State qualifiers Belanger, Fritz earn Hodag tennis MVP

Following a strong senior campaign that ended at the WIAA state tournament in Madison, Joey Belanger and Dalton Fritz shared the Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team’s most valuable player award. The two headlined the list of award winners during Tuesday’s banquet in the RHS commons.

Virtually all of the awards were voted upon by team members. Belanger and Fritz certainly built a strong résumé to earn the top honor. 

The two posted a 23-6 record together at No. 1 doubles over the course of the season, winning the Great Northern Conference title before placing third at WIAA sectionals to qualify for the state tournament. The Hodag pair survived a match tiebreaker in Madison to win their opening match before falling to the 13th-seeded squad from Neenah in the second round. 

It was the second straight MVP award for Belanger, who shared the award with his then-teammate in doubles Layne Roeser last year. Belanger has won a match at state each of the last two years. Prior to that, the last time Rhinelander won a match at the state tournament was back in 2008 with Rahul Jain.

“You look at their season and their results, they were pretty solid, consistent in the varsity lineup. With that many wins they were voted in and honored as the most valuable players,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. “They benefit the team by their skill level. Their hard work is not only paying off for them, but others. The leadership they bring from the top, I’m really grateful for and made the season a lot easier.”

There were several awards to go around on Tuesday. Senior Zacha King took home most improved honors while freshman Calvin Loomis was named rookie of the year. Junior Payton McCue won both the Three-Setter Netter award and the Hodag Citizen award. Gavin Denis was named Mr. Hustle and John Currie took the Team Spirit award.

King broke into the varsity lineup on a full-time basis midway through the season as he went 10-11, primarily at No. 4 singles. That’s where he won a Great Northern Conference title and qualified for WIAA sectionals, finishing fourth. 

“He worked a lot, put in a lot of time, a lot of effort during the season and it panned out in the best way possible,” Nichols said. “It’s really cool to have seen him grow. When I look at him coming in as a freshman to where he is now it’s crazy to think how much he’s grown. I remember in summer tennis I’d be so frustrated saying, ‘Zacha, you’ve got a great slice. You’ve got to learn how to hit top spin.’ He’s developed his game and has become so well rounded. He has a slice, he has top. He’s a great serve and can move the ball almost any way that he wants.”

McCue won the only objectively-based award of the night. He played in — and won — the most matches that went to either a full third set or a match tiebreaker, going 5-1 in those matches. He also won the Hodag Citizen award for his involvement in the community off the tennis court.

“He’s a very well-rounded individual. Beyond tennis, he’s involved in a lot of different activities with DECA, super organized,” Nichols said. “Tennis-wise, there was a lot of improvement. I think this year he was a little higher on the ladder than he should have been, but by the end of the year, he had grown into the position and had earned that position.”

Loomis started the season on varsity, going 6-5 at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. Assistant coach Wil Losch said Loomis’s eventual drop to junior varsity wasn’t due to a decrease in performance, rather improvement by the players around him who were jockeying for the final spots in the lineup. To that end, Losch credited Loomis for being able to push and challenge the upperclassmen.

“Whether you know it or not, you were a positive influence on guys that are older than you,” Losch said. “I think they see the work you put into the game, that you appreciate the game. That doesn’t escape them.”

Denis posted a 21-7 record on the year, primarily playing at No. 2 doubles with teammate Dawson Pontell. Nichols noted his hustle in other sports, which translated on the tennis court — whether it was during drills or in a match. Currie played No. 1 singles for the Hodags, going 15-13 on the year. He won the conference championship, and GNC singles player of the year and made it to the sectional round of the WIAA tournament. In terms of the Team Spirit award, Losch spoke of Currie’s support for his fellow teammates during the course of the season. 

In addition to the team awards, four members of the squad received Academic All-State honors from the Wisconsin High School Coaches Tennis Association —Currie, McCue, Aiden Ostermann and Michael Schiek. To be eligible, players must be sophomores or older, have a cumulative 3.5 GPA or higher and have played in at least 75% of their team’s varsity matches. The team also honored Loomis, fellow freshman Eric Berger and senior Gabe White, who met the GPA requirements for academic all-state, but did not meet the age and/or playing time requirements.

The Hodags posted a 17-8 dual meet record over the course of the 2024 season, which included a 5-0 mark in GNC duals as the won their 10th consecutive conference title. The team finished third at subsectionals and fifth at sectionals. 

“Just a fun season,” Nichols commented. “Just beyond the tennis, you heard that a lot of the memories weren’t even tennis-related. It’s just the camaraderie, the enjoyment off the court, the practices. It’s the process. I’m looking forward to next year.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].