Team Preview: RHS boys’ hockey
The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team has been used to success on the ice the last several years — with double-digit wins and at least one WIAA tournament win in each of the past six seasons. However the 2023-24 season figures to be a learning experience for a relatively young group.
‘Hodag proud forever’
State champion swimmers lauded with pep rally, city proclamation
The newly-crowned WIAA Division 2 girls' swim state champions from Rhinelander were honored with a pep assembly Monday morning in front of the RHS student body and presented ceremonial keys to the city as mayor Kris Hanus proclaimed it Rhinelander High School Girls’ Swim Team Day in the city.
Shoutouts & Callouts: RHS girls’ swim team get its moment in the sun
The Hodags went from winning the WIAA Division 2 state championship last Friday night, to being celebrated with a police escort and mini parade downtown Saturday afternoon, to being honored by the high school and the city in a pep assembly on Monday. It was a celebration long overdue for the girls through no fault of their own.
Hodag bowlers kick off season
The Rhinelander area high and middle school club blowing teams kicked off Wisconsin High School Bowling Club District 9 competition on Sunday with matches at Dale’s Weston Lanes.
Team Review: RHS cross country
Hodag harriers lay foundation for strong 2024
The Rhinelander High School cross country team did not have a representative at the WIAA state meet this year but it hopes it has set a foundation to make another run toward sending individuals or a team to Wisconsin Rapids in 2024.
Winter practice notebook
Hodag Hoops cramming ahead of opener
The schedule is tight for the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team to enter the 2023 season.
Team preview: RHS girls’ basketball
Lady Hodags eager to reload in top-heavy GNC
The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team was playing its best basketball at the end of the 2022-23 season. Despite losing a major piece off a squad that went 11-15 and finished tied for third in the Great Northern Conference, coach Ryan Clark is optimistic about the squad he will field this year.
THE PERFECT ENDING
Rhinelander takes six events, wins WIAA D2 girls’ swim crown in dominating fashion
Rhinelander won six of the 12 events Friday night, including all three relay races, as they ran away to a dominating victory in the WIAA Division 2 state meet in Waukesha. Mathematically, the Hodags had the title clinched with two events remaining and swam to an 87-point victory over Whitefish Bay.
Hodags Winnicki, Francis announce D-I plans
After capping off their decorated high school careers with a second state championship on Friday night, Rhinelander’s Abi Winnicki and Karis Francis are looking forward to the next chapter.
HODAGS SWIMMERS WIN D2 TITLE
The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team has won the WIAA Division 2 state championship.
A look at the field for tonight’s WIAA state swim meet
The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team is seeking its second WIAA Division 2 state championship in the last four years and is in very good position to accomplish its goal heading into tonight’s D2 state meet in Waukesha.
Winter Practice Notebook
Lady Hodags bolstered by incoming freshman class
Things were a lot busier Monday than usual for Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball coach Ryan Clark on the first day of practice.
Quinn named Hodag soccer MVP
Senior Will Quinn took home the top honor, as voted by his teammates during the team’s banquet at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom.
Planning for greatness
Hodag girls enter as favorites to win tonight’s D2 state swim title
With a meet-high 19 entries, the Hodags enter tonight’s D2 state meet at the Waukesha South Natatorium as 87 1/2-point favorites to win the state title. Eight-time state champion Edgewood won’t give up its crown easily, however, and last year’s state runner-up, Whitefish Bay, sits only a half point behind Edgewood in the projections.
Gremban, Jamison named fastest Hodag harriers
There were few surprises on Thursday as the Rhinelander High School cross country team handed out its year-end awards. That was especially true for the team’s top honor.
Sectional perfection
Hodags win all 11 swimming events, send 19 entries to state
Needing a big day to position themselves for a run at the WIAA state championship this Friday, the Hodags got just that, winning all 11 swimming events and sending 19 entries on to state in a WIAA Division 2 sectional in Merrill.
Team Review: RHS football
Hodags get back to .500, left wanting more
That a .500 record and a trip to the WIAA playoffs could be considered just an OK year for the Rhinelander High School football team underscores the general upswing the program has experienced over the last five years.
Hodag volleyball honors seniors at year-end banquet
For the second straight year, the Rhinelander High School volleyball team opted to bypass individual awards during its season-ending banquet held last Wednesday in the RHS commons.
Heck named RHS football’s Hodag Award winner
Senior James Heck, a standout on both sides of the ball, was named the team’s Hodag Award recipient as the team’s most outstanding player this season. That honor was presented Sunday during the team’s banquet at The Pines event center.
Team review: RHS volleyball
Hodag spikers get back in GNC win column as rebuild continues
Rhinelander went 13-23 this season. The 13 wins equaled the total that Dan Wolter had in his first two seasons as head coach, combined. Those two seasons came off a stretch in which the Hodags won only two matches in three years.
Hodag bowlers gearing up for season
Plays starts Nov. 12 for three Rhinelander-based club teams
A mix of new and returning bowlers will lead the Hodag club high and middle school teams into action when the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club District 9 season gets underway in a couple of weeks.
Team review: RHS girls’ tennis
Rest of GNC closes the gap on Hodag netters
A top-three finish in the conference standings, a winning record overall and six players earning all-conference honors would be considered a solid year for most girls’ tennis teams. That those numbers, posted by the Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team this fall, marked the worst the Hodags have done since joining the Great Northern Conference only underscores the dominance the Hodag tennis program has had since 2010.
So far, the Packers are who we thought they were
After six games in the Packers' season, the word “playoffs” seems more like the famous Jim Mora Sr. rant. However, reflecting on the first six games of the Packers’ season as a whole, another rant comes to mind.
Hodag football has 12 all-GNC honorees
Chariton named first-team at punter
A return to the WIAA playoffs and a fourth-place tie in the Great Northern Conference yielded several more individual honors for the Rhinelander High School football team this year.
Hodag girls’ swim claims 5th straight GNC title
The Hodags won nine events and broke five GNC records as they cruised to victory in the conference meet at the McKenna Aquatic Center in Antigo. The result locked up Rhinelander’s fifth straight girls’ swimming conference title.
Gremban falls just short at sectionals again
Hodag boys take fourth, girls sixth
COLBY — Once again Rhinelander junior Greyson Gremban entered the final mile of the WIAA sectional meet with the goal of qualifying for the state championships squarely in sight. Once again on Saturday he could only watch as that chance slipped further into the distance.
Hodag soccer falls to Mosinee in regional finals
MOSINEE — The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team had one playoff upset in it but, unlike last year, the squad was unable to string together a Cinderella run to the WIAA state tournament.
Hilltopped
Onalaska routs Hodag football 56-6 in WIAA playoff opener
ONALASKA — The Hilltoppers’ offense established dominance early and the Hodags made too many mistakes to fight back. It all added up to a 56-6 defeat following a long 3 1/2-hour road trip to the suburbs of La Crosse.
Hodag harriers look to end season on high note
Gremban in position to vie for state spot at Colby sectional
The Hodags, and the rest of the Great Northern Conference, will head to Colby tomorrow for a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet. Both the RHS boys’ and girls’ squads are long shots, at best, to make it to next week’s state meet in Wisconsin Rapids as a team, though junior Greyson Gremban finds himself in a spot to qualify individually after narrowly missing out a year ago.
Hodag swimmers move to 7-0, focus on claiming 5th straight GNC title
The Hodags scored maximum points in every event for the second time this season and cruised to a 140-20 victory over Antigo in the Great Northern Conference dual meet finale at the Heck Family Community Pool.
Hatchets sweep Hodag volleyball out of playoffs
The 11th-seeded Hodags pushed the sixth-seeded Tomahawk Hatchets to extra points in the third set, but came up short in a 25-13, 25-20, 28-26 loss at Hatchet Fieldhouse.
Riopel, Coppenger share Hodag tennis MVP award
By the numbers, seniors Tori Riopel and Shayla Coppenger had the most successful individual seasons for the Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team in 2023. Those numbers translated into sharing the team’s top honor on Monday.
Pigskin Preview Level 1 playoffs: Rhinelander at Onalaska
Hodags relish second chance in playoff opener
Rhinelander has a chance to rewrite the narrative to the end of its season as one of the final 40 teams into the WIAA playoffs. The Hodags will get that mulligan this evening at Onalaska in Level 1 of the Division 3 tournament.
Cross country: Hodag boys finish 2nd at GNCs
Greyson Gremban ran a lifetime-best 16 minutes, 36.6 seconds, leading a slew of personal records for the Hodag boys as they slipped into the runner-up spot in the Great Northern Confernece Meet at Nine Mile Forest.
Hodag soccer beats Pines in regular season finale
Waupaca ahead for RHS to open playoffs
The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team closed out the regular season on a high note Thursday. The Hodags hope to be able to use that momentum to conjure up another Cinderella run in the WIAA tournament.
Riopel falls in first round of state tennis tournament
Rhinelander’s Tori Riopel was beaten 6-0, 6-0 by Muskego senior Emily Pan in the first round, ending the Hodag senior’s career.
Hodag spikers fall to Crandon on senior night
The Cardinals rallied back from down two sets to one to defeat the Hodags 25-16, 25-27, 16-25, 25-21, 15-5 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Swim meet moved to Monday due to ‘emergency maintenance issue’
The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team’s final dual meet of the 2023 season was postponed by four days due to what was described as a temporary “emergency maintenance issue” that arose last Wednesday at the Heck Family Community Pool.
No win, but still in
Hodags fade against Lakeland, sneak in to WIAA playoffs
The Rhinelander High School football team lost to Lakeland 32-6 Friday on homecoming night in the Northwoods Axe Game at Mike Webster Stadium, but found out Saturday morning that they were one of the final 40 teams to make the field of 224 for the WIAA playoffs.
Hodag harriers strive for top half finish at GNC meet
While Lakeland and Medford have established themselves as the clear-cut favorites on the boys’ and girls’ sides, respectively, there figures to be plenty of competition behind them when the GNC schools converge on Nine Mile Forest in Wausau tomorrow for the conference meet, hosted by Mosinee.
Late leads slip as Hodag volleyball swept at Antigo
Rhinelander had three chances with the lead past the 15-point mark on Tuesday but came away empty-handed in a three-set sweep at Antigo to close out conference play.
Rising from the brink
After dramatic sectional meet, Hodags’ Riopel prepares for WIAA state tourney
Riopel rallied from down 9-5 in a 10-point match tiebreaker to defeat Eau Claire North’s Miah Nelson 6-4, 1-6, 11-9 in a quarterfinal match at No. 1 singles during a WIAA Division 1 sectional tournament at the Menard Tennis Center in Eau Claire.
Hodag XC takes third at Hatchet Invite
The Rhinelander High School cross country team took third in both the boys and girls’ division of the Hatchet Invite on Saturday at Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk.
Soccer: Mosinee knocks Hodags out of GNC race
RHS bounces back against Merrill
The Hodags’ second-half woes in the conference slate continued Thursday with a 1-0 loss at Mosinee.
Hodag volleyball drops all three matches at GNC
The Hodags, who struggled last weekend in a home invite, were unable to win a set Saturday during the second Great Northern Conference meet in Tomahawk. Rhinelander was swept by Lakeland, Mosinee and Northland Pines, with the Eagles avenging Rhinelander’s only conference win of the season.
Stand tall Saturday
Hodags ride defense to 7-0 win over Merrill, playoff eligibility
The Hodags pitched a shutout, forced four turnovers and rode a Landon Bates late first-half touchdown to a 7-0 victory over the Bluejays.
Hodag swimmers keep rolling, sink Colby/Abby
The Hodags remained perfect in the Great Northern Conference — both in the dual meet standings and in individual races — winning all 11 events again in a 131-37 victory at Colby/Abbotsford.
Hodag harriers sweep Northland Pines Invite
The Hodag swept both the boys’ and girls’ divisions of the Northland Pines Invite. The Hodag boys placed five runners in the top 20 as they edged the hosting Eagles by three points for the title. It was more of a runaway in the girls’ race as Rhinelander placed all seven of its varsity runners in the top 13 and cruised to a 31-point victory in the six-team meet.
Hodag soccer falls to Lakeland, loses control of GNC destiny
The T-Birds erupted for three goals after halftime and defeated Rhinelander 3-0 in a pivotal matchup of Great Northern Conference contenders in Minocqua.
Hodag volleyball pushes Tomahawk to four sets
The Rhinelander High School volleyball team keeps inching closer to becoming a contender again in the Great Northern Conference, but could not quite get over the hump on Tuesday night.