5-3 under Weigel last season and finished third in the GNC. Rhinelander knocked off Waupaca in the opening round of the WIAA tournament before bowing out to top-seeded Mosinee in the regional final round.

Many of the players who were on the Hodags’ state tournament team two years ago have now graduated, but Rhinelander does return three all-conference players from 2023 in goalkeeper Barak Rappley, along with defender Hart Hokens and midfielder Michael Schiek. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We do have some pretty good pieces of the puzzle that are still there but, ultimately we do have a lot of work,” Bates said. “It’s a little different. This group of boys has not been playing together, travel soccer, etc., for years like a lot of these kids have — like my girls’ program and boys’ programs in the past. We’ve got some work cut out for us, but I think we’ll do OK.”

In addition to Bates taking the head coaching position, Paulson said two new assistants will be part of the high school program this fall as Jack Gundeck and Alexx Huff move up from the middle school level. Huff, a 2022 RHS graduate, played three seasons under Bates and earned second-team All-GNC honors as a defender in 2021.

“We’ll have some younger coaches and then having an experience coach in coach Bates,” Paulson said. “Huffy’s been helping out the middle school program and the kids have really enjoyed him. Now he’s stepping up and helping at the high school level, being a former player, to help demonstrate drills for the kids and things like that is a great thing for the boys’ soccer program.” 

Practice for the Hodag boys’ soccer team begins Monday, Aug. 19 and the team’s first contest is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 27 at home against New London. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].