BOYS TENNIS: Hodags down Newman, Ashland to close out regular season
RHS hosts sub-sectional Monday
STAR JOURNAL REPORT
The Rhinelander High School boys tennis team closed out its regular-season schedule at home Thursday when the Hodags won a pair of matchups by defeating Newman Catholic, 6-1, and Ashland, 4-3.
“Perhaps the biggest obstacle was the cold temps with strong winds, which after a couple of hot days seemed worse than earlier in the year,” said RHS head coach Bob Heideman. “But we needed to play this meet for sub-sectional seeding.”
The Hodags won all the singles matches and dropped only the No. 1 doubles match against Newman. RHS’s No. 3 and 4 singles players, Matt O’Melia and Russell Benoy, and No. 2 and 3 doubles partners, Connor Young with Jared Haug and Marshall Bessette with Logan Oestreich, were also victorious against Ashland.
“Logan and Marshall are getting better and better,” Heideman said. “Logan keeps points alive and sets up Marshall at the net. Marshall ends the points.
“Connor and Jared had a long match against Ashland. They just got better as the match wore on. They went out to a 7-0 lead in the third-set tiebreaker and finished strong at 10-3.”
RHS begins postseason play Monday when its hosts the WIAA Division 2 Sub-Sectional, which will also include Antigo, Fox Valley Lutheran, Lakeland, Medford, Newman Catholic, Pacelli, Shawano and Xavier.
“We are hoping to be seeded in every flight,” Heideman said. “We are coming in with some good records with wins against many of the teams in the sub-section.”
Heideman noted those records include: Logan Wild 13-12 in No. 1 singles; Markus Johnson 18-6 in No. 2 singles; O’Melia 11-1 in No. 3 singles; Benoy 17-8 in No. 4 singles; Grant Gilbert and Jared Fabich 15-9 in No. 1 doubles; Young and Haug 19-6 in No. 2 doubles; and Oestreich and Bessette 10-1 in No. 3 doubles.
“We hope to parley those records into seeds which will enable us to advance all seven positions to sectionals,” Heideman said.
Kohler hosts the WIAA Division 2 Sectional on Wednesday.
RHS 6, NEWMAN 1
Singles
No. 1 — Logan Wild, RHS, def. Chamong Lo, 6-2, 6-3; No. 2 — Markus Johnson, RHS, def. Harrison Varline, 6-2, 7-5; No. 3 — Matt O’Melia, RHS, def. Luke Johnson, 6-3, 6-2; No. 4 — Russell Benoy, RHS, def. Mike Krasowsk, 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles
No. 1 — Chris Nicklaus-Erik Klein, NEWMAN, def. Jared Fabich-Grant Gilbert, 2-6, 2-6; No. 2 — Conner Young-Jared Haug, RHS, def. Andrew Beck-Tommy Krahn, 6-4, 6-1; No. 3 — Marshall Bessette-Logan Oestreich, RHS, def. Fernando Juan-Chalig Lo, 6-0, 6-0.
RHS 4, ASHLAND 3
Singles
No. 1 — Porter Beilfuss, ASHLAND, def. Logan Wild, 2-6, 1-6; No. 2 — Carson Honkala, ASHLAND, def. Markus Johnson, 1-6, 3-6, 7-10; No. 3 — Matt O’Melia, RHS, def. Paul Bianchi, 6-2, 6-1; No. 4 — Russell Benoy, RHS, def. Casey Hilts, 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles
No. 1 — Augustin Rasmussen-Jared Tollas, ASHLAND, def. Jared Fabich-Grant Gilbert, 4-6, 7-6, 8-10; No. 2 — Conner Young-Jared Haug, RHS, def. Ben Mikkonen-Erik Van Horn, 5-7, 6-4, 10-3; No. 3 — Marshall Bessette-Logan Oestreich, RHS, def. David Wallis-Kyle Sapper, 6-3, 6-1.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.