RHS: Wrestling
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Hodag Wrestlers 2nd in GNC
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By Student Writer - Connor Kuczmarski | Published: 02/02/2013
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If not for a late push by the Tomahawk Hatchets, the Rhinelander High School wrestling team would be sitting atop of the Great Northern Conference. Unfortunately for the Hodags, things unraveled in the final round of the GNC conference tournament for the second straight year, as the RHS team finished the day with a second place finish.
"It was a disappointing day," wrestling coach Paul Ellenbecker explained. "We had higher expectations of ourselves as a team. We thought we were the best team in the conference."
The day started off very well for the Hodags, as the team went 23-13 overall through the first three rounds of the round-robin formatted tournament. The day wore on for the Hodags, and upon entering the final round the Rhinelander team had seven athletes competing for individual conference championships. Unfortunately only Dakota Stone (113 pounds) and Richard Klaver (160 pounds) emerged victorious, as Derrick Dummprope (132), Alex Reas (138), Jordan Lundt (145), Adam Woebbeking (170), and Connor Johnson (195) all settled for second place.
The Hodags had a composite team score of 354, 80 points behind conference champion Tomahawk (434). Ellenbecker was unhappy with the way the day finished, but gave credit where it was due.
"We handled Tomahawk the first time we wrestled them," Ellenbecker explained. "Today we were flat. We didn't want it as bad as they did. To their credit they wrestled really awesome today. They were excited and their kids were pinning people. They came out and absolutely took it to everyone at the tournament."
Regarding his team's champions on the day, Ellenbecker was excited about their outings as well as the momentum they built heading into the postseason.
"Dakota Stone had a really nice day today," he said. "He had a bracket he could handle and he took care of it. He did exactly what he was supposed to do and he has been wrestling well all year long. This helps set the tone for next week for him. It was nice to see Richard (Klaver) win his first GNC championship his senior year. He just dominated the competition today. He is wrestling really well and I'm excited to see what he does over the next couple weeks."
Several Hodag athletes were undefeated in their weight classes for the entirety of the conference season before falling to known competition in the tournament. Grapplers such as Adam Woebbeking, Alex Reas, and Connor Johnson had all defeated their opponents before, but fell short at just the wrong time, preceding the eventual slip of the Hodags. Regarding the turning point on the day, Coach Ellenbecker was dejected that his team fell in the championship round for the second consecutive season.
"The final round was rough on us," Ellenbecker stated. "If someone would have told me we only had two champs today I would have been in disbelief. We had our chances today."
The officials also had a hand in the night's events, as several calls seemed to sway the outcomes of important swing matches. Adam Woebbeking shot in on a takedown attempt in the overtime period of his championship match, and appeared to have dominant position over his opponent. The referee awarded Woebbeking no points, and Tomahawk's Jake Bordchardt ended up on top following the final buzzer. The official gave Bordchardt the 2 points for a takedown, and the conference championship in the process.
"I thought he (Woebbeking) had that takedown," Ellenbecker said. "He didn't get the call. It would have been neat for Adam, a pretty inexperienced wrestler, to win a conference title. I felt like he was the better wrestler and was outworking the kid, but it shows you need to finish everything you do. He just needs to keep wrestling. He has come a long way and next year the sky is the limit for him."
Connor Johnson worked his way to the championship final, before running in to Tomahawk's Austin Bellile. Johnson is currently ranked No. 2 in Division 1 by the WiWrestling.com, while Bellile comes in at No.3 in Division 2. Johnson bested Bellile 8-2 in their previous matchup, but things rolled the other direction the second time around.
"Austin was ready for Connor this time," Ellenbecker said. "He had a good game plan. He kept his distance and made Connor shoot from a distance. He wrestled him smart and he won the match 10-9."
While the Hodags didn't accomplish everything they wanted to following the conference portion of the season, they undoubtedly have a chance to make some noise at the coming WIAA Division 1 regional in Merrill on Feb. 9.
"It is going to be a challenge at our regional," clarified Ellenbecker. "We have the No. 2 (Merrill) and No. 3 (Wausau West) teams in the state there. It is not like going to any other regional. It is an individual sport now. I would assume we have 10 or 11 kids wrestling this Saturday. It is going to be quiet the event. It is just a matter of survival. You never know what is going to happen and everyone is 0-0 for this 'second season'. We will see what happens."
Team Scores:
1. Tomahawk - 434.0
2. Rhinelander - 354.0
3. Medford - 318.0
4. Mosinee - 290.0
5. Lakeland - 147.0
6. Antigo - 119.0
106
1. Kevin Zurfluh, Tom, 9-1, 12
2. Cole Ellis, Mos, 8-2, 10
3. Alex Zick, Med, 6-4, 9
4. Michael Holton, Lak, 5-5, 9
5. Haley Klaver, Rhi, 1-7, 9
113
1. Dakota Stone, Rhi, 10-0, 11
2. Matt Hanne, Lak, 6-4, 9
3. Cullen Wegener, Tom, 6-3, 10
4. Mason Tomany, Mos, 4-5, 9
5. Seth Doering, Ant, 4-5, 9
120
1. Turner Wegener, Tom, 5-1, 12
2. Tucker Peterson, Med, 7-3, 9
3. Jon Fox, Rhi, 8-2, 9
4. Dillon Jacob, Mos, 4-5, 12
5. Kirk Prince, Ant, 3-7, 11
126
1. Gunner Peterson, Med, 10-0, 12
2. Nate Flohr, Tom, 7-3, 10
3. Kenton Soufal, Ant, 5-5, 12
4. Chris Connors, Rhi, 5-5, 11
5. Frank Scandin, Lak, 1-9, 10
132
1.Dalton Gorman, Mos, 10-0, 12
2. Derrick Dumprope, Rhi, 8-2, 9
3. Jacob McGuire, Tom, 5-5, 10
4. Marcus Spencer, Ant, 2-7, 9
138
1. Aaron Hartwig, Med, 9-1, 11
2. Alex Reas, Rhi, 8-1, 10
3. Bryan Tomek, Tom, 3-4, 11
4. Alex Zebro, Mos, 4-6, 12
145
1. Elliot Sparby, Mos, 10-0, 11
2. Jordan Lundt, Rhi, 9-1, 10
3. James Gonzalez, Lak, 6-4, 12
4. Quinton Wallenfang, Tom, 3-7, 9
5. Tyler Braasch, Ant, 4-5, 12
6. Anthony Smith, Med, 0-10, 10
152
1. Aaric Spencer, Med, 9-1, 12
2. Kaleb Kaminski, Tom, 8-2, 9
3. Joseph Tallman, Mos, 5-4, 10
4. Dan Solberg, Rhi, 2-5, 12
5. Brad Duhr, Lak, 1-8, 10
6. Tony Meister, Ant, 3-7, 11
160
1. Richard Klaver, Rhi, 10-0, 12
2. Peter Pintens, Tom, 8-1, 11
3. Jacob Sparby, Mos, 5-5, 12
4. Sam Sawdey, Med, 4-6, 11
5. Donnie Henley, Ant, 2-7, 12
170
1. Jake Bordchardt, Tom, 9-1, 10
2. Adam Woebbeking, Rhi, 9-1, 11
3. Jacob Stamos, Med, 4-5, 10
4. Jameson Schultz, Lak, 4-6, 9
5. Jake Steenweg, Ant, 1-8, 9
182
1. Henry Helland, Tom, 7-0, 11
2. Martin Jaramillo, Lak, 7-3, 12
3. Shaye Peres, Mos, 4-2, 11
4. Tyler Michel, Rhi, 5-5, 12
5. Garrett Becerra, Ant, 3-7, 10
6. Zach Gonzalez, Med, 1-9, 9
195
1. Austin Bellile, Tom, 9-1, 12
2. Connor Johnson, Rhi, 8-2, 11
3. Brandon Bucki, Med, 4-5, 9
4. Justin Brown, Ant, 5-4, 12
5. Leon Stowe, Lak, 2-8, 9
220
1. Aaron Harder, Med, 9-1, 12
2. Bryan Kaiser, Mos, 7-3, 12
3. Adam FauFau, Tom, 6-3, 12
4. Logan Enerson, Rhi, 2-6, 10
5. Jacob Leonard, Ant, 4-5, 12
285
1. Nick Berger, Med, 9-1, 12
2. Kyle Dalske, Mos, 7-3, 12
3. Mitchell Schauer, Tom, 5-4, 12
4. Bryce Bilogan, Rhi, 7-3, 11
Stats & Additional Information:
www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/Verif...
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02/22/2013 
