Lindner named most outstanding wrestler at River Valley tourney

Rhinelander High School junior Cassidy Lindner won all four of her matches in convincing fashion Saturday, Jan. 17 and was voted by the coaches as the most outstanding wrestler in the 14-team River Valley Invite.

The Hodag girls, with four wrestlers competing, took 11th in the meet. Lindner’s performance at 120 pounds served as the highlight, as only one of her matches got out of the first period. That was her opening match against Brodhead/Juda’s Hayden Lewis, who she pinned in the third period. After a first-period technical fall over Oregon’s Tessa Williamson and a first-period pin over River Valley’s Onika Mattison, Lindner stopped Pecatonica/Argyle’s Maddie Meddaugh just 1 minute, 15 seconds into the championship match. 

“Very dominant day. Our finals match was against a very good Pecatonica girl, and it just wasn’t much of a match, to be honest. She just dominated her,” Hodag coach Caleb Radtke said. “I think it’s a testament (to her). I mean, we went down south and we’ve never seen any of those teams. Those coaches have never seen her wrestle and they watched her wrestle four matches today and they decided she deserved it, (most) outstanding wrestler. That’s a true testament to her ability.”

Nevaeh Anderson and Skylar Leitl both competed at 152 pounds, taking sixth and seventh, respectively. Anderson had two wins on the day while Leitl had one. Miranda Daab went 0-2 and finished third in a three-wrestler bracket at 235.

“Skylar had a heck of a day. She had a lot of aggression. That’s the most aggressive, I’ve seen her on the mat, ever. I think she’s finally really starting to piece it together and click a little bit,” Radtke said. “Nevaeh had a really good day, beat a couple of girls that were decent. And then, Miranda had a tough one. Hopefully she can just keep sticking it out and keep learning and get better every day.”

GNC/WVC Challenge Night

    Rhinelander’s Skylar Leitl looks to pin Brodhead/Juda’s HaLinda Reasa during the River Valley Invite Saturday, Jan. 17. (Contributed photograph)
  

The Hodag girls were back in action Tuesday night in the final Great Northern/Wisconsin Valley challenge night of the season. Six of the 13 teams in the combined conference competed at Tomahawk, with wrestlers getting two to three matches, each. 

Team scores for the event were not listed in the official results. 

Lindner improved to 31-3 on the season as she controlled both of her matches Tuesday. She started with a technical fall over Lakeland’s Emma Louis in the first match before pinning Wausau West’s Briana Gutowski in the second.

Freshman Katie Hazelton also picked up a pair of wins on the night. She edged Wausau West’s Mackenzie Keene by a 9-6 decision in the first round and then scored a pin over Lakeland’s Hailey Massignan in the final seconds of her second bout. She was pinned in her final match in the third period by Louis. 

“Cassidy and Katie both had good nights. Both were aggressive. Both got to their attacks, and they were able to come away with some wins,” Radtke said.

Leitl and Anderson both went winless on the night. Leitl’s night included a bout against reigning girls’ 145-pound state champion Olivia Hofrichter of Antigo.

“Both of them had very good brackets. Skylar got to wrestle Olivia Hofrichter, the state champ from last year. But she was aggressive in that match,” Radtke noted. “She went out right away and locked up a headlock and then just did not come out on top, but she was very aggressive, which was good to see.”

The Hodag girls will return to action Saturday, Jan. 31 at the Marshfield Invite.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].