The Northwoods River News

Hodag soccer sees red again in regional loss to New London

RHS finishes with 9 men in foul-heavy affair

For the Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team, the 2024 season ended much the same way it began. Once again the Hodags fell to New London and once again they had fewer than their full complement of 11 players on the field when the final whistle blew Thursday night.

Winter voted Hodag tennis MVP

Senior Kelsey Winter held down the No. 1 singles spot all season for the Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team and was voted the squad’s most valuable player. That was one of several awards handed out Monday as the team concluded its season with a banquet in the RHS commons.

Hodag harriers eye bounce back run, state berth at sectionals

The Rhinelander High School boys’ cross country team got knocked down last Saturday when a chance to win the Great Northern Conference title slipped out of its grasp in the final mile. With even higher stakes on the line this afternoon, the Hodags are looking to get right back up.

Hodag swimmers take third at Small School State

Rhinelander got a look at two of its chief rivals on the state landscape Saturday, placing a close third behind Whitefish Bay and Madison Edgewood at the 17-team Small School State Invite hosted by Shorewood High School.

Cross country: Hodag boys take 2nd, girls 3rd at GNC meet

Rhinelander faded late to a runner-up finish behind Lakeland in the conference meet at Northland Pines. The Hodags girls had their own near miss, edged on a tiebreaker for second on Saturday. Both squads had two top-five finishers and four runners earn all-conference honors by placing inside the top 21.

Hodag volleyball closes regular season with win

RHS to face Merrill tonight to open playoffs

It was not necessarily easy, but the Rhinelander High School volleyball team got a needed win Thursday as it swept the Crandon Cardinals on the road 26-24, 25-22, 25-22 in non-conference play.

Hodag soccer falls to Pines, takes 4th in GNC

Playoffs start Thursday at New London

The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team couldn’t overcome the wind in the second half, which aided in goals by brothers Cody and Tyler Vojta just six minutes apart midway through the second half and proved to be the difference in a 2-0 win for Northland Pines in Eagle River.

RHS Sports recap: Thursday, Oct. 17

Girls’ swimming: Rhinelander 130, Colby/Abbotsford 40 | Boys’ soccer: Northland Pines 2, Rhinelander 0 | Volleyball: Rhinelander 3, Crandon 0

Hodags take down Raiders in PKs in penultimate regular season game

Rhinelander converted on all four of its chances in penalties as they won a shootout 4-1 over the Raiders after the sides played to a 1-1 draw in regulation at Mike Webster Stadium.

Slow starts hinder Hodag volleyball against Hatchets

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team had trouble getting going in each set Tuesday night at home against the Tomahawk Hatchets. While Rhinelander dug out of the first big deficit, playing from behind eventually became too much for the Hodags to overcome in a 3-1 loss to the Hatchets at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

Playing for more than pride?

With playoff fate out of its hands, Hodag football looks for win in regular season finale

The Rhinelander High School football team looks to play the role of playoff spoiler tonight and — if all the stars align — perhaps still sneak in to the postseason itself.

PHOTOS: Packers pluck Cardinals, move to 4-2

The Green Bay Packers scored 24 unanswered points in the first half and cruised to a 34-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Oct. 13 at Lambeau Field.

Hodag boys first, girls second at Hatchet Invite

RHS boys win third straight ahead of conference

The Hodags won their final tune-up Saturday, placing four runners in the top 10 as they took the Hatchet Invite at Tomahawk High School. It marked Rhinelander’s third-straight meet win on the boys’ side and second straight with Lakeland in the field.

Hodags swimmers rout Mosinee, move to 6-0 in GNC

Rhinelander went 1-2 in all 11 events as it defeated Mosinee 139-19 at the Heck Family Community Pool. Eight different Hodags scored at least one victory on Thursday and Rhinelander finished one point away from a perfect dual meet score of 140 points.

Hokens scores twice as Hodag soccer snaps skid

Hart Hokens scored twice, including what proved to be the game-winner with just over five minutes to play, as the Hodags defeated Mosinee 2-1 at Edgewood Park.

Medford rolls over Hodags 43-13

Raiders clinch GNC share, all but end Hodags’ playoff hopes

The Hodags had no answer for Paxton Rothmeier and Medford’s run game. The Raiders racked up 448 yards of offense — all on the ground — and defeated the Hodags 43-13 at Raider Field.

Sawyer and Patrick finish fourth at sectionals

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis season came to an end Wednesday as the team’s No. 2 doubles team of Evelyn Sawyer and Maya Patrick finished fourth in a WIAA Division 1 sectional tournament in Eau Claire.

RHS No. 2 doubles team advances to sectionals

The No. 2 doubles squad of Evelyn Sawyer and Maya Patrick dug in after dropping the second set to Medford’s Lily Holmes and Hayley Metz to prevail in a match tiebreaker 10-6 and advance to sectionals during Monday’s WIAA Division 1 subsectional tournament at the RHS tennis courts.

Cross country: Hodag boys take Pines Invite

Rhinelander placed five runners in the top 20 and edged Lakeland by eight points for the team title in the Northland Pines Invite in Eagle River. Tuesday’s field featured five of the seven GNC schools, with Lakeland and Rhinelander figuring to be the front runners when all of the GNC returns to the Northland Pines High School campus next Saturday for the conference meet.

RHS to face tall task Thursday vs. Raiders

Mathematically, the Rhinelander High School football team still has a chance to make the WIAA playoffs, but it will take a Herculean effort to get there.

Hodag boys claim Medford XC Invite

Depth ruled the afternoon Thursday for the Rhinelander High School boys’ cross country team as it captured its first meet victory of the season. The Hodags placed five runners in the top 12 as it won the five-team Medford Invite around the campus of Medford High School.

Hodag soccer stunned by Antigo 1-0

Johnny Wissbroecker scored in the fourth minute and that held up as the Red Robins defeated the Hodags 1-0 in Antigo. It marked Antigo’s first win over Rhinelander since prior to 2003, as far back as Wisconsin Valley Conference records are available.

Mosinee too much for Hodags on homecoming

Mosinee’s passing attack overwhelmed the Rhinelander High School football team Friday night, leaving the Hodags’ playoff chances on life support. Treve Stoffel threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another, as the Indians defeated the Hodags 26-6 on homecoming night at Mike Webster Stadium.

Hodag volleyball swept out of playoffs by Merrill

The seventh-seeded Bluejays swept the 10th-seeded Hodags out of the playoffs 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 in Merrill. Rhinelander (12-27) held leads in all three sets, but the Bluejays always had the answer at key moments and the Hodags ran out of time to respond.

RHS volleyball downs Pines again

Hodags complete GNC sweep of Eagles

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team hit another milestone Tuesday night as it tries to rebuild following several down seasons. For the first time since 2017, the Hodags have recorded multiple wins in Great Northern Conference play.

Hodag tennis drops regular season finale to Rapids

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team lost Tuesday in its final match of the regular season, dropping a non-conference dual at Wisconsin Rapids 5-2.

Volleyball: Hodags 4th in Phillips Invite

For the most part, the Rhinelander High School volleyball team beat the teams it was supposed to and sparred with some stronger lower-division opponents Saturday in the Phillips Invite. The end result was a 2-3 record and a fourth-place finish on the day as Rhinelander fell to Prentice and Florence in the championship bracket after taking second place in its pool.

Swimming: Hodags cruise past Lakeland 119-50

The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team may not have been feeling its best Thursday night, but it still had more than enough in the tank to get past Lakeland in Great Northern Conference dual meet play.

Hodag harriers runners-up at Three Lakes Invite

Rhinelander came home second in both divisions of Thursday’s Three Lakes Invite at Big Stone Golf Club. In each instance, the Hodags were beaten by defending GNC champion and the team who figures to be the favorite heading to conference later this month in Eagle River.

RHS tennis takes 5th at GNC meet

The end result was that Rhinelander finished as a middle of the pack team in the GNC, placing fifth in the conference meet Thursday hosted by Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua. Rhinelander finished fifth overall in the eight-team league as well after sitting in fifth through the dual meet portion of the conference season.

Woes continue for Hodag soccer in 5-1 loss to Waupaca

The Hodags continued a grueling stretch of play Monday by conceding four second-half goals in a 5-1 loss to Waupaca in a non-conference match at Mike Webster Stadium.

Hodag netters fall to Medford 5-2

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team entered yesterday’s Great Northern Conference tournament in danger of finishing outside the top half of the conference standings for the first time as a member of the GNC.

Hodag swimmers rout Medford, take 7th in Waukesha

The Hodags won all 11 events Thursday as they downed last year’s GNC runner-up Medford 125-45 in a conference dual meet at the Heck Family Community Pool. Rhinelander followed that up by coming home as the high-placing Division 2 program Saturday as it finished seventh overall in the Blackshirt Invite at Waukesha South High School.

Cross country: Gremban, Barr score top 20s at Smiley

In the largest regular season race for the Rhinelander High School cross country team this season, two of the Hodags’ top runners showed strong form as they gear up for a late-season push. Senior Greyson Gremban took 10th overall and sophomore Avrom Barr finished 18th in a field of 148 runners in the Division 1 race at the 68th annual Bill Smiley Invitational in Wausau on Saturday.

Hodag volleyball splits matches in GNC meet

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team overcame a sluggish start to its day Saturday to pick up its first Great Northern Conference win of the season during the first leg of the GNC tournament in Minocqua.

Hodag tennis downs Columbus, looks to position itself for GNC meet

The Hodags swept singles and took two of three doubles matches in a 6-1 victory over Marshfield Columbus in the Hodag Dome. That win temporarily vaulted Rhinelander to third in the GNC standings, two points ahead of Medford and Wausau Newman.

RHS soccer can’t keep up with Pines in 6-1 loss

Still not at 100% on the health front, the Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team was unable to keep with Northland Pines in GNC play Thursday night.

Hatchet haymaker

Tomahawk stuns Hodags 21-14 on last-second fake field goal

Senior Brayden Larson almost single-handedly willed the Hatchets to victory with three big plays in the final minute Friday night and found Landyn Seymour wide open for a back-breaking 31-yard score with three seconds remaining as Tomahawk stunned Rhinelander 21-14 at Hatchet Field.

Lakeland volleyball sweeps Rhinelander

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team could not keep up with Lakeland Tuesday night, falling to the T-Birds in straight sets during Great Northern Conference play in Minocqua.

Hodag tennis falls to Newman 5-2

Rhinelander’s chances to finish in the top half of the Great Northern Conference took another hit on Tuesday. Wausau Newman swept doubles and the teams split singles play as the Hodags lost to the Cardinals 5-2 in Wausau.

Wausau East downs Hodag soccer 6-0

The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team had a hard time keeping up with Wausau East Tuesday in non-conference play. Lucien Nkoranyi and Gio Gomez each scored twice for the Lumberjacks as they raced past the Hodags 6-0 in Wausau.

Pigskin preview Week 5: Rhinelander at Tomahawk

Hodag football to continue pivotal stretch against hungry Hatchets

The Hodags still need two more wins to become playoff eligible and three more wins to guarantee a postseason berth. With back-to-back games against perennial conference powers Mosinee and Medford looming Oct. 4 and Oct. 10, tonight’s contest and next week’s Bell Game at Antigo are key as the Hodags attempt to position themselves for a playoff push.

RHS swimmers down Ladysmith, win Hodag Relays

Swimming at home for the first time this season, the Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team continued its winning ways in a pair of meets late last week.

RHS soccer drops GNC showdown at Lakeland

Lakeland’s Dominic Gironella scored twice and had an assist, while the Hodags lost starting goalkeeper Barak Rappley to a facial injury as Rhinelander fell 3-0 to the T-Birds. That was part of an up and down end to last week for the Hodags, who returned home Saturday and split a pair of games in a home invite, beating Black River Falls 3-0 before losing to Shawano by the same margin.