Hodag Hoops falls to Mosinee 70-58 in first-place battle
Landen Thomer had 17 points and 12 rebounds, leading four Mosinee players who scored in double figures, as the Indians edged the Hodags 70-58 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Lakeland rolls Lady Hodags in first-place battle
Kristina Ouimette led four T-Birds in double figures and Lakeland blitzed Rhinelander 77-34 in a battle of GNC girls’ basketball unbeatens in Minocqua.
Hodags swimmers take 2nd in Ashwaubenon
The Hodags won six events and took second place overall in the 12-team Jaguar Invite at Ashwaubenon High School. The performance came on the heels of Rhinelander sweeping a double dual from Medford and Shawano/Seymour at home on Thursday.
Hodag wrestlers take 18th in Merrill
After an unplanned and extended holiday layoff, the Rhinelander High School wrestling team finally got back on the mat Saturday, finishing 18th in the 26-team Bluejay Challenge in Merrill.
Hodag hockey cruises past Medford
Rhinelander’s top line could not be stopped on Thursday night. Gavin Denis, Joey Belanger and Dylan Shefveland combined for six goals and seven assists and the Hodag boys’ hockey team defeated the Medford Raiders 7-2 in Great Northern Conference play.
Hodags stuff T-Birds in 79-54 win
RHS tied for first in GNC entering Mosinee showdown at home tonight
Truman Lamers scored 22 points, Will Gretzinger added 21 and the Hodags pulled away in the second half to a 79-54 win at Lakeland in a battle of Great Northern Conference unbeatens.
Hodag gymnasts improve to start 2024
Time put in over the holiday break appeared to paid dividends for the Rhinelander High School gymnastics team in its first two meets of the new calendar year. Rhinelander came out of the gates with its two highest scores of the season in meets this past Thursday and Saturday, including a performance that was the team’s best since 2021.
Hodag Hoops relies on defense in 54-32 win at Ashland
The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team was in an offensive funk for most of the second half on the road Thursday night at Ashland. Luckily for the Hodags they had built enough of a cushion, and played strong enough defensively, to withstand the swoon.
Team Preview: RHS/NPHS Alpine Skiing
Hodag Alpine eager to hit the slopes
The Rhinelander/Northland Pines Alpine ski and snowboard team will have a tough act to follow after its 2023 season, but will look to continue its winning ways as the calendar hits 2024 and the racing season officially begins.
Wolter to step down as RHS volleyball coach
After three successive seasons that were better than the previous one, a rebuilding Rhinelander High School volleyball team is once again in search of a new head coach. Dan Wolter informed the team and RHS activities director Brian Paulson that he will step down from the head coaching position for the 2023-24 season.
Clark scores 41 on record night
Freshman sets single game 3s mark, RHS downs Ashland 75-39
Aubryn Clark finished with 41 points, including a school-record nine 3-pointers, as the Hodags defeated Ashland 75-39 Thursday night on the road.
WIAA D2 boys’ swim state meet top local game of 2023
As seems to happen every year, whittling this year’s list of top games down to 10, and then putting them in order becomes the difficult part. That’s a good problem to have as it means that, once again, there were many memorable moments in Rhinelander sports this year.
2023: YEAR OF THE HODAGS
State championships for Rhinelander swim teams named top sports story of 2023
The success of the Hodag boys’ and girls’ swim teams was a runaway choice to lead our list of the top 10 local sports story of 2023. Though each team’s path to state glory was different, there was plenty of commonality between the two.
RHS boys 11th, girls 15th at Hodag Scramble
Four make podium in home meet
The Rhinelander High School wrestling team welcomed 28 schools to the Hodag Dome on Thursday for the third annual Hodag Scramble. Rhinelander finished in the middle of the pack among those teams, taking 15th out of 26 in the boys’ division and 11th out of 15 in the girls’ division.
Hodag Hoops unable to close out late at Merrill
For the second time in three nights, the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team was unable to make plays down the stretch in a tight non-conference contest.
Hodag hockey falls at Marshfield 4-1
The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team once again found itself in a tight game in the third period on Thursday night, but was unable to come away with a win.
Lady Hodags respond in 73-45 win over Merrill
Rhinelander shot 54% from the field and hit 14 3-pointers, while limiting Merrill to under 32% shooting, as it cruised to a 73-45 victory in a non-conference contest at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Lady Hodags unable to hold on vs. No. 1 Assumption
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption finished the game on a 20-6 run and defeated the Hodags 60-46 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
RHS gymnasts shine on vault in dual meet loss to Ashland
It’s been a long time since Rhinelander was even with perennial gymnastics power Ashland in any event. The Hodags were the Oredockers equal on vault Tuesday night.
Hodag boys’ bowlers claim both matches
The Rhinelander/Tomahawk boys’ high school club bowling team showed on Sunday that it is starting to get comfortable in tight matches.
Hodag Hoops blitzes Tomahawk 69-26
Will Gretzinger scored 25 points, Caden Sieker added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and the Hodags cruised to a 69-26 victory in Great Northern Conference play at Hatchet Fieldhouse.
Hodag swimmers drop Antigo, hit the break undefeated in GNC
The Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team cruised to yet another easy victory on Thursday in Great Northern Conference competition. The Hodags won all 11 events and beat Antigo 104-49 at the Heck Family Community Pool.
Hodag wrestlers go 1-3 in dual meets
After going winless in dual meets during the 2022-23 season, the Rhinelander High School wrestling team finally got back into the win column on Friday night. The Hodags got three pins and received three forfeit victories, which was just enough to edge Amherst 36-30 as part of a triangular meet in Amherst.
Lady Hodags pull away from Tomahawk in 69-22 win
The Hodags overcame a sluggish start and rode a game-high 32 points from freshman Aubryn Clark to a 69-22 win at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Hodag swim sweeps Shawano/Seymour, now 3-0 in GNC
The Hodags won all 11 events, and had all nine of their swimmers contribute to at least one victory, in a 107-43 win on the road at Shawano/Seymour.
Hodag bowling teams suffer close defeats
Both of the Hodag club bowling teams suffered close losses on Sunday during Rounds 3 and 4 of Wisconsin High School Bowling Club District 9 competition in Weston.
Hodag Hoops holds off Chargers 55-47 for non-conference road win
Truman Lamers led three Hodags in double digits with 16 points Monday night, and Evan Shoeder made a pair of key layups down the stretch, as Rhinelander snuck by Wittenberg-Birnamwood 55-47 in the Hodags’ first road game of the season.
Hodag gymnasts take 5th in home debut
The Hodags were in the middle of the pack among GNC Small teams and finished fifth overall in the seven-team Snowflake Invite at the YMCA of the Northwoods.
Hodag wrestlers take 9th in Rebel Invite
Kurtz wins second straight title
The Rhinelander High School wrestling team had three placewinners among the nine wrestlers it had competing on Saturday as it tied for ninth in the 22-team Rebel Invite hosted by Laona/Wabeno/Three Lakes at the Forest County Potawatomi Community Center in Crandon.
Lady Hodags overcome cold shooting, squeak past Eagles
Aubryn Clark had 20 points and Morgan Van Zile added a career-high 19 as the Lady Hodags slipped past Northland Pines 52-45 in Eagle River.
Merrill moves closer to joining GNC full time
The WIAA’s Conference Realignment Task Force this past Wednesday unanimously accepted Merrill’s request to move from the Wisconsin Valley Conference and join the Great Northern Conference beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
A moment in the sun
SDR Special Olympics bowlers honored for successful 2023 season
A group of athletes marched proudly down the halls of Rhinelander High School Thursday afternoon and then hopped on a bus for a celebratory escort through downtown.
Third-period lapse bites Hodag hockey at Pacelli
In what seemed like a blink of an eye Tuesday night, the Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team went from being tied with Pacelli to facing an insurmountable third-period deficit.
Team Preview: RHS gymnastics
Hodags set to show off new facility, young squad
Tomorrow will be a big day for the Rhinelander High School gymnastics program. Not only will several gymnasts make their high school debuts, the Hodags will get a chance to showcase their new facility — one they hope will pay dividends for the future of the program.
Big run propels Lady Hodags past Antigo
The Hodags slammed the door with a 25-2 run midway through the first half and cruised to a 66-45 victory over the Robins at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Hodag swimmers win GNC double dual, Wis. Rapids Invite
Rhinelander took 10 of 11 events as it beat both Tomahawk and Medford in a Great Northern Conference double dual in Medford on Thursday. The Hodags then turned around and won nine events Saturday to claim the five-team Wisconsin Rapids Invite.
Hodag boys 10th, girls 6th at John Roberts Scramble
Kurtz, Swanson win individual weight classes
The Hodag boys finished 10th and the Hodag girls were sixth in their respective divisions at the John Roberts Scramble in Antigo — a meet that featured 16 teams on the boys’ side and 13 teams on the girls’ side.
Hatchets overpower Hodags in GNC opener
The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team was unable to slow down Tomahawk’s high-powered attack Thursday night in the Great Northern Conference opener.
Hodags Hoops wears down Antigo
RHS takes GNC opener 56-34
Rhinelander put the clamps on Antigo defensively and got a 19-point effort from senior Will Gretzinger in a 56-34 victory over the Robins to open Great Northern Conference play at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Hodag hockey splits games at Amery tourney
The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team took its lumps against one of the top Division 2 programs in the state last Friday, but bounced back Saturday to salvage a split of its games in the Amery Holiday Tournament.
Kislow tourney: RHS downs Athens, falls in OT to Everest
The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team won one game, and was perhaps a play or two away from winning both last weekend at the Tom Kislow Memorial Tournament at D.C. Everest.
The best seats in the house
Rhinelander crew officiates WIAA D2 state title game
An all-Rhinelander crew, led by referee Jeff Welk, officiated WIAA Division 2 football state title game between Waunakee and Badger at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison last month.
Hodag hockey pulls away from Shawano in opener
Gavin Denis and Joey Belanger each scored twice in the game and the Hodags used three third-period goals to pull away from Shawano in a 5-1 win at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Hodags swimmers place 5 in top 10 at Everest Pentathlon
Despite graduating six seniors from last season’s WIAA Division 2 state championship squad, the Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team showed last Tuesday it still has plenty of versatility entering the 2023-24 campaign.
Team review: RHS girls’ swimming
Hodags turn in season for the ages in state title run
This year’s Hodag swim team set the bar so high it will likely be the standard bearer for years, if not decades, to come.
Team review: RHS boys’ soccer
2023 a year of transition for Hodag soccer
It was always going to be a tough ask for the Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team to repeat is magical run to the 2022 WIAA Division 3 state tournament. Having graduated 11 seniors from that squad, and experiencing changes in the coaching staff, the Hodags never could quite recapture the mojo that led to the first state tournament appearance in program history.
Team review: RHS girls’ swimming
Hodags turn in season for the ages in state title run
When addressing the Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team after its WIAA Division 2 state championship, city administrator Patrick Reagan delivered a line that resonated through the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Rice Lake, Sheplee sisters, roll past Lady Hodags
Sisters Eliana and Adeline Sheplee combined to score 46 points, leading three Warriors in double digits as Rice Lake raced past Rhinelander 81-34 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Team preview: RHS boys’ basketball
Hodag Hoops striving to get back to top of GNC
Save a Cinderella run to the sectional semifinals in 2022, the last five years have been pretty lean for the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team compared to its lofty standards. Despite that, coach Derek Lemmens said he believes his team has the pieces to contend for its first GNC title since the 2017-18 season.
Team preview: RHS boys’ swimming
Defending state champs have tough act to follow
After winning the WIAA Division 2 state title last season, and watching their female counterparts do the same earlier this month, the natural question to ask is what exactly will the Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team do for an encore.