Sports Digest

RHS games rescheduled from Tuesday’s slate

The Rhinelander High School games postponed on Tuesday because of extreme cold weather have been rescheduled. 

The RHS boys’ basketball team will take on Merrill Monday, Feb. 24 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium and the RHS gymnastics team will host Antigo Tuesday, Feb. 4. 

Meanwhile, the Hodag boys’ hockey team will travel to Mosinee on Friday, Jan. 31 to make up its contest with the Indians. It will be part of a busy final week of Great Northern Conference regular season for the Hodags, who were already scheduled to host Lakeland Jan. 30. Rhinelander has also rescheduled its postponed game from last month against Waupaca to this coming Monday, Jan. 27. 

To accommodate the changes, RHS activities director Brian Paulson said the team is attempting to move its Jan. 28 game at Chequamegon to Thursday, Feb. 13 and its non-conference game at home against Ashland Feb. 1 to Monday, Feb. 3. Those changes had not been finalized as of press time for today’s edition. 

An Arctic blast that plunged the Northwoods into the 20s-below zero with wind chills in excess of 45-below prompted most GNC schools, including Rhinelander, to cancel school and extra-curricular activities Monday and Tuesday. 

Fifth annual Hawgs and Dawgs football camp set for March 8 in Hodag Dome

Rhinelander football will host the fifth annual Hawgs and Dawgs football camp Saturday, March 8 at the Hodag Dome. 

The camp, for middle and high school-aged players, will be divided into three separate components. A camp for offensive and defensive linemen will run from 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., a passing academy for offensive skill players will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and a perimeter camp for offensive skill position players, linebackers and defensive backs will take place from 3 to 6 p.m.

Additionally, a youth camp for players in grades 1-6 will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Past camp counselors and clinicians have included NCAA Division-I athletes, Rhinelander High School football alumni and coaches from around the area. This year’s camp staff will be announced at a later date. 

Registration for any of the sessions is $60 per player. Registration by March 2 will guarantee a camp T-shirt.

For more information regarding the camps, or to register your player, visit www.hawgsanddawgs.us.

WIAA task force conducts appeals and amends football and lacrosse  realignment plans

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Conference Realignment Task Force convened Jan. 16 to hear appeals of the preliminary solutions for the football and lacrosse realignment requests reviewed in December.

Based on the information gathered from the appeals of the preliminary solutions, the Task Force amended the 11-player football and the lacrosse plans. Schools and conferences that are directly affected by the amended realignment considerations have the opportunity to appeal the proposed changes at the Task Force meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6. 

The hearing is intended to enhance engagement, communication and transparency in the conference realignment process. Requests to appeal must be submitted in writing to Melissa Gehring at [email protected] by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30.

No amendments were made to the 8-player football conference realignment plan, which will be advanced to the Board of Control for a final vote Tuesday, March 11.

The plans do not affect the Great Northern Conference, which will stay in its current format with chartered members Antigo, Lakeland, Medford, Merrill (as of the 2025-26 school year), Mosinee, Rhinelander and Tomahawk, plus Wausau East. Details of the amended plans and the complete configuration of the modified conference affiliation recommendations for football and lacrosse are available for review by accessing the “Requests and Proposals” option on the WIAA’s Conference Realignment web page.

The football and lacrosse plans advanced by the task force, if approved by the Board of Control, will be implemented for the 2026 seasons, respectively. The conference realignment process addressing sports other than football occurs on an alternate-year rotation. The lacrosse realignment process is occurring this year because of requests following the first year the sport was sponsored in 2024. Future lacrosse realignment requests will follow the schedule of non-football realignment.