Hodag tennis picks up non-conference win over Wausau West

The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team continued to strengthen its postseason resume on Monday with a convincing 6-1 victory at Wausau West in non-conference play. 

The Hodags (13-6, 4-0 Great Northern) already held a key bargaining chip over the Warriors following a 6-1 win over West back on April 13. Repeating that result helped as the Hodags try to solidify seeding over West and other Wisconsin Valley Conference schools ahead of WIAA subesectional later this month. 

“West, I think their lineup was a little different than what we’d expect to see later on,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. “We already had the head-to-head. Not much to gain, not much to lose, so it was a fun day with some beautiful weather.”

The Hodags were down a key piece of the lineup, with senior Joey Belanger out due to a previously scheduled pre-college commitment. Regardless, the Hodags shuffled partners in doubles with plenty of success, sweeping all three flights in straight sets. 

Dalton Fritz, Belanger’s usual teammate, partnered with fellow senior Dawson Pontell for a 6-3, 6-1 win over Breton Wayde and Carson Kirsch in the top doubles flight. Gavin Denis was joined by junior Michael Schiek at No. 2 doubles, where they beat Ryan McCallum and Nathan Yang 6-2, 6-3. Aiden Ostermann paired with Karter Massey for a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles per Beckett Wieman and Oliver Willson. 

“We moved people around but, as a squad, they impressed me with their serves, returns and we really worked on volleys today,” Nichols said. “We’ve been hammering them in practice and I thought the volleys that we got were improved. It’s exciting to see, not only the technical side, but the placement of the ball and some power behind it.”

The closest match of the day came at No. 3 singles, where junior Payton McCue fended off Wausau West’s Jack Burger in a match tiebreaker 6-2, 5-7, 10-5. Nichols noted the coaching staff is in the process of making changes to McCue’s stroke, which came up big late in the match. 

“It was fun to see him use that stroke. Payton used it on the last point, he had a beautiful putaway shot. It was cool to see his stroke come along like that,” Nichols said. 

John Currie was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Wausau West’s Andrew Lipowski at No. 1 singles while Zacha King downed Derek Emon in the fourth flight, 6-1, 6-2. West’s lone win came at No. 2 singles where Micah Boismenue defeated Nick Lesch in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. 

“As a squad, I’ve said this before, but I’ll reiterate, it’s fun watching that they can hit from the baseline and then also approach and play at the net,” Nichols said of his singles lineup. “You don’t always see that with singles, but I thought our team did a really nice job approaching on short balls and then putting it away with volleys over overheads.”

The Hodags were scheduled to close out Great Northern Conference play at Medford on Tuesday, but that match was pushed back to Wednesday due to rain and concluded after press time for today’s print edition. Rhinelander won 5-2 and ensure first place in the GNC standings entering next Thursday’s conference tournament.

Rhinelander travels to Sheboygan for a two-day non-conference tournament today and tomorrow. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].