Hodag wrestlers split duals in Three Lakes

THREE LAKES —The Rhinelander High School wrestling team is in position for its best finish in the Great Northern Conference since 2018, but it may need to find a little something extra down the home stretch of the regular season. 

The Hodags didn’t have that Thursday night as they split a pair of non-conference duals in Three Lakes. Rhinelander had enough depth to take down an extremely short-handed Iron Mountain (Mich.) squad, 54-12, but struggled in the lower weights in a 46-29 loss to host Laona/Wabeno/Three Lakes.

There were a number of forfeits in the duals as only 13 of a possible 28 bouts were contested on the night. Rhinelander went just 5-8 in those bouts, and a 3-6 split against the RebelJays ultimately proved to be the difference in that match. 

“We are inexperienced, but I was saying with the guys tonight, it’s just desire to go out there and fight your butt off is what it comes down to when you’re trying to grow a program and I don’t think it was our best effort tonight,” Hodag coach Scottie Arneson said. 

Senior Logan Schwinger was the only Hodag who beat two wrestlers on Thursday. He bumped up to 215 pounds against the Mountaineers and stopped Gio Saldana in the first period. From there Schwinger went back to his traditional 190-pound spot where he eventually took over against the RebelJays’ Brody Hoffman. Down 5-3 after giving up a reversal and two back points early in the second period, Schwinger rallied for 19 unanswered points to earn a technical fall over Hoffman with 57 seconds remaining in the match. 

“Their 175 pounder bumped up. I think he’s ranked or in the top 12 or something like that in Division 3, which is always a good win, especially when you can find a way to tech fall and just pour on points in different ways than he usually does,” Arneson said. 

“I think just staying disciplined for him is going to really pay off because he knows how to wrestle and he knows how to twist his body and how to turn his body and use his weight to his advantage during matches,” Arneson added.

    Rhinelander’s Avrom Barr looks to turn Laona/Wabeno/Three Lakes’ Michael Milligan during a non-conference wrestling dual in Three Lakes Thursday, Jan. 30. Barr won the match, securing a pin with 3.3 seconds remaining in the final period. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Reid Schultz and Avrom Barr scored the Hodags’ two other contested wins against the RebelJays. Schultz stopped Levi Newman 1:37 into their 285-pound bout while Barr scored two additional team points for the Hodags, turning what would have been a major decision over Michael Milligan into a pinfall with 3.3 seconds remaining at 138. 

“That’s one guy that has wrestled really hard all year, very inexperienced but refuses to quit in matches, and that goes a long way being able to fight your butt off for six minutes,” Arneson said of Barr. “I think there’s 3.3 seconds left on the clock when he ended up getting the fall, which in a close dual, that’s big getting two extra team points. In a dual meet when you have two very quality opponents, that’s a big deal.”

Otherwise, the Hodags struggled against Laona/Wabeno/

Three Lakes. Ivan Loka lost by major decision, 11-1, to Jayse Demrath in the 126-pound bout while Jeffree Dupree (165), Trevor Denton (113), Grady DeBay (120), Hoyt Dantoin (132) and Anthony Boldt (144) all surrendered pins. 

“They’ve probably got 30 years of experience between their three or four lowest guys,” Arneson said. “When we’re this far north, that really is how you win dual meets and you become a successful team, is having lots of years of experience.” 

Gage Anderson (150) and Dresden Klaver (158) received forfeit wins in the match. The Hodags allowed forfeits at 175 and 215, and neither team trotted out a 106-pounder for the dual.

Iron Mountain only had four wrestlers on the roster on Thursday. In addition to Schwinger’s win, the Hodags got a pin from Anderson 58 seconds into his match against Zair Malendez.

“He has been a guy who relies on his slide by, which is not a leg attack, for takedowns. I think tonight was legitimate first shot finish takedown, and into his spiral ride, which was awesome to see,” Arneson noted. “I think he was real excited after his match and he was able to put his (opponent’s) shoulders down and just really wrestled probably his best match of the year so far.”

Boldt and Klaver were pinned in their bouts against the Mountaineers. Dupree, Schultz, Denton, DeBay, Loka, Dantoin and Barr received forfeit wins for Rhinelander. 

Girls at Marshfield

While the Hodag boys wrestled on Thursday, the Hodag girls traveled to Marshfield Saturday for the Queen of the Mat Invite, which featured 30 teams. 

Sophomore Cassidy Lindner made the podium for the Hodags, taking fourth in the 120-pound weight class. Lindner (15-10) scored second-period pins over her first two opponents, which landed her in the semifinals. She was pinned there by eventual class runner-up Tessa York of Cadott and then fell in a tight 5-4 decision to Appleton West’s Annaleah Johnson in the third-place match.

“Another really strong meet from Cassidy today,” Hodag girls’ wrestling coach Caleb Radtke said. “She was aggressive. She gets after it. She’s definitely not scared of anybody. And I mean, that’s the right mindset at this time of the year. It’s going come down to February and we’re going to run down the stretch. That match she had today, that third place match, I’m glad that she got that match and lost a close one like that. I think it’s a big learning experience mostly she can take a couple of things away from it cause we’re going to be seeing a lot more of those kinds of matches coming into sectionals.”

Miranda Daab was the only other Hodag to make the trip to Marshfield. She went 0-2 on the day at 235 pounds, getting pinned in both of her matches. 

The Hodag girls have picked up one more match before the WIAA tournament and will wrestle in Merrill this coming Friday.

Big dual tonight

The Hodags have an opportunity to seize control in the battle for second place in the GNC tonight when they travel to Antigo to face the Robins in the make-up of a meet that was originally scheduled for Dec. 19. 

Rhinelander sits at 3-1 in the GNC and could move four points clear of a three-way tie for third with Antigo, Medford and Mosinee with a win. If Antigo wins, the Hodags and Red Robins would be tied for second, two points ahead of Medford and Mosinee, heading into Saturday’s GNC tournament in Minocqua. 

“That’ll be a good test for our team,” Arneson said. “They’ve got a lot of experience throughout the middle weights there and we’re going to have to strap our headgears and get ready to rock and roll. We can finish dual meat season second in the conference. That’s obviously the goal right now.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].