Hodag tennis nabs 11th straight GNC title

MINOCQUA — The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team was tested this season but, once again, found itself standing on top when the dust settled in the Great Northern Conference. 

The Hodags clinched their 11th consecutive GNC title on Thursday as they won the conference tournament at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua.

It’s a feat that puts the RHS boys’ tennis program in rarified air, matching Mosinee softball (2009-2019) for the most consecutive titles won in league history. The Hodags’ streak  has spanned three different head coaches, the COVID-19 pandemic, and has seen the team beat seven different foes that have came and went from the conference. Through it all, the Hodags have remained on top. 

Afterward coach Matt Nichols said he was surprised to learn the elite company the Hodag netters joined. 

“I didn’t know that, but it’s an exciting day — not only for the year, but also just looking at the program as a whole, the history and the tradition,” he said. “It was great. And this year’s team was phenomenal.”

    Rhinelander’s Asher Rivord reaches for a ball during the GNC boys’ tennis tournament in Minocqua Thursday, May 22. Rivord won the conference title at No. 3 singles and delivered the points that clinched first place in both the tournament and the overall conference race. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

There was not much drama for the overall conference championship. The Hodags entered the day with an eight-point lead over Medford and mathematically clinched the crown outright when sophomore Asher Rivord breezed in straight sets over Ashland’s Lucas Oliphant in a semifinal match at No. 3 singles. 

The battle for first place on the day was much more dramatic, however. The Hodags needed match tiebreaker wins in the championship round by Rivord and fellow sophomore Calvin Loomis at No. 4 singles to secure a 34-30 win over Lakeland for first place in the tournament. 

Both had to rally from down a set over Lakeland players to claim their titles. Rivord rallied past Angus Callender 4-6, 7-5, 12-10 and Loomis needed two tiebreakers to get past Sawyer Brown 1-6, 7-6 (5), 10-5). 

“Both of them in that second set were just able to adjust,” Nichols said. “We talked about different strategies. And that’s what’s so nice about both of their games is they have more than just one or two things that we can work with. Props of them, too, they’re very open to trying some different things, trying new strategies, and able to execute it. When they did that, they did it well, and it was good enough to force the tiebreak and then also get the tiebreak win.”

Rhinelander has had a penchant for pulling out close matches this season, and Thursday was no exception. The Hodags prevailed in four out of six matches that went to a deciding match tiebreaker. 

“These guys, they work hard and when you work hard and you put in your best effort, you gain some confidence from that,” Nichols said. “They’ve had some big wins in the past and they’re just ready to compete. That’s really all you can ask from a team. I’m proud of them for that.”

    Rhinelander’s Danek Koniar, right, congratulates teammate Aidan Lueder after the two put away match point in the championship match at No. 3 doubles during the GNC boys’ tennis tournament in Minocqua Thursday, May 22. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

One of those tiebreakers came in the semifinals as the No. 3 doubles team of junior Danek Koniar and sophomore Aidan Lueder found its stride late to rally past Lakeland’s Eli Novak and Braden Seifert 4-6, 6-3, 10-5. The pair then cruised past top-seeded Cash Thums and Axl Spanbauer of Medford 6-1, 6-2 in the finals. 

“They’ve played together before, but that No. 3 doubles hasn’t really been a rock solid duo. So I think part of that first match is just trying to play with each other, play some doubles — because both have played a bit of singles as well,” Nichols said. “Growing through that match, I think they just gained a lot of confidence. In that final, they just played some great tennis. Minimal errors, a lot of great shots, and it gave them a big, decisive win.”

    Rhinelander’s Van Tulowitzky hits a smash at the net while teammate Hart Hokens looks on during the GNC boys’ tennis tournament in Minocqua Thursday, May 22. The pairing won the conference title at No. 2 doubles. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Seniors Hart Hokens and Van Tulowitzky had a relatively easy path to the conference title at No. 2 doubles. As the top seed in what turned into a three-team draw after Ashland withdrew its No. 2 doubles team, the Hodag tandem got a free pass to the finals were they routed Lakeland’s Marshall Czlapinski and Jayden Shepski, 6-1, 6-0.

“It was a light day, but at the same time, I think just like any other top seed, they earned that day and they had a great regular season,” Nichols said. “Even today, I think both of those two guys have improved so much. When we look at the team that kind of stands out and it shows in their scores that first time they played the Lakeland team. They ended up needing a set tiebreak win. Today it was it was a very decisive win.”

Seniors Aiden Ostermann and Michael Schiek fell short in their quest to earn the honors of the conference’s doubles players of the year as the fell to Pacelli’s Marcus Lansing and Hunter Wrezinski 1-6, 6-1, 10-5 in the championship match at No. 1 doubles. That match was almost a carbon copy of the regular season match between the two teams when Rhinelander won the first set handedly only to drop the second and lose in a tiebreaker. 

“It was déjà vu, I think it was almost like the same scores,” Nichols said. “It was it was tough because, you know, we talked about that match, falling at Pacelli. We worked on a couple things, and you know, we seemed to play so strong and so well that first set, and then ultimately we lose the match is tough. I know they’re competitors, they took it kind of hard. But Pacelli’s a good team and they played well, and props to those guys.”

Senior Karter Massey avenged a regular season loss to Medford’s Parker Hill. He staved off three match points in a second-set tiebreaker and eventually prevailed in a match tiebreaker 3-6, 7-6 (7), 11-9 in the semifinals at No. 2 singles. He wound up second on the day following a straight-set loss to Lakeland’s Jack Stepec in the finals. 

“To beat a kid that he lost to just last week was impressive,” Nichols said. “He was very determined. He was very locked in. And he just competed the entire time.”

Payton McCue finished fourth at No. 1 singles. After racing out to a 4-0 lead in his semifinal match against Ashland’s Adrian Erickson, he dropped 10 of the next 11 games in a 6-4, 6-1 defeat. He then fell in a match tiebreaker in the third-pace match to Medford’s Cale Schulz, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6.

Rhinelander defeated Lakeland by 14 points for the overall conference title. Medford, which entered the day second in the standings, fell to third, seven points behind the T-Birds. Lakeland’s Dominic Gironella claimed GNC singles player of the year honors with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Erickson in the championship match at No. 1 singles. 

The Hodags’ attention quickly turns to postseason play as the subsectional round of the WIAA tournament gets underway this morning at the RHS tennis courts. Rhinelander is the only GNC school in a Division 1 grouping which is otherwise comprised of all the schools from the larger Wisconsin Valley Conference. 

“It’s interesting switching from conference over to subs,” Nichols said. “Just the level and the style of play, it changes a little bit. Obviously it’s going to be a little different feel because this is it. When you lose, you’re out. Also being subsectionals, we’ll have a slightly different line(up) and it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out.”

The top four finishers in the No. 1 singles and doubles flights, and the top two finishes from the remaining flights, will advance to the WIAA sectional round tomorrow in Eau Claire. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].