Pickleball tournament in Hodag Dome welcomes players from throughout the Midwest

The Clash of the Paddles Pickleball tournament awarded medals to 48 of its pickleball teams March 28 and 29 in the Hodag Dome. The event had podium placers in men’s and women’s doubles on Saturday and mixed doubles on Sunday. 

Teams from as distant as Minnesota came to the Hodag Dome to participate in the annual tournament, now in it’s fifth spring. More local teams, with a few from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula joined the action on the six pickleball courts the Dome can accommodate. 

Becky Priebe sends receives a serve and sends it back across the net during mixed doubles.
(Photo by Blake Richard/River News)

It was nonstop back and fourth pickleball play as participants called out scores and serves between each point. Teams played until one reached 11 points and won that match, with each bracket being played double round robin style with some even having playoff brackets.  

The tournament was hosted by the YMCA of the Northwoods along with Rhinelander High School tennis programs, with the profits from the tournament being split between them. The event was a paid entry, but some of the support also came from local donors. 

Whether it’s at the YMCA or across the country, pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports there is, and the Clash of the Paddles featured different ages that competed at varying skill levels. 

The tournament accommodated for each teams’ experience by using what’s called the a Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) to match teams with similar skill levels.

DUPR collects data from players in 183 countries and it’s as simple as recording your statistics when you play a game. The DUPR platform also syncs with many events and clubs to automatically have a players credentials entered after a qualifying event. 

Overall, the DUPR scale rates players at the four levels of novice, low intermediate, high intermediate, or advanced. A player’s rating can climb as high as eight (professional), but ratings for Clash of the Paddles was around three and four. 

Clash of the Paddles had novice (low intermediate), intermediate, and high intermediate competition. 

Players that were yet to be rated by DUPR or are just getting into pickleball, were in the novice pool of the tournament, which also featured Player with a DUPR rating of 3.0 to 3.4. Intermediate players had a rating usually between 3.4 and 3.8, and high intermediate teams saw player ratings between 3.8 and 4.2. 

Saturday kicked off with men’s novice, intermediate, and high intermediate followed by women’s teams in the novice and intermediate categories.

Sunday featured mixed doubles in novice, intermediate, and high intermediate play. 

First-place finishers for men’s doubles included John Marshall and Greg Ackeret (novice), Todd McEldowney and Kaden Huber (intermediate), and Terry Berndt and Steve Humphrey (high intermediate). 

The women’s doubles division crowned two champions, one in novice play and one in intermediate. Lynn Luetschwager and Brenda Paul took home the first place finish in novice, with intermediate first place medals going to Samantha King and Kelsey Birschbach. 

Sunday’s first place finishers, in mixed doubles, included Rachel and Dominic Caroselli (novice), Jordan Keebler and Erin Dinjer (intermediate), and Heather Lundt and Steve Humphrey (high intermediate). 

For those looking to advance their pickleball skills, the tournament will have a fall event as well and there are open times to play at the YMCA, or you can download the TeamReach app to connect with other players and events in local areas. 

Blake Richard may be reached via email at [email protected].