RHS girls’ wrestlers take 17th in opener

The Rhinelander High School wrestling team had five girls take to the mat on Friday night as it came home 17th in the 30-team Red Robin Invite in Antigo.

Three of the five competed in their first ever high school match and coach Caleb Radtke said the team acquitted itself well in its opener.

“The girls, for how green they are, they are competed really well. They competed tough. And I feel that the effort was there,” he said.

Junior Cassidy Lindner returns with the most experience, following a third-place finish at sectionals last year. She got her campaign off to a strong start with a runner-up finish on Friday in the 126-pound bracket. 

Lindner cruised through her pool, with a technical fall and a pin to make the top eight. She pinned Wautoma’s Aspen Groskreutz in the quarterfinals and Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Brenna Marsh in the semifinals to make the championship match, but was stopped there early in the second period by Cadott’s Tessa York.

“It was a very tough girl from Cadott. I think she’s ranked 10th right now,” Radtke said. “Cassidy wrestled very, very well; very, very tough. The biggest improvement I’ve seen in Cassidy this year is she’s able to shoot. She’s really opened up, is offensive and scoring a lot of points. It’s a lot more fun to watch this year.”

Two of Rhinelander’s first-time wrestlers got their arms raised on Friday. Senior Nevaeh Anderson picked up a pair of pins in the consolation bracket as she went 2-3 on the night and finished 10th at 165. Freshman Katie Hazelton scored a pin in the first round of her consolation bracket and wound up 12th at 132. 

“I think they were really excited. Obviously, when they’ve only been wrestling for two weeks, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what a wrestling tournament even looks like,” Radtke said. “So the fact they were able to walk away with some wins, I think, was a positive, and I think it’s some excitement for them that’ll keep them involved in the sport.”

Miranda Daab finished ninth at 235 pounds while Skylar Leitl was 12th at 152. Both went winless on the evening. 

The Hodag girls will be back in action Saturday, Dec. 13 in the Laona/Wabeno/Three Lakes Invite, hosted at the Forest County Potawatomi Center in Crandon. 

“It should be another really good chance for the girls to compete and get some good quality matches in,” Radtke said.

The Hodag boys opened their season Saturday in Antigo. Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a recap of that match and read a full report in Friday’s River News. The Hodag boys will host Merrill in a GNC dual on Thursday and will also take part in the Laona/Wabeno/Three Lakes Invite on Saturday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].