Majority of All-GNC teams announced

Eighteen Rhinelander High School student-athletes were recognized over the weekend as the Great Northern Conference released its all-conference teams in four of its six sports for the spring 2025 season.

The Hodag baseball team had six players earn all-conference honors while the Hodag softball team earned a pair of all-conference honorable mentions as the result of voting conducted by the conference coaches last week. 

Additionally the GNC released its all-conference squads in boys’ tennis and boys’ golf, based on the outcome of each sport’s respective conference tournament. 

The All-GNC girls’ soccer team was slated to be voted upon this week and will be released by the conference at a later date.

Baseball

The Hodag baseball team had six players — two seniors and four sophomores —earn recognition following a third-place finish in the league this year. 

Sophomore Jackson Waydick was one of two catchers named to the all-conference first-team while senior Dylan Vanderbunt earned first-team honors as an outfielder and received honorable mention as a pitcher. 

Sophomore Conner Rappley earned two spots on the second team — both as a pitcher and an infielder. Sophomore Sawyer Bishop earned second-team honors on the infield while senior Seth Nofftz and sophomore Abe Gretzinger received honorable mention as infielders. 

Statistically speaking, Waydick hit only .242 in conference play, but led the team in conference play with a .457 on base percentage — thanks in part to 13 free passes he drew via the walk or hit by pitch. 

Vanderbunt hit .325 in league play with three doubles and eight RBIs. He was also tied for seventh in the conference with seven stolen bases. On the mound, Vanderbunt has a league-best 0.72 ERA and went 3-1 with a save over 19 1/3 innings of work. 

Rappley, who finished the conference slate by tossing a perfect game May 22 at Medford, finished fourth in the league in ERA (2.36) and fifth in strikeouts. Offensively, he hit an even .300 at the plate and hit the team’s lone home run of the conference season. 

Bishop led the team in GNC play with a .358 average and his eight RBIs were tied for a team high with Nofftz, who hit .295 in conference games. Gretzinger hit .270 in the GNC with six RBIs.

Hodag skipper Joe Waksmonski was named GNC coach of the year — the first time since 2011 that he has won that honor. Northland Pines’ Jonathan Miller and Lakeland’s Ashton Bremer shared player of the year honors. Bremer led the GNC with a .474 batting average and 22 stole bases. Miller led with 42 strikeouts on the mound, was tied for the conference lead with four wins and second in the GNC with a 1.26 ERA.

Softball

    In this May 8, 2025 file photo Rhinelander’s Kendall Vanney pitches during the first inning of a GNC softball game against Northland Pines at Andrea Musson Field Thursday, May 8. Vanney and fellow freshman teammate Aleece Johnson both received honorable mention from the GNC coaches when the all-conference team was announced Saturday. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Two Hodag freshmen, Aleece Johnson and Kendall Vanney, earned honorable mention in softball this season. 

The two were Rhinelander’s top pitching options in the circle this season. Vanney recorded both of Rhinelander’s wins in conference play while Johnson’s 23 strikeouts were sixth best in the conference. Vanney also hit .400 during conference play for Rhinelander with nine RBIs.

Lakeland senior and University of Arkansas recruit Saylor Timmerman was voted conference player of the year. She led the conference by a wide margin with 137 strikeouts and had a 1.34 ERA. Antigo’s Sandy Robrecht, who led the Red Robins to a runner-up finish in the conference, received coach of the year honors.

Boys’ tennis

Nine of the 10 members of the RHS boys’ tennis team’s starting lineup received All-GNC honors based on their performance at the GNC tournament May 22 in Minocqua. 

Champions in each flight earned first-team honors. For Rhinelander, those accolades went to Asher Rivord (No. 3 singles), Calvin Loomis (No. 4 singles), Van Tulowitzky and Hart Hokens (No. 2 doubles) and Danek Koniar and Aidan Lueder (No. 3 doubles). 

Karter Massey earned a spot on the second team by virtue of his runner-up finish at No. 2 singles. Ditto Aiden Ostermann and Michael Schiek for finishing second at No. 1 doubles. 

Lakeland’s Dominic Gironella was the GNC singles player of the year by virtue of his GNC title at No. 1 singles while Pacelli’s Marcus Lansing and Hunter Wrenzinski won doubles player of the year honors. 

Rhinelander’s Matt Nichols received conference coach of the year honors for a third consecutive season.

Golf

The All-GNC golf team was determined by placement in the conference point standings through the seven-leg conference tournament. Points were earned by placing in the top 10 in each conference tournament.

Senior Sam Schoppe earned second-team honors by finishing 10th in the GNC standings. The top five finishers in the points received first-team honors, those finishing sixth through 10th received second team and those finishing 11th through 15th received honorable mention. 

Schoppe was the only Hodag to earn all-conference honors. Though Brody Kowieski, Blake Petroff and Grant Gremban all earned conference points, they all placed outside the top 15. 

Lakeland’s Jeremy Hensen was the conference golfer of the year as he beat out Mosinee’s Alex Steppke by 4 1/3 points for the overall title. Scott Howard was voted coach of the year after leading the Lakeland golf team to its seventh straight conference title. 

Track and field

Though not posted by the GNC as of press time, the All-GNC teams in boys’ and girls’ track were determined at the conference meet May 22 in Mosinee. Rhinelander had 14 boys and 13 girls earn all-conference honors as part of the program’s sweep of the conference championship for both genders. 

On the boys’ side, Greyson Gremban was named GNC runner of the year after sweeping the conference titles — and first-team honors — in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. Logan Schwinger made the first team by winning the shot put and honorable mention by placing third in the discus. 

Avrom Barr received second-team honors for runner-up finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200. Second-team honors also went to Ryley Hull in the 300 hurdles and Truman Lamers in the high jump. Those earning honorable mention individually included Barr in the 800, Cyrus Leisure in the 400, Ayden Myers in the pole vault and Reid Schultz in the shot put. 

Rhinelander’s 4x100 relay of Ben Olson, Sam Zwaard, Leisure and Landon Catlin earned first-team honors. Olson, Matthew Haselton, Evan Shoeder and Zwaard were second team in the 4x200 and Olson, Haselton, Leisure and Shawn Denis received honorable mention in the 4x400.

On the girls’ side, junior Libbey Buchmann was named the GNC’s field athlete of the year thanks to her sweep of the shot put and discus titles at conference. Aila Bergman earned first-team honors in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles while Macy Myers took first-team honors in the pole vault. 

Myers added second-team honors with a runner-up finish in the 800 meters, Averie West earned second-team honors in the 100 hurdles and Jalyn Zadnik took second-team honors in shot put. Bergman received honorable mention for the Hodags in the long jump, as did Callie Hoerchler in the high jump and Emeline Hintz in the pole vault. 

Rhinelander claimed first team honors with three of its relays —Shyanne Hueckstaedt, Mady Treder, Ellie Cummings and Lexi Bishop in the 4x100; Hueckstaedt, Treder, Cummings and Violet Biolo in the 4x200 and Bergman, Cummings, Lucy Eddy and Myers in the 4x400. 

Rhinelander’s Aaron Kraemer and Andy Wyss were the conference’s boys and girls’ track coaches of the year, respectively. Mosinee’s Jackson Lindell — who won the discus and was runner-up to Schwinger in the shot put — was the male field athlete of the year. Lakeland’s Kieran Petrie pulled off the 100, 200, 400 sweep at conference and was named the female track athlete of the year. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].