Hodag football team hands out awards

The Rhinelander High School football team reflected on its 2025 season Sunday as it held its awards banquet at the high school’s John and Dori Brown Performing Arts Center.

Four players earned special awards from the team. Senior running back/defensive back Ben Olson won the Hodag Award, fellow senior running back/defensive back Cyrus Leisure won the transformer award, junior safety Ryley Hull was named the scout team player of the year and freshman kicker Knox Fleming was named the Strike Force player of the year as the team’s best on special teams. 

    Rhinelander High School football team award winners pose for a photograph following the team’s banquet Sunday, Dec. 7 in the John and Dori Brown Performing Arts Center. Pictured, from left to right, are Knox Fleming, Cyrus Leisure and Ben Olson. Award winner Ryley Hull was unavailable for the photograph. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Olson was a strong two-way contributor for the Hodags, and earned honorable mention in the Great Northern Conference this season as a running back. Offensively, he was second on the team in rushing (416 yards, 4 touchdowns) and third in receiving (7 receptions, 176 yards, 2 TDs). Defensively, he finished fifth on the team in total tackles (29) and had three tackles for loss. 

Moreover, coach Aaron Kraemer said, Olson embodied the spirit of the team and overcame a number of injuries earlier on in his career to have a very impactful senior season.

“This is a guy that you saw grow into his career. He had a fantastic senior year. By the end of the year, he was our top receiving running back. He was very, very, very solid in the passing game, had very meaningful carries as the season went on,” Kraemer said. “But the thing that this guy did better than others — and I was really, really proud of — is it was a way that he contributed when he didn’t have the football in his hands. (He’s) a guy that learned how to block and was a very, very good blocker from the wing position. (He’s) a guy that used his body well. He is not the largest, but he’s certainly made you feel him. And a guy that does represent us as a leader. As the year on, he’s somebody that continued to grow as a leader.”

Leisure accentuated the Hodags dynamic backfield this fall, rushing for 771 yards and seven touchdowns while added seven receptions for 78 yards as he earned second-team all-conference honors at the position. Defensively, Leisure contributed 26 tacked, two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and an interception. 

In presenting Leisure with the Transformer Award, Kraemer noted how the senior transformed both his body and his mind during his four-year high school career.

“This guy, his freshman year, we knew he could contribute, but by the time he was a senior, he was a big focal point at what we were doing on the offensive side of the ball,” Kraemer said. “When you talk about transformer, you also talk about the young man in the heart. And this person, although he had a really difficult beginning to high school, he completely changed himself as a young man and became somebody that we had to count on absolutely every single game to have a good one, and he did the best he could to do that.”

Fleming took over as the Hodags’ kicker in Week 4 of the season, following an injury to starter Myles Eagleson. He went on to convert 17 of 24 extra point attempts and have two touchbacks on 32 kickoff attempts during the season. The Hodags also recovered an onside kick by Fleming to begin the second half of the team’s WIAA playoff loss at Madison Edgewood. 

“This young man really was a big part of our special teams this season. He was forced into this role because of injury, but my goodness, did he make a major impact on our team as he stepped into this role,” Kraemer said. “We had several onside kicks that we recovered this season. We had several kickoffs into the end zone, which we haven’t had in a long time. And we had a very good extra point rate right when we scored a touchdowns. So I’m really proud of this guy. He earned this position this year.”

Hull mainly served as a defensive specialist for the Hodags this year, finishing tied for third on the team with 31 tackles from this free safety position. Hull also recorded an interception and returned a fumble for a touchdown, the latter coming in a Week 5 contest against Tomahawk. 

Kraemer said, even though Hull had a significant role on defense during the games, he was also one of the leaders of the scout team defense during the week when it practiced against the starting offense. 

“It’s a pretty thankless job. You’re working your tail off to make your teammates better. It has nothing to do with what we will do on Friday night other than giving a great look,” Kraemer said. “But this guy, every single time he stepped up to that, did what he could do. He, of course, was playing defense a lot, so he was part of our defensive scout team for the most part, playing safety and moving around in different positions and making us better every single day.”

In addition to the team awards, the Hodags recognized their all-conference recipients for the fall — Leisure, Olson, Caden Sieker, Rowan Wiczek, Landon Webster and Gage Anderson — and handed out varsity letters.

The team originally planned its banquet for early November, but the event was postponed after Kraemer took ill and was unable to attend on the scheduled date.

“I’m just that thankful, first of all, that I get the opportunity that I’m having the opportunity to stand in front of you and address you as I had football coach of this program, and I’m thankful for the opportunity that I have to coach to these young men every day,” Kraemer said on Sunday.

Kraemer thanked the seniors, who led the Hodags to a 3-7 season this year and the team’s fifth postseason appearance in the last seven years. 

“The relationships that I have with you guys are different than any senior class I’ve ever had,” he said. “I’ve learned and I’ve met you guys, I truly feel like I understand who you are and what your heart is, and I’m really, really thankful for you being a part of my journey as much as I was a part of yours.”

With a pair of all-conference honorees returning in Wiczek and Anderson, and a number of starters on both sides of the ball, Kraemer encouraged the underclassmen in the room to do what’s necessary for the Hodags to improve in 2026. 

“We got a lot of work to do for next season. It’s our job to make sure that we put into work to make sure that we what we take next year is what we’ve earn,” he said. “Nobody is given or should be given anything in their life. You need to go out and earn it. And this group of young men, juniors through freshmen, that you have in this room and that you have as a part of your classes, has every ability to be the best team in the conference next season and to learn from these guys and everything that they offered this year. So, I hope you’re ready for the climb.”

Freelancer Bob Mainhardt contributed to this report.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].