Swimming: A look at the field for tonight’s state meet

      

Rhinelander has tough road ahead of it as it tries to become the first repeat WIAA Division 2 boys’ swim state champion since Madison Edgewood in 2019-20.

The Hodags enter the night expecting to be in a dogfight for the silver trophy, well behind last year’s state runner-up McFarland. The Spartans are projected as 108-point favorites as they seek their first state title since 2012. 

It looks to be a battle for second — and a tight one at that — between the Hodags and Whitefish Bay. The Hodags are projected to finish 2 1/2 points ahead, based on state qualifying times. Edgewood and Nicolet are also expected to be in the mix for the top three early, before fading back to fourth and fifth late in the meet. 

Here’s a quick look at what to expect from each event.

Diving — The Hodags have no entries here, though Whitefish Bay’s Tyler Emory will be one to watch. Emory had the best regular season score of anyone in the field entering sectionals, but his total of 330.05 points has him fifth among the qualifying divers entering this afternoon’s competition. He placed third in the event last year as a freshman and is the top returning medalist. Junior Sawyer Moore of Kiel/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah is the top qualifier in the diving competition, scoring a 370.55 at sectionals.

200 Medley Relay — This looks to be an early showdown of the major players as McFarland (1:34.57), Rhinelander (1:38.58) and Whitefish Bay (1:38.75) come in as the top three seeds, with Nicolet (1:39.08) not far behind. McFarland is looking for a state championship repeat in this event. The Hodags finished second, but have a brand new quartet in the event this year after graduating Carter Gaber, Jack Antonuk, Daniel Gillingham and Charlie Heck.

200 Freestyle — Nicolet’s Jack Sullivan is looking to become just the eighth swimmer in state history to win the same individual event four straight years. The three-time defending 200 freestyle champ comes in with the top seed at 1:38.76. Each of the projected top five teams has at least one entry here, Edgewood’s Jaxon VandenBrook is seeded second ahead of Whitefish Bay’s Finn Holdredge and McFarland’s Lyon Hall. Samson Shinners, Rhinelander’s lone entry in the event, is seeded ninth. He placed seventh in the event as a freshman back in 2022.

200 Individual Medley — The McFarland sectional was loaded in this event, taking six of the top seven qualifying spots, led by McFarland’s Blake TeBeest (1:56.39). The only outlier in that group is Rhinelander’s Zacha King, who placed fifth in the event last year and comes in as the No. 4 seed. The Hodags also have Dolan O’Malley (13th), and Shawn Denis (14th) in the event, and it should make for an early opportunity to make up ground on Whitefish Bay, which was shut out from qualifying in the IM.

50 Freestyle — Everyone is chasing McFarland brothers Shane and Cale TeBeest, the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds for the event. Rhinelander’s Mathias Fugle will vie for a podium spot as the No. 7 qualifier while Whitefish Bay has three entries in the event, led by senior Steven Camacho, who qualified sixth.

100 Butterfly — VandenBrook comes in as the top qualifier, but eyes will again be on Shane and Cale TeBeest, who are currently seeded fifth and sixth. Shane TeBeest was the state runner-up in the event last year. Rhinelander’s Brock Arrowood checks in as the No. 10 qualifier after winning the Ashwaubenon sectional, but is less than a second behind No. 2 qualifier Jack Borzynski of The Prairie School. Moving up will be key for Arrowood in the Hodags as the butterfly is the second, and final event, where Whitefish Bay has no entries.

100 Freestyle — Sullivan is also the defending champion and the top seed in the 100 freestyle, where his 45.24-second sectional time is more than a second faster than the No. 2 qualifier, Hall from McFarland. Fugle comes in as the No. 5 seed in the event, after finishing 11th at state as last year as a sophomore, while Shinners will look to set a fast time from the first heat at the No. 11 qualifier. Whitefish Bay has three entries here, led by junior William Wang, who comes in tied for seventh. 

500 Freestyle — Much like how Ashwaubenon passed Rhinelander for a time last week in sectionals, look for Whitefish Bay to make big gains in the only event, other than diving, where Rhinelander does not have an entry. Holdredge was the state runner-up last year and comes in as the No. 1 overall seed for Whitefish Bay, which also has eighth-seeded AJ Katch.

200 Freestyle Relay — The Hodags are the defending state champions in this event, but Fugle is the only swimmer back from that squad. Rhinelander still comes in as the No. 2 seed (1:29.94), roughly eight-tenths of a second faster than Whitefish Bay (1:30.72). McFarland is the top seed here, with a time (1:26.98) three seconds faster than Rhinelander. 

100 Backstroke — Rhinelander will make its push to get past Whitefish Bay here, with four swimmers to Whitefish Bay’s one in the event. King leads the Hodag quartet as the defending state runner-up in the event. He’s also the top returning swimmer in the event, with Hall doing the 200/100 freestyle double for McFarland. Blake TeBeest, who beat both King and Hall at the Small School State Invite last month, is the top seed here. Will Antonelli is fourth for Whitefish Bay. The Hodags will have Dolan O’Malley, Judson O’Malley and Arrowood swimming in the first heat.

100 Breaststroke — Stoughton’s Julian Callender is the defending state champion and the No. 1 qualifier in this event. McFarland has the No. 2 qualifier in Preston Nygaard. Denis is seeded seventh for Rhinelander and Whitefish Bay has only one entry, 12th-seeded Owen Neodstup.

400 Freestyle Relay — The top five schools are the top five seeds here. McFarland, which won the event last year at state, is the top seed, nearly five seconds ahead of second-seeded McFarland. Edgewood is seeded slightly ahead of Whitefish Bay, which is slated to have its top two swimmers — Antonelli and Holdredge — in the event. In theory, the only way Rhinelander can go here is up, as they are nearly five seconds ahead of sixth-seeded Ashwaubenon. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].