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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Pigskin Preview Week 8: Rhinelander at Merrill

Hodags gear up for potential playoff push

The last three weeks have not been good for the Rhinelander High School football team. The Hodags have been outscored 106-8 in that stretch and have gone from 4-0 to 4-3 and fighting for their playoff lives.

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Winnicki captures 500 freestyle record, Hodags perfect against Mosinee

RHS follows with Fondy Invite win

The Hodags took down two pool records, the longest-standing varsity record and defeated Mosinee 140-23 Thursday in a Great Northern Conference dual meet at the Heck Family Community Pool.

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Hodag offense erupts in win over Antigo

The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team has struggled to put the ball in the back of the net this season. The team tallied a total of six goals in its first six conference games but that changed in a big way Thursday night. Matthew King scored twice and the Hodags more than doubled their conference goal total as they routed Antigo 8-0 at Mike Webster Stadium.

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Hodag volleyball goes 1-3 in home invite

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team picked up a win in its opening match on Saturday but did not have much else go right as it took fourth place in its home five-team invitational at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

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Medford churns past Hodags 40-8

A powerful Medford ground game was too much for the Rhinelander High School football team to overcome Friday night. Paxton Rothmeier rushed for 153 yards and three scores and the Raiders ran by the Hodags 40-8 at Mike Webster Stadium.

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With finale rained out, Hodag tennis looks ahead to subsectionals

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team was supposed to have its last regular season match of the season on Tuesday. It turned out that Mother Nature had different ideas, but the Hodags didn’t seem to mind.

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Hodag volleyball takes fifth in Phillips

The Hodags won their final three matches Saturday and took fifth place in the Phillips Invite. After losing to Ashland and Lakeland, the Hodags defeated Elcho to end pool play and then beat Chequamegon and Elcho again to take the consolation bracket of the eight-team meet.

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Lady harriers claim Three Lakes Invite

RHS boys take third

The Hodags placed five runners in the top 15 as they edged out Tomahawk and Marathon for the top spot in the Three Lakes Invite at Big Stone Golf Course.

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Hodag tennis finishes third in GNC

Rhinelander wound up third on the day at the GNC tournament and finished the conference season in third place overall.

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Mosinee shuts out Hodags 42-0

The Rhinelander High School football team could not keep with Mosinee’s big play attack on Friday night. Keagan Jirschele scored three touchdowns, Wyatt Harris rushed for two more and the defending GNC champions shut out the Hodags 42-0 in Mosinee.

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Pigskin Preview Week 6: Rhinelander at Mosinee

Hodags’ mettle to be tested in tough stretch

Rhinelander Hodags are trying to pick themselves off the canvas following a 24-0 loss to Antigo last week in the 89th Bell Game. But rebound games don’t come much tougher than this as the Hodags travel tonight to face defending GNC-champion Mosinee in its Homecoming game.

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RHS tennis falls to Lakeland, enters GNC tourney in 3rd

Barring a miracle, the Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team’s run of dominance in the Great Northern Conference was set to come to an end Thursday.

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The streak is over

Hodag volleyball sweeps Northland Pines, picks up first conference win since 2017

The RHS volleyball team's 62-match GNC losing streak finally came to an end Tuesday night as the Hodags out-dueled Northland Pines 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

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King’s late header gives Hodags 1-0 win at Pines

Matthew King’s header goal in the 76th minute saved the Hodags from their fourth straight draw and propelled Rhinelander to a 1-0 victory over Northland Pines in Great Northern Conference play Thursday in Eagle River.

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Hodag netters keep pace in GNC, down Antigo 6-1

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team kept within shouting distance of another Great Northern Conference title entering the final week of the regular season but the Hodags will need a strong effort to lock up their 12th conference title in 14 years.

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Bell Game blues

Antigo bullies Hodags, wins rivalry game 24-0

In the eyes of the Rhinelander faithful, the 89th Bell Game was not supposed to go like this — not with the momentum the Hodag football team had built in a 4-0 start and not against an Antigo team that was dominated by Hayward two weeks earlier.

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RHS volleyball swept at GNC meet

The Hodags dropped two more matches as they were swept by both Medford at Tomahawk during the first GNC tournament of the season Saturday at Sheldon Fieldhouse in Antigo.

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Rhinelander ties Mosinee, falls in PKs

The Hodags suffered the first blemish on their conference record as a pair of late goals off free kicks canceled each other out and Rhinelander settled for a 1-1 draw with Mosinee at Mike Webster Stadium. Mosinee won the subsequent penalty kick shootout, 5-4, for an extra conference point.

Hodag volleyball swept by Mosinee

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team fell to Great Northern Conference-leading Mosinee in straight sets on Tuesday night.

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A chance for redemption

Hodags seek to underscore turnaround season, reclaim the Bell tonight vs. Antigo

Just how far Rhinelander has come exactly one year after a troubling Bell Game defeat will be measured tonight as the Hodags host the Red Robins in a quest to take back the Bell for the fourth time in the last five years.

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RHS swimmers dominate Medford, home relays

The Hodags’ tour de force continued Thursday and Saturday with a pair of clean sweeps. Rhinelander finished 1-2 in all 11 events Thursday as it knocked off Medford 134-36 in a Great Northern Conference dual. The Hodags then came home for the first time in competition on Saturday and won all 10 events, setting four meet records in the process, as they waltzed to victory in the Hodag Relays at the Heck Family Community Pool.

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Hodag boys’ harriers 2nd, girls 4th at Colby Invite

Despite racing at less than 100%, the Rhinelander High School boys’ cross country team turned in a strong performance Saturday on a course that will determine its state-qualifying fate six weeks down the road.

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Close losses costs Hodag tennis in GNC race

Rhinelander falls to Newman 4-3, goes 3-2 in Wausau Invite

A battle between two of the top teams in the Great Northern Conference was ultimately decided by a trio of three-set matches Thursday.

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Hodag volleyball falls to Lakeland, goes 1-3 at Ashland

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team could not stop the big run Thursday night as its GNC losing streak reached 59 matches.

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Raising ‘Cane

Hodags outlast Hayward in slugfest, move to 4-0

Owen Kurtz scored a pair of touchdowns and the Hodags defense put the clamps on Hayward’s spread attack in a 13-7 win over the Hurricanes at Mike Webster Stadium. Kurtz’s 8-yard score midway through the third quarter proved to be the game winner as the Hodags moved to 4-0 on the year and handed the Hurricanes their first lost of 2023.

Hodag harriers battle the heat in Marshfield

The Hodags finished third overall in the boys’ division and fourth in the girls’ division of the Marshfield Tiger Invite at Wildwood Park. Though Rhinelander finished as the top large school on the boys’ side, the weather dominated the storyline on Tuesday.