McCue, Rivord headline award winners at boys’ tennis banquet

The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team put a wrap on its 2025 season Monday with its year-end banquet in the RHS Library.

Two players split half of the squad’s eight awards between them. Senior Payton McCue was voted the team’s most valuable player and also won the Hodag Citizen Award while sophomore Asher Rivord received most improved honors and also won the team’s Mr. Hustle Award. 

The majority of the awards were voted on by the team members, and though McCue finished the year below .500 overall — posting an 11-14 record between singles and doubles — the majority of his matches came in the top flights after bumping up from No. 3 singles a year ago. McCue was 3-9 in singles and took fourth in the Great Northern Conference. He was 8-5 in doubles, however, where he was mainly paired with fellow senior Karter Massey. The two advanced to sectionals together at the No. 2 doubles flight. 

Moreover, McCue was honored for his efforts off the court with the Hodag Citizen Award. That honor goes to the individual who gives back to the community in positive ways either inside or outside of tennis. In addition to being a positive role model for the team, McCue was credited for his accomplishments in the school’s chapter of Future Business Leaders of America. 

“I think it speaks to just looking at your teammates, voting you in to receive MVP, even though maybe we wanted a better record. We can always get a better record. We wanted to go farther in playoffs. We wanted to go farther in the conference. It really didn’t matter. Wherever you were, you benefited the team,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said during Monday night’s presentation. “I think it really just embodied that MVP. You help the team out wherever you put. You were a team player, you were flexible in where you needed to go. You played through injury, which indirectly or directly helping your teammates with you being in the lineup. And beyond play, were always just a big supporter of the other guys on the team.”

Rivord, meanwhile, came on in his first full season of varsity tennis. He went 15-7 on the year and won the GNC title at No. 3 singles. Five of Rivord’s six losses in singles play came when he was moved up to either No. 1 or 2 singles during non-conference or postseason play. 

“This athlete was strong last year, but season was kind of cut short through to injuries,” Nichols said. “Came out this year. Super exciting, glad he did, and he contributed really well to the team — not only points-wise, but more importantly, his attitude, his hustle, the effort he put into everything … He really jumped up quickly and I think I saw it before he did, how much he’s improved … And over the year, I think you’ve come to believe more in yourself and your abilities.”

Sophomore Calvin Loomis won the only award not voted on by the team, the Three Setter Netter award. That honor goes to the player who competed in, and won, the most matches that needed either a third set or match tiebreaker to decide the victor. Loomis went 4-1 in those matches, including a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 10-5 victory over Lakeland’s Sawyer Brown for the conference title at No. 4 singles. Though Rhinelander had already clinched the overall conference title by that point, Loomis’s win proved to be the decisive points in Rhinelander’s win over Lakeland in the GNC tournament. 

“This award, I think, you could almost think of it as like the mentality award,” Nichols said. “You get to a third set and it’s, in my opinion, almost all mental. At that point, you have the skills you need to win, your opponent has the skills needed to win. Who can just kind of outlast mentally, stay strong enough to go through it? So it’s really cool to see Calvin be able to do that.”

Sophomore Aidan Lueder earned the team’s Rookie of the Year Award. He went 6-8 this season as a first-year tennis player, splitting time between singles and doubles. He was a GNC champion at No. 3 doubles with partner Danek Koniar and played No. 4 singles in the postseason, falling in a match tiebreaker with a trip to sectionals on the line.

“He’s a rookie, but really works hard in understanding the game, asked a lot of questions and improved quite a bit,” Nichols said. “From never playing to being one point away from qualifying for sectionals, that’s a lot of growth, a lot of improvement.”

Koniar received the Team Spirit Award. Nichols commended Koniar on his vocal support of his teammates as he made occasional appearances in the varsity lineup, going 7-6. Sophomore Brayden Barnhill won the most improved award for JV players. He was 0-3 in limited varsity starts, but won the No. 1 singles flight at the JV conference meet. 

    Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team award winners, from left to right, Brayden Barnhill, Payton McCue, Aidan Lueder, Calvin Loomis and Asher Rivord, pose for a photograph following the team’s year-end banquet in the RHS Library Monday, June 16. Award winner Danek Koniar was unavailable for the photograph. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

In addition to the team honors the Hodags had five players — McCue, Massey, Loomis, Aiden Ostermann and Michael Schiek — make the Wisconsin High School Tennis Coaches Association All-Academic Team. That honor goes to sophomores, juniors or seniors who played at least 75% of the season on varsity and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. 

Freshmen Roan Childs, Owen Evers and Kash Krouze earned Hodag Academic awards for obtaining a GPA of 3.5 or better, but not meeting the other criteria for academic all-state. 

Nichols also took time to honor each of the team’s six seniors — McCue, Massey, Ostermann, Schiek, Hart Hokens and Van Tulowitzky. The group, collectively, stepped into more prominent roles on the team this season. They all qualified for sectionals in doubles and helped guide the Hodags to their 11th consecutive GNC title.

“The thing that kept kind of recurring in my mind is intensity, and I think they brought that to almost every practice, to the games,” Nichols said. “Sometimes that intensity causes some friction, but they’re a really good group, all friends, and they all brought that intensity, that drive, and it really, it drove the team toward the successful season. So thank you for all your dedication and commitment over the years.”

The Hodags went 10-9 overall in dual meets on the season, including a perfect 4-0 in GNC duals, placed second in its seven-team Division 1 subsectional and sixth in its 15-team sectional.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at jeremy@

rivernewsonline.com.