RHS wrestlers reclaim Hammer, knock off GNC-champ Medford in successful home meet

After a few lean years from a team standpoint for the Rhinelander High School wrestling team, Thursday night served as a reminder of where the Hodags were during the mid-2010s, and where they hope to return once more.

Rhinelander improved to 3-1 in the GNC with a pair of dual meet victories at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. First, the Hodags knocked off archrival Lakeland 42-27 to reclaim the Handrick Hammer. Then the Hodags stunned defending GNC champion Medford 41-36.

Though Lakeland has yet to win a conference dual this year and Medford is down from previous years due to injuries, the wins were a significant milestone for coach Scottie Arneson in his fourth season at the helm of the program. It marked Rhinelander’s first dual meet wins over Lakeland since 2021, and the team’s first win over Medford since the Hodags’ last GNC title back in 2018.

“There’s matches tonight that we could’ve lost and we ended up pulling out wins and matches that we lost that we could’ve won. Tonight was a good night for us,” Arneson said. “Anytime that you can get some conference wins it’s a good thing and our kids are really excited.”

Rhinelander led wire-to-wire against Lakeland, building a 24-0 lead in the upper weight classes. The Hodags took six of the 11 contested bouts as Lakeland never got any closer than 12 points in the dual.

Brayden Krieg opened the proceedings with a forfeit win at 165 pounds for Rhinelander. After both teams forfeited at 175, the Hodags reeled off three straight pins by Logan Schwinger at 190, Shayden Hylleberg at 215 and Reid Schultz at 285 to open a commanding lead.

“Shayden was in a battle. He ended up getting up on top and putting both the shoulders down and that was that was a big turning point in that match,” Arneson said. “He was just staying in good position and outfighting the other guy. We were losing by a couple points he just stayed disciplined and found a way to win. That’s what that’s what good teams do.”

Ivan Loka ended a two-match Lakeland run, stopping Landon Gray-Ives 44 seconds into the second period of the 126-pound bout to give Rhinelander a 30-12 lead. After Hoyt Dantoin was pinned at 130, Avrom Barr restored the 18-point margin with a first-period pin of Lakeland’s Spencer Kreig. 

    Rhinelander’s Tony Boldt fights for hand control against Medford’s Levi Zuleger during a GNC wrestling dual meet at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Thursday, Jan. 23. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Though Gage Anderson relinquished a 4-0 lead after two periods and lost 9-5 to Lakeland’s Seth LaBarge at 144, conceding only three team points was enough to mathematically clinch the dual for Rhinelander with two bouts remaining. Tony Boldt added a third-period pin against Osawa Durant for Rhinelander at 150. 

The victory gave Rhinelander a 4-3 series lead over Lakeland since the Handrick Hammer was established in 2019 following the untimely passing of former Rhinelander and Lakeland assistant wrestling coach Tom Handrick shortly after the end of the 2017-18 season.

“I think it’s always going to be a close dual with Lakeland and just getting that back and our kids kind of understand what it’s about,” Arneson said. “Hopefully after they see (the Hammer) in the awards area at the high school, they won’t want to lose it ever again.”

Krieg ultimately secured the dual for Rhinelander against Medford as the Raiders did not have a 165-pounder to wrestle the final match. The Hodags were without normal 165-pounder Jeffrey Dupree due to illness, but Arneson credited Krieg — listed as a 150-pounder on the roster — for putting on enough weight to fill the void at 165. 

“He drank a lot of water just to be able to fill that spot for us and if he had to go out there and wrestle, he would’ve done it and he’d had done a really good job,” Arneson said.

That was just enough to give the Hodags the upper hand after winning six of the 11 contested bouts. The Hodags got pins from Schwinger and Schultz early in the dual and rallied from down 30-12 to take the lead thanks to a string of wins that included a technical fall for Hoyt Dantoin at 132 and pins by Barr, Boldt and Anderson at 138, 145 and 150.

“When you can string together for wins and roll that it’s pretty impressive what that can do the team morale and team score when you can string together 23 points in a row. It really skews the momentum of a dual meet,” Arneson said.

The wins moved Rhinelander into second place in the GNC at 3-1 with a dual meet at 2-2 Antigo remaining on the schedule Feb. 4.

Wausau East Invite

The Hodags traveled to Wausau East on Saturday with a smaller crew, taking only nine wrestlers to the meet. Rhinelander finished 16th in the 20-team field. 

Schwinger and Schultz each secured third-place finishes in their weight classes. Schwinger (25-9) went 3-1 on the day with two pins and a medical forfeit win over West Salem’s Trevor Arentz in the third-place match. He lone loss came in the semifinals where he was pinned by eventual champion Carter Lueck of Stratford.

“Logan ended up getting the No. 1-ranked guy in Division 3 from Stratford in the semifinals and I think he felt like he could really wrestle with him,” Arneson said. “He got caught in his hip and it was a little bit lazier today than it usually is and we ended up getting pinned there in the first period.”

Schultz (19-5) fell in a tight 7-5 decision to Stevens Point’s Josh Woznicki in the semifinals at 285. Woznicki ended up losing in three overtimes to Mineral Point’s Matt Aurit in the championship match. Schultz came back to pin Auburndale’s Alex Becker to second third place. 

“Reid had an awesome match with the Stevens Point kid,” Arneson said. “He wrestled well. It was really close, ended up giving a late takedown up to have the seal the deal for Stevens Point guy to make the finals. Reid’s right there in the mix with the whole bunch of different wrestlers in and out of the area.”

Grady DeBay and Trevor Denton were 12th and 13th, respectively at 113, Loka was 11th at 126, Dantoin took 13th at 132, Barr was 14th at 138, Boldt took 14th at 144 and Krieg was 16th at 150.

“This tournament is really tough. They wrestle it out where every kid gets four matches, which is awesome,” Arenson said. “Those are the kind of tournaments that we really need to get into our schedule for the betterment of our athletes … Everybody ends up finding a place. Even if it is losing three in a row and then finally getting one at the end of the day, I’d prefer that and getting more mat time.”

Rhinelander is back in action Thursday as it will face Iron Mountain, Mich. and Laona/Wabeno/Three Lakes in a non-conference triangular in Three Lakes.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].