Kurtz denied again, RHS wrestlers stopped at sectionals

TOMAHAWK — Rhinelander High School senior Owen Kurtz had a chance Saturday to rewrite the ending to a script with which he’s become all too familiar over the last several years. He stood on the mat in Tomahawk, once again, one win away from qualifying for the WIAA state wrestling tournament. 

Hollywood endings don’t always happen in sports, however. That hard reality set in as Kurtz looked up at the lights at Hatchet Fieldhouse. 

Kurtz was pinned by Hayward’s Bradey Gottwald in the third period for the third and final state qualifying spot in the 215-pound weight class in the Division 2 sectional meet, marking the end of Kurtz’s Hodag career.

It was part of a tough day for the Hodags overall at the sectional, as their five representatives went a combined 1-7 and all saw their seasons come to an end.

Kurtz came into the sectional as a regional champion with only one loss on the season, but couldn’t overcome the sectional qualifiers from the other half of the draw. Kurtz was pinned by Rice Lake’s Easton Stone in the first period of the semifinals, another match that would have ensured a trip to state. 

The end result was painfully familiar for Kurtz. As a sophomore and junior, he finished third in Division 1 sectional brackets where only the top two qualifiers advanced — losing second-place matches in both. This year, as the Hodags dropped to Division 2, he placed fourth in a bracket where only three advanced.

“It’s really tough,” Kurtz said afterward. “Four years of so close and not being able to punch it in, doing good in the regular season and not being able to finish it out the way I want to is disappointing, but you live and you learn. Bigger and better stuff is coming in the future.”

“Obviously, there are a lot of emotions that goes through a kid that really does put his heart and soul into the activities that he does,” Hodag coach Scottie Arneson said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for, not only the wrestler that Owen is, but just the person that we’re able to say is a Rhinelander wrestler for eternity. 

“The devastation is always going to be there, but I know we got four years with a hard-working kid … I couldn’t be more proud of the person that we got through the program.”

    Rhinelander’s Owen Kurtz battles Hayward’s Bradey Gottwald in a third-place match at 215 pounds in a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet in Tomahawk Saturday, Feb. 17. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Kurtz struck first in the third-place match against Gottwald, getting an opening period takedown. Gottwald worked his way off the bottom and got an escape before the end of the period, but Kurtz still led 2-1. Gottwald chose to start on the bottom in the second, and escaped again to tie the match midway through the period. 

It looked as though the two wrestlers would be tied at 2 going to the third until disaster struck for Kurtz late in the period. Gottwald put Kurtz into a headlock and threw him to his back right before the end of the period. Though Kurtz fought off the pin, the damage had been done. He trailed 7-2 at that point and looked as though all the energy had been drained from his body as he stumbled back to the center of the ring for the start of the third period. 

When asked what he would have liked to have had back in the match, Kurtz replied in one word, “energy.”

“I just completely ran out of gas,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the long wait or what but I was out of gas. I was trying so hard and I just couldn’t get anything through.”

“You could just tell that his whole body got really, really tired from even fighting off his back for the last 10 seconds of that second period,” Arneson said. “The other kid capitalized on our hips really being out of position by maybe 3 or 4 inches. That’s the difference in going to the state tournament and not going to the state tournament. Both of them wrestled really hard all match. The other kid capitalized and fell in a better spot.” 

Kurtz was unable to escape Gottwald’s clutches in the third period, finally succumbing to a pin with 38 seconds remaining in the match. 

Stone controlled Kurtz in the semifinals, needing only 57 seconds to earn the pin. Kurtz was able to make his way through the consolation semifinals with a third-period pin over Wyatt Karl of the Spencer co-op. It was Kurtz’s 32nd pin of the season, breaking the single-season record that was set in 2017-18 by his older brother, Alec, who was in attendance on Saturday.

“After that match, it was nice to say, ‘Hey, I just broke your record.’ I would have taken a taken a state trip instead of the record, but it’s still nice,” Owen Kurtz said.

Kurtz was one of three to advance to sectionals for the Hodags in the boys’ side of the sectional. Logan Schwinger (36-13) was unable to win his opener at 190 pounds, falling to Joe Petherbridge of Saint Croix Falls by 13-6 decision. Schwinger did not get a chance to get into the consolation bracket after Petherbridge lost his semifinal match.

Aiden Ostermann (21-15) did get a wrestleback chance after getting pinned by eventual 144-pound runner-up Graiden Monicken of Baldwin-Woodville in this first match. Ostermann was stopped one minute into his consolation semifinal by Trig White of Chetek-Weyerhauser/Prairie Farm.

“Logan hit some stuff we were working on this week and Aiden was trying to scramble in his matches,” Arneson said. “The other guys caught a hold of our neck at the right time and capitalized on us trying to scramble out. That was stuff we were working on this week. Now we’ve got 12 months and one day to try to work and punch our ticket to the state tournament.”

    Rhinelander’s Mya Swanson battles Osseo-Fairchild’s Abby Moss during a girls’ 120-pound match in a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet in Tomahawk Saturday, Feb. 17. (Paul Ellenbecker/Submitted)
  

It was a tough day as well for the two Hodag girls’ wrestlers in the field. Mya Swanson was pinned in the second period of her quarterfinal match at 120 points, but Taylor Dahlquist suffered a first-period pin in the quarterfinals at 138.

“Mya had the two-seed, a really tough wrestler off the bat. She ended up getting pinned. Taylor, another tough draw there and the first period ended up in a pin as well,” Hodag girls’ coach Eric Gobin said. “We’re kind of looking forward to next season, getting another shot. Overall, it was kind of tough with the girls having to win to get out of the section. Just looking for ways to improve for next year.” 

The day closed the book on the Hodags’ season. Kurtz wrapped up his career as a three-time conference champion, GNC co-wrestler of the year this winter and a two-time regional champion. He posted a 111-25 record during his four-year career.

“There’s definitely a bunch of stuff I’ve done. Three-time conference champ is nothing to laugh at, but it is what it is,” Kurtz said.

Arneson said Kurtz will be remembered for much more than what he did on the mat.

“One thing people won’t remember is how far he made it in the sectional or in the state. The thing people are going to remember is how he treated people and how he cared about other people,” he said.

As for the rest of the squad, Arneson said he hopes the team can build on a fifth-place finish in the GNC, which included its first conference dual meet victory in two years.

“It’s a great experience for those juniors and, hopefully, the freshmen and sophomores to follow,” he said. “I think kids are eager and they want to be in this sectional setting next year, which is going to fuel the fire for the offseason.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].