Rhinelander’s overtime Peewee state triumph top local game of ‘25

There’s something special about overtime playoff hockey, especially when it comes in an elimination game. The notion that the result of a season hangs in the balance with every rush up and down the ice creates drama that is hard to match.

Throw in the stakes of a state title, and it really becomes a must-see event. 

Yes, it was at the youth level, but I was fortunate enough to experience that spectacle first-hand this year when the Rhinelander Ice Association’s Peewee A Hockey team edged Somerset 3-2 for the WAHA Class 3A state championship in Waupun this past March. 

When thinking back though all the exciting games I’ve been able to attend and cover this year, that one tops the list. We’ll go through the rest of my top 10, along with some honorable mentions in a minute, but let’s first look back at the dramatics that ensued March 9 in Waupun. 

Just to get there, and have a chance to play for the RIA’s first state championship since 2008, the Peewees had to survive a third-period rally to defeat hosting Waupun 5-4 in a hotly contested semifinal match the night before. The title game was equally intense, with the teams locked in a 2-2 deadlock from midway through the second period to the end of regulation. 

The Hodags had better scoring chances denied than the one that ultimately won them the state title, but Easton Ostrom proved the old hockey adage that good things happen when you put the puck on net as he tried to center the puck from behind the goal 1:29 into overtime. That puck deflected off a Spartan defender in the crease and trickled across the goal line to give Rhinelander the state title.

“I don’t know, I just like went behind the net and then bounced it off the D’s foot and it went in,” he said afterward. “Amazing, we got it done. Couldn’t do it without the boys.”

It capped off a 27-15-2 season for the Hodag Peewee As and offers the Hodag hockey program some hope for the future in the wake of a couple of lean years at the high school level.

And now, for the rest of the top 10. 

2. Boys’ basketball — Rhinelander 43, Rice Lake 42, March 7

    In this March 7, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Devon Feck is mobbed by Hodag students after hitting a game-winning shot in a WIAA Division 2 boys’ basketball regional semifinal contest against Rice Lake at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. The Hodags defeated the Warriors 43-42. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Two days before the Hodag Peewee hockey team offered its postseason dramatics, the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team had a playoff thriller of its own against Rice Lake at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. 

Locked in a physical, defensive battle against a Rice Lake squad that knocked them out of the playoffs the year before, the Hodags prevailed in dramatic fashion this time to avoid an upset as the No. 2 seed in the bracket. 

Rice Lake senior Zach Orr scored 22 points including a go-ahead 3 with 50 seconds remaining. Rhinelander missed a go-ahead shot, but was given new life when Rice Lake’s Will Johnson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12.4 seconds to go. The Hodags rushed up the floor and Truman Lamers found Devon Feck for what looked to be the game-winning 3 with 2.0 seconds left.

“I just knew we had to get a good look and there was there was only one option, that was making it, so I’m glad I stepped up and did it,” Feck said. 

The officials later ruled the shot a 2-pointer, deeming Feck’s foot to be on the line, but it was still good enough to put Rhinelander up 43-42, and that score held when Evan Strand missed a desperation 3 for the Warriors at the horn.

Rhinelander would be denied a trip to the sectional semifinals, losing to New Richmond a couple of nights later, but Feck’s game winner was an indelible moment in the Hodags’ 2024-25 season.

3. Prep baseball — Rhinelander at St. Croix Falls, June 4

    In this June 4, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Vince White, left, Jackson Waydick, center, and John Turek, right, react after White scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning of a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal baseball game at St. Croix Falls. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Continuing the theme of playoff dramatics, the Hodag baseball team had a Cinderella win of its own during a resurgent 2025 campaign as it rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh inning to upset second-seeded St. Croix Falls 3-2 in the WIAA regional semifinals. 

The Hodags chased St. Croix ace Devin Richardson from the hill with a Seth Nofftz leadoff single in the top of the seventh. The Saints misplayed Vince White’s sacrifice bunt attempt and another sacrifice by Tyler Chariton gave Rhinelander runners at second and third with one out for Jackson Waydick. 

Waydick lofted a fly ball to left, deep enough for Nofftz’s pinch runner, John Turek, to tag and score from third. But St. Croix Falls played for the win, and tried to throw out White advancing to third. When that throw went awry, White was able to score on the error. That held up as the winning run after Conner Rappley worked around a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win. 

“Things just weren’t going our way. And then in the very end, we’re still believing, we’re still battling, we’re still fighting and good things happen for us,” Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said.

4. Youth baseball — Rhinelander 3, Wausau American 1, July 14

    In this July 14, 2025 file photo, the Rhinelander Little League All-Star team celebrates after winning the District 5 tournament with a 3-1 victory over Wausau American in Wausau. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

2025 seemed to be an exceptionally magical season for Rhinelander baseball at a number of levels. Though hard to prove, it’s easy to think Rhinelander may have had a little help from above, as evidenced in the No. 4 game on my list. 

The Hodag 12U Little League All-Star team, still playing with heavy hearts after its coach, Dan Bauer, passed away unexpectedly the previous November, found itself trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning in a winner-take-all-championship game against Wausau American in the District 5 tournament. 

Eli Bauer, the second-eldest of Dan Bauer’s four children, led off the inning with a single and was at the center of what proved to be the defining play of the game. 

Nick Schneider grounded out to first, but Wausau American attempted to throw to second in an effort to turn a reverse double play sailed high and all the way to the left field fence. Eli Bauer got up and sprinted home, tying the game at 1.

“Literally, when that happened, I looked down and I said, ‘Angels in the Outfield,’” said coach Josh Clark, in a reference to the 1994 movie of the same name. “There’s no questioning that.”

American’s bullpen would falter later in the inning, issuing three straight walks. The third, drawn by Easton Sieker, forced in the go-ahead run and Will Sundby added an RBI single for insurance. 

Eli Bauer worked around a leadoff walk in the sixth to compete a complete-game, five-strikeout performance and send the Hodags to the state tournament. 

5. Track and field — Great Northern Conference meet, May 22

While there were many defining moments during the Rhinelander High School track team’s landmark 2025 season, none singularly encapsulated the success of both the program’s boys’ and girls’ squads as well as the team’s double conference championships May 22 in Mosinee. 

It was the third conference title for the Hodag boys in the past seven years, but the first ever for the Hodag girls’ track program. 

“For us both to win it on the same night, I’m not sure how many times it’s been done in our conference,” coach Aaron Kraemer said. “It can’t be very many and so this one this one is extra sweet because of that. Just to see the looks on their faces after we won tonight, especially with winning both, and getting some honors — athletes of the year on both sides — it’s really, really special.”

The Hodag boys claimed five events on the night, including a Herculean effort from senior Greyson Gremban, who swept the distance events — winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters — to claim runner of the year honors on the boys’ side. Gremban’s win in the 3,200 helped clinch the title as the Hodags beat Medford for nine points. 

The Hodag girls ran away with the conference title, beating Lakeland by 31 points for the crown. Rhinelander won eight events on the night and set or matched three conference records in the process. Junior Libbey Buchmann matched the conference record in the discus with a toss of 126 feet, 2 inches. She also won the shot put and was named the GNC’s female field athlete of the year. 

6. Adult baseball — Rhinelander 10, Whittlesey 9, July 27

    In this July 27, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Sam Schneider (10), Quinn Lamers (second from right) and Martin Hoger (far right) congratulate Owen Kurtz after Kurtz hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Whittlesey Reds in a Dairyland League baseball game at Stafford Field. The River Monsters scored four times in the ninth to defeat the Reds, 10-9. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Trailing by three runs and down to its final out, the Rhinelander River Monsters pulled off an improbable comeback in their regular season finale, with its Wisconsin Baseball Association playoff hopes in the balance. 

The Monsters mounted a two-out rally for the ages, capped off by an Owen Kurtz walk-off single to give Rhinelander a 10-9 win over the Whittlesey Reds at Stafford Field. 

The Monsters’ chances seemed done for when Jeff Kraschnewski made a tough backhand play on a grounder to second by Chad Huebner with two outs in the ninth, but Kraschnewski’s throw one-hopped to first and could not be dug out by Brent Mueller, allowing Huebner to reach and both Quinn Lamers and Tyler Blomdahl to score. 

Jesse Robinson was hit by a pitch to move the tying run into scoring position before high school junior-to-be Sawyer Bishop smacked the first pitch he saw into right field, scoring Huebner to tie the game. 

That brought Kurtz to the plate with a chance at redemption after dropping a key fly ball in the top half of the inning.  He drove to first pitch he saw to the fence in right-center to cap off an epic comeback. 

The win gave Rhinelander a 6-8 record in the Dairyland Large and the fourth-place tie was enough for the Monsters to be selected to the WBA playoffs. Though Rhinelander bowed out in the regional round, they finished in second place after upsetting the top seed in the bracket, Hudson.

7. Prep baseball — Rhinelander 4, Mosinee 3, May 16

    In this May 16, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Jackson Waydick celebrates with teammate Rowan Wiczek (11) after scoring the winning run in the Hodags’ 4-3 victory over Mosinee in a GNC baseball game at Stafford Field. The Hodags scored two runs as a result of a two-out throwing error by Mosinee shortstop Treve Stoffel to win the game. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

More of that on-the-diamond magic was on display in my No. 7 entry as the Hodags upset eventual GNC-champion Mosinee in bizarre fashion. 

The Hodags scored twice on a two-out error in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Mosinee 4-3 at Stafford Field. 

Rhinelander had the tying and winning runs in scoring position with two outs when Seth Nofftz hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to Mosinee shortstop Treve Stoffel. But Stoffel’s throw sailed wide up the first-base line and couldn’t be hauled in by first baseman Brady Lokken. John Turek had already scored and Jackson Waydick scampered home as the ball skidded into foul territory, setting off a wild celebration for the home team.

“It was pure joy,” Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said. “You could see the dugout erupt. You could see the fans erupt. It’s one of those moments you love to bottle up.”

8. Football — Rhinelander 54, Antigo 8, Sept. 26

    In this Sept. 26, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Abe Gretzinger celebrates as he scores a touchdown during the second quarter of the 91st Bell Game against Antigo at Mike Webster Stadium. Rhinelander scored eight touchdowns in the game, and their 54 points were the most all-time by one team in the Bell Game series. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Undoubtedly the biggest blowout on the list, this year’s Bell Game between Rhinelander and Antigo makes the cut due to the historical significance of the win for the Hodags. 

Not only did the victory bring Eugene Shepard’s Bell back to Rhinelander for the first time since 2021, the 54-point barrage was the most points ever scored by a single team in the 91-year history of the trophy-trade series. 

It was nearly the biggest blowout in series history, too, after Rowan Wiczek’s 99-yard interception return made it 54-0 midway through the fourth quarter. Antigo scored a touchdown late against the Rhinelander backups as the Hodags had the settle for their largest margin of victory in the series, and the fourth-largest all time. 

For Rhinelander’s seniors, it snapped a seven-game losing streak in trophy-trade games between Lakeland and Antigo dating back to the start of the 2022 campaign. 

“I’ve never really got to experience this before, and, you know, this group, I think we’ve worked really hard and we have a really good work ethic for it, and I’m really happy that we got this,” said senior tailback Cyrus Leisure, who rushed for 102 yards and was one of seven different Hodags to score a touchdown in the contest. 

9. Prep baseball — Rhinelander 8, Medford 0, May 22

    In this May 22, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Conner Rappley is mobbed by his teammates after pitching a perfect game against the Medford Raiders in a GNC baseball game in Medford. Rappley struck out six as he faced the minimum and did not allow a base runner over seven innings in the Hodags’ 8-0 win. (Matt Frey/Star News)
  

The final baseball entry on the list can be summed up in one word —perfection. 

Conner Rappley went 21 up and 21 down as he tossed the first regulation perfect game during coach Joe Waksmonski’s two-decade tenure as head coach of the Hodag baseball team. Rappley struck out six batters and needed only 76 pitches for perfection against the Medford Raiders. 

It was the first no-hitter by the team since Ryan Jamison and Jacksen Smith combined to no-hit Merrill in the 2022 WIAA playoffs and the first individual no-hitter for the Hodags since Kyle Comer in 2012.

“I felt really good on the mound, and what was really working most for me was the fastball up and in and in, and then low out,” Rappley told the River News, later adding, “I’m grateful for my defense. They did really good today. They some really good plays.”

10. Prep boys’ basketball — Rhinelander 51, Medford 43, Feb. 27

In a year of incredible games, we’d be remiss not to include Rhinelander’s victory in its second straight de facto GNC boys’ basketball championship game. 

After defeating Medford 50-45 in the final game of the regular season to earn a share of the GNC crown in 2024, the Hodags did it again this past February with a 51-43 triumph over the Raiders this past February in the regular season finale. This time, the Hodags won sole possession of the GNC over the Raiders thanks to the win at Raider Hall.

Both games had similar feels, where Rhinelander had control early but struggled offensively in the second half and needed to rely on its defense to get the stops necessary to preserve the win. This time around, the Hodags went nearly nine minutes without a field goal in the second half, but never saw the lead dip below five points. 

“Defense is going to win us our games,” senior guard Seth Nofftz said. “Our offense hasn’t it been the strongest this year, and, you know, we’re looking to improve that, but from what we know, we can play defense and we can guard guys. That’s what it takes. We’re winning games, so just get that offense going and we’re going to go far.” 

Honorable mentions

Several noteworthy games didn’t make the top 10, but are worth mentioning here. In wrestling the Hodags killed two birds — or, more accurately, a bird and a Raider — with one stone with a stunning sweep of Lakeland and Medford in a GNC double dual at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Jan. 23. Rhinelander reclaimed the Handrick Hammer with a 42-27 win over Lakeland and then knocked off reigning GNC champion Medford 41-36 for the Hodags’ first dual meet win over the Raiders since 2018 … The Hodag girls’ soccer team earned a share of its first conference title since 2018, thanks in large part to a 1-0 victory at Lakeland on April 22. Lindsey Hoerchler scored the lone goal in the sixth minute and the Hodags held on for the win … Though it didn’t result in a GNC title, the Hodag girls’ tennis team’s rally to get back into championship contention — and tie for first in the point standings heading into the conference tournament —hinged largely on a 5-2 victory over Medford Sept. 4 at the RHS tennis courts. Annie Vander Galien and Lucy Evers secured match tiebreaker wins in their matches at Nos. 1 and 4 singles to put the Hodags over the top in the dual meet … Two teams that struggled for success in 2025 had bright spots in their campaigns. The RHS softball team scored eight times in the sixth inning to defeated Three Lakeland 15-10 in dreary conditions April 17 in Three Lakes. The Bluejays ended up making it all the way to the sectional finals in Division 5. Meanwhile, the Hodag volleyball team ended the regular season on a high note with a five-set victory over Hurley Oct. 13 at the Miazga Gym. Rhinelander closed on a 7-2 run to take the decisive fifth set, 15-9.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].