Team preview: RHS wrestling

Numbers are up in the wrestling room for the Rhinelander High School boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams. The Hodag coaching staff hopes that will yield more success this year when it comes to Great Northern Conference play.

“We’re growing and we got a good foundation of guys, with a good foundation of wrestling,” Hodag boys’ coach Scottie Arneson said. “And we have a lot of guys with a lot of team thoughts in their head, like, ‘Hey, where am I going to fit in the lineup? Where is so-and-so gonna go so that we can fill more weight classes?’ That’s how everybody’s thinking right now.”

Numbers are growing on the girls’ side, too. The team had a couple of more girls to try out the sport last week, bringing the roster up to seven. Coach Caleb Radtke said there’s a chance a few more girls will join as well ahead of Friday night’s opener in Antigo as the team preps for a season that will include a conference tournament for the first time.

“A lot of brand new faces in the room this year, but it’s a good thing,” he said. “It’s positive. I mean, we’re just going to continue to work and grow as a team and we’re going to get better and better every day. It might take the whole season, but we will get to where we need to get by come February.”

The Hodag boys will begin their competition schedule the following day in Antigo. Here’s a closer look at each squad.

Boys’ team

The Hodags lost some heavy hitters from the top of their lineup, graduating state qualifier Logan Schwinger, GNC heavyweight champ Reid Schultz and another all-conference wrestler in Dresden Klaver. 

Rhinelander’s young this season, with only one senior on the roster, but Arneson said the team has plenty of potential for this year an beyond. 

“Our junior class is big for a reason,” he said. “They’re willing to work and they talk about how great it is and what it could be, not only this year, but next year. They’ve already said, ‘Oh, we’re going to be good as a senior.’ I said, ‘Why don’t we be good now?’” 

Two of those juniors are back after earning all-conference honors last year. Avrom Barr was third at 138 pounds while Jeffree Dupree was third at 165. The lone senior on the team also comes in with all-conference recognition. That’s Tony Boldt, who was third at 144 a season ago.

“Tony, I think, he’s going to have a really good season. He’s made some difficult choices in the past, and he’s made some difficult choices to help him be more successful this year. He’s been trying to get more people to come in during the summer, and I think this previous summer, we’ve had more people up in the room than we have in the past. So that’s great leadership from him.” 

Boldt had the most wins last year of anyone returning in the lineup, going 16-17 a year ago. The Hodags have a few other wrestlers back who competed in the postseason last February including Barr, Ivan Loka, Hoyt Dantoin and Gate Anderson. Those four, all juniors, all recorded double-digit wins for the Hodags and figure to be leaders on the squad. 

“Our junior class is really setting a good example of how to work, how to not complain,” Arneson said. “In wrestling, you’re pushing and pulling on somebody for two hours every single night, and we’re trying to figure out ways to make it more enjoyable, and our guys are doing a really good job with responding to everything that we ask out of them.”

The bulk of Rhinelander’s wrestlers reside in the middle weights. The Hodags will be greener in the heavyweights after graduating Schwinger and Schultz. Juniors Brock Sternitzky, Gavin Snider-Dotter and Pedro Mata are among those who could fill roles there. 

Rhinelander is also thin at the bottom of the lineup, though it picked up a potential lightweight in freshman Juan Diego Grage.

“We’ve certainly picked up a couple kids along the practice week last week for numbers, and now it’s just getting them caught up to speed with what they missed the first couple days of practice and hopefully we can start seeing some results out of them,” Arneson noted.

The GNC figures to have a different dynamic with Arneson’s alma mater, Merrill, moving into the conference this season. Though the Bluejays finished sixth last year in a competitive Wisconsin Valley Conference, they return a number of all-conference wrestlers and could be immediate contenders from the conference crown. They’ll look to unseat last year’s conference champion, Tomahawk, which also returns the bulk of its roster.

“Obviously, I have close relation with (Merrill’s) wrestling program and I think that they’ve had a strong program. When they were in the Valley, they maybe weren’t up with the rest of them, but they compete hard,” Arneson said. “I think the conference is about as even as it gets across the board. I know Tomahawk didn’t really graduate too many seniors, and they’ve got a good core group.”

Rhinelander went 3-2 in dual meets last season but placed fifth at the conference meet. With most of the conference experiencing turnover, Arneson said there’s a chance for the Hodags to fare well, provided their able to fill the majority to weight classes and improve throughout the season. 

“I think that this group of kids can do as big of things as they want to. So we’re just going to keep grinding and get better every day,” he said.

Girls’ team

    In this Feb. 21, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Cassidy Lindner wrestles Shawano’s Willow Goercki during a WIAA Division 2 girls’ wrestling sectional in Shawano. Lindner, a junior, went 24-14 last season as a first-year wrestler and was stopped one match shy of the WIAA state meet. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

The girls’ team also is relatively green, but one member will have her sights set on big goals. That’s junior Cassidy Lindner, who came out as a first-year wrestler last season, posted a 24-14 record and came within one match of qualifying for the WIAA state tournament. 

“Her goal this year is to qualify for state tournament, which I 100% think is achievable,” Radtke said. “She’s got the best work ethic of any athlete I can say I’ve ever worked with. And I truly do mean that. I mean, she’s staying after every practice. She came in all summer long, once to twice a week to work. She’s a workhorse.”

Lindner’s impact is being felt well beyond the win-loss record. Radtke said she’s taken on a leadership role with the squad and has been the one banging the drum in order to get more girls out for the sport. 

“She’s definitely leading the way for a lot of these girls,” he said. “She’s setting a good example. She’s showing what drilling looks like. She’s taking breaks during her training to go correct other girls, and I mean, she’s really great to have around, really fortunate to have her be a part of this program.”

Senior Mya Swanson was not listed on the roster as of press time after going 22-10 and qualifying for sectionals last year. That leaves just one other wrestler returning with high school experience — sophomore Miranda Daab, who went 5-16 a season ago.

Seniors Nevaeh Anderson and Kayla Skubal are trying the sport for the first time, as is junior Shyanne Hueckstaedt. Junior Skylar Leitl and freshman Katie Hazelton round out the squad.

Radtke said, given the relatively short history of girls’ wrestling as a WIAA-sanctioned sport, the new wrestlers are not as far behind as if they were trying out other sports for the first time. 

“I honestly think 70 to 75% of these girls are coming out as first-year wrestlers. So, I mean, they’re not behind in my eyes at all. They can be competitive match one for three weeks of wrestling,” he said. “The girls are growing, they’re asking tons of questions. It’s across the board. Everybody’s asking questions. They’re learning really fast. I think it’s just going to take a couple of weeks and we’re going to be competitive with every other team in the state.”

The sport’s growth can be seen from the  schedule this year, as the Hodag girls have only three meets that overlap with the boys — invites at Crandon Dec. 13, Rhinelander Dec. 19 and Merrill Jan. 10. The girls have a 12-match schedule this season that will culminate in the first-ever conference tournament held at Medford Feb. 6. 

“I think it’s been a long time coming,” Radtke said. “I think it’s a really great thing. I think girls deserve to have the title of being a conference champion, and now we finally have that. So there’s a lot of excitement. I know a couple of girls were already asking about it. This year about being a conference champ and being able to get their names up on the board, so just really exciting that the conference was able to put together.” 

The GNC will join with the WVC for this inaugural season, with all 12 schools competing in the conference tournament. The teams will also meet on three other nights during the season for challenge matches — at Marshfield Dec. 16, at D.C. Everest Jan. 6 and at Merrill Jan. 20.

While the Hodags’ roster is growing, Radtke said it still pales in comparison to some other programs in the GNC or the Valley.

“We’re potentially going to have nine girls out come Monday, and I’d say we’re for sure on the bottom half of the conference,” he said. “I mean, you got Wausau West with like 36 girls. Merrill has 28 or something. There’s a lot of girls teams that, they’re bigger than the guys’ teams.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].