Soccer: Hodag offense erupts in 9-1 rout of Mosinee
Sophie Miljevich scored three times, Vivian Lamers added a pair of goals and the Hodags made short work of Mosinee, defeating the Indians 9-1 at Edgewood Park in Mosinee.
Hodag tennis goes 3-1 in Wausau
The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team suffered its first loss of the season on Friday and quickly made amends for it on Saturday.
Hodag baseball shut out in three straight
RHS falls at Antigo, drops Rapids twinbill
The offensive struggles continued late last week for Rhinelander, which was blanked 8-0 on the road at Antigo Thursday in its Great Northern Conference opener and then combined for only three hits in two games Saturday as it was swept by Wisconsin Rapids in a non-conference doubleheader, 13-0 and 9-0.
Mosinee uses two big innings to down Hodag softball
Beating preseason Great Northern Conference favorite Mosinee was going to be hard enough if the Rhinelander High School softball team played a flawless game. Too many self-inflicted mistakes made that task insurmountable on Thursday.
Hybrid highlights
Hodag boys, girls score victory in home meet
The Rhinelander High School track team had a chance to showcase its depth Thursday in its first outdoor meet of the season. The Hodag boys claimed three events, the Hodag girls won four and both squads held off GNC rival Lakeland for first place in the Hodag Hybrid Invite at Mike Webster Stadium.
Late goals push Hodags past Waupaca
Vivian Lamers broke a scoreless tie in the 75th minute and the Hodags pulled away to a 2-0 victory over Waupaca at Mike Webster Stadium.
Team preview: RHS golf
Hodag golfers look to reload in a tough GNC
With three of the five starters returning from that squad, the Hodag golf team and coach Adam Schmidt are hopeful they can have another strong season within a tough Great Northern Conference.
Hodag tennis opens season with 6-1 win
Rhinelander swept singles and took a pair of doubles matches as they greeted conference newcomer Ashland with a 6-1 result in the Hodag Dome.
Stratford sweeps opening twinbill from Hodags
A pair of six-run frames were Hodags’ undoing as they dropped Game 1 of a non-conference doubleheader 13-1 to Stratford Saturday at the Rapids Area Sports Complex. In the nightcap, Rhinelander couldn’t hold an early two-run lead as the Tigers completed the sweep with an 8-2 win.
Big innings propel Hodag softball to first win
Rhinelander pounded out 13 hits and used 10 unanswered runs in the third and fourth innings to get past Northland Pines 14-6 in the Hodag Dome.
Hodag soccer outlasts Shawano, Washburn in opening matches
The Hodags settled second-half ties with the final two goals both nights to earn a 4-2 win over Shawano in the Hodag Dome on Thursday and a 2-0 win over Washburn Friday at Mike Webster Stadium.
Hodag alum Losch wins Fraser Cup with NA3HL’s Helena Bighorns
Whether Jake Losch’s hockey playing career will continue after this season remains to be seen. If nothing else, the Rhinelander native has closed out the junior hockey phase of his career as a champion.
Team review: Hodag Nordic skiing
Mother Nature dealt Hodags trying season
Perhaps the biggest accomplishment for the Hodag Nordic Ski team in the 2023-24 season was the fact that there was a season at all.
Team preview: RHS boys’ tennis
Depth plentiful as Hodag netters reload
The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team has had plenty of success in coach Matt Nichols’ first three seasons at the helm. Last year the Hodags captured their ninth straight conference title, went 17-6 overall in dual meets and finished third at WIAA sectionals.
Track: Hodag girls rally to win Merrill Indoor
It came down to the final event on Thursday as the Rhinelander High School girls’ track team picked up its first meet victory of the 2024 season. The Hodags scored a runner-up finish in the 10-lap relay, which was just enough to vault them into first place in a hotly-contested Bluejay Indoor Invitational at Merrill High School.
Hodag soccer picks up tempo late in scrimmage
It took some time for the old and new pieces of the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team’s attack to gel Thursday night in its preseason scrimmage against Merrill. Once that happened, the Hodags were virtually unstoppable.
Team review: RHS gymnastics
Hodags gymnastics building toward brighter future
Following a couple of lean years for the Rhinelander High School gymnastics program, the 2023-24 season marked what could be the start of a turnaround for the Hodags.
Team review: RHS boys’ hockey
Hodags played best hockey toward end of season
The Hodags won three of their final four games to close out the regular season. Entering the playoffs as a No. 8 seed, Rhinelander gave eventual state qualifier Tomahawk a scare before falling 5-3.
Spring practice notebook
Teams adapting to Nature’s curveball
The final group of spring sports to begin practice for the upcoming season did so on Monday, though one wouldn’t have been able to tell by looking outside.
Hodag softball goes winless in opening tourney
It was a trial by fire this past weekend for the Rhinelander High School softball team. A squad rebuilding after losing a number of key pieces from last season ran into some tough competition from the start, dropping all three games it played in the Danny Mac Classic at the Hodag Dome.
Team review: RHS boys’ basketball
Hodag Hoops returns to top of GNC
Thanks to a couple of key upsets and a gritty finish to the year, the RHS boys' basketball team ended up cutting down the nets at the end of the regular season. Rhinelander knocked off Medford in a game that decided who was going to share the conference crown with Mosinee.
Belanger, Denis share hockey’s Al Baker, MVP awards
Joey Belanger and Gavin Denis shared both the RHS boys' hockey team’s Most Valuable Player award and the Alfred O. Baker award given to the team’s most outstanding senior during the team’s banquet last Tuesday in the RHS commons.
Team preview: RHS girls’ soccer
Though Rhinelander graduated the GNC’s top scorer from last year, with five all-conference players returning and a talented incoming freshman class, coach Nathan Bates and the Hodags believe this can be the year they finally get past Lakeland and back to the top of the GNC.
Team preview: RHS softball
Hodags to be work in progress with new coaches
The Rhinelander High School softball team opens its 2024 season today and tomorrow with three games inside the Hodag Dome during the Danny Mac Softball Classic. The hope for first-year coaches Ali Bender and Sadie Adamski is how the squad looks on the final day of the season is different than it was on opening day.
RHS track finishes mid-pack in Ashland
Lamers, Bergman claim multiple events for Hodags
Junior Truman Lamers won the triple jump and high jump as the Hodag boys scored a fourth-place finish, while sophomore Aila Bergman swept the 60- and 200-meter hurdles to help the Hodag girls nab fifth in the eight-team Oredocker Large School Indoor Invite in Ashland.
Team review: RHS wrestling
Hodags get back into win column
The Rhinelander High School wrestling team is still looking to recapture the success it had back in the mid 2010s. It’s been a slow process for third-year head coach Scottie Arneson, but the Hodags found ways to be more competitive this season.
Team review: RHS/NPHS Alpine Ski & Snowboard
Hodags competitive despite crazy year on snow
During this month’s season-ending banquet, coach Rod Olson was quick to note that this year’s members of the Rhinelander/Northland Pines Alpine ski team may have been “the best group of humans that I’ve ever coached,” he also admitted the best part of the season may be that it’s over.
Bowling: Hodags’ Dellenbach helps D9 girls win all-star title
District 9 swept the boys and girls’ championships in an event that brought together the best bowlers in each district in a team-style competition Saturday at Riviera Lanes in Green Bay. The Rhinelander area club bowling program got to enjoy part of that success as Rhinelander junior Johanna Dellenbach was on the winning D9 girls’ squad.
Peewee Bs take 3rd, As 6th at state
The Hodags walked away with the third-place trophy as the host team in the Peewee 3B state tournament while the Peewee As ended up falling short in the consolation championship game, taking sixth in an eight-team tournament in Somerset.
Gretzinger named Hodag Hoops MVP
Quinn tabbed as Mr. Defense
Will Gretzinger was voted the team’s most valuable player while Will Quinn received the Mr. Defense award during the team’s season-ending banquet Wednesday in the RHS commons.
Merrill’s return to GNC lauded as good fit
Bluejays to return in fall of 2025 following WIAA OK
The Great Northern Conference will have a new chartered member in 2025 and, from multiple perspectives, the addition appears to be a welcome and natural fit.
Warm and wacky Nordic ski season hits finish line
Teter leads Hodags with 27th-place finish at state
The Wisconsin Nordic Ski League distance state championship at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead. The Hodag girls were missing three skiers as they took 10th out of 12 complete teams in the field. Due to absences, the Hodag boys didn’t have enough skiers to field a qualifying roster.
Hodag Alpine team caps season with banquet
The Rhinelander/Northland Pines Alpine ski and snowboard team signed off on the 2023-24 season Sunday night. Coach Rod Olson used one word to sum it up, “crazy.”
Big numbers, warm weather have Hodag track eager for season
Excitement is high for the Hodag track team, which has seen its numbers continue to boom over the last few years. Coach Aaron Kraemer said more than 110 athletes have registered for the team and more than 90 of them were on hand for Monday’s opening practice.
RIA Peewee teams gearing up for state tourneys
A squad travels to Somerset, B team to host
The Rhinelander Ice Association will see both of its Peewee hockey teams in action this weekend at Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association state tournaments.
Team review: RHS boys’ swimming
Hodags prove themselves with state runner-up finish
After securing its third consecutive top-three finish in the WIAA Division 2 state championships, no one should be doubting the Rhinelander Hodags’ place as one of the top small school boys’ swim programs in the state.
RHS swimmers reflect on season, King earns High Point Award
The Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team celebrated Monday following another season that saw it achieve some lofty goals.
Hodag Hoops handles Hayward in WIAA tourney opener
Fourth-seeded Rice Lake awaits tonight in regional semis
Devon Feck scored 16 points, Will Gretzinger added 15 and the Hodags blitzed Hayward in the first half on their way to a comfortable 65-40 win in a Division 2 regional final game Tuesday at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
All-GNC: RHS basketball teams each earn 5 honorees
Lemmens named co-coach of the year
Following successful regular seasons, both the Rhinelander High School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams were well-represented on the All-Great Northern Conference squads.
A return to the summit
Hodag Hoops slays Medford 50-45, earns share of first GNC title since 2018
Will Gretzinger scored 17 points in the second half and the Hodags held the Raiders to 33% shooting in a 50-45 victory at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
RHS gymnasts look for momentum at sectionals
The Hodags will take part in a WIAA Division 2 sectional in Antigo this evening and, while qualifying as a team for next weekend’s state meet in Wisconsin Rapids is a deep long shot, sending an individual or two to state for the first time since 2021 is not out of the realm of possibility.
Hodag boys’ skiers take 4th in D2 at state
The Hodag boys placed fourth in Division 2 and 14th overall in the WIARA Ski and Snowboard Championships at Mt. La Crosse. The Hodags girls were last in both the D2 field and overall.
Hodag Hoops upsets Mosinee, sets up GNC title game vs. Medford
Gretzinger nets 1,000th point on late 3
On Friday night in Mosinee, the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team finally got the signature win it has been looking for. That win has set up the Hodags, potentially, for an even bigger triumph on Thursday.
Kurtz denied again, RHS wrestlers stopped at sectionals
Rhinelander High School senior Owen Kurtz was pinned by Hayward’s Bradey Gottwald in the third period for the third and final state qualifying spot in the 215-pound weight class in the Division 2 sectional meet, marking the end of Kurtz’s Hodag career.
Lady Hodags drop regular season finale
Treder sets single-season 3-point mark in Mosinee defeat
A nearly 10-minute scoring drought to start the second half was the difference as the Hodags fell to Mosinee 53-47 in at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
RHS gymnasts post season high at GNC meet
Balance beam set the tone for a strong performance Saturday for the Rhinelander High School gymnastics team. The Hodags posted a season high in that event, and parlayed the performance into a season-high overall score, as they totaled 113.3 points in a third-place finish in the Great Northern Conference Small Division meet at the YMCA of the Northwoods.
Hodags push Tomahawk in playoff loss
The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team could not pull off a Cinderella upset Thursday night in Tomahawk, but it certainly gave the top-seeded Hatchets much more of a game than it did in the regular season.
‘A win of our own’
Hodag swimmers break three school records, finish second at D2 state meet
The Hodags scored four runner-up finishes and placed second at the state championships in Waukesha. Rhinelander broke three school records in the process and wound up with eight podium finishes out of their 16 entries.
Swimming: A look at the field for tonight’s state meet
Rhinelander has tough road ahead of it as it tries to become the first repeat WIAA Division 2 boys’ swim state champion since Madison Edgewood in 2019-20. Here’s a quick look at what to expect from each event.
Hodag Hoops rolls Shawano 72-55
First-place battle at Mosinee on deck tonight
Seth Nofftz scored 20 points, leading four Hodags in double figures, and Rhinelander led nearly wire-to-wire in a 72-55 victory in a non-conference contest at Shawano.