By Bob Skubal
Retired coach, historian, author of ‘History of Tomahawk Sports’
TOMAHAWK – As I am preparing the summary of the 2021-22 winter sports season, there is a strong indication that we are returning to some sense of normal in our daily lives. Hopefully this is the case as there is no doubt that we are all sick of what COVID has brought us these last two-plus years.
Special thank you to Ryan Flynn for reporting the results of every single contest for boys’ hockey.
Boys’ swimming
Let’s start with boys’ swimming.
Melissa Nieman was the head coach, with team members being Jack Amelse, Zach Hanse, Zach Germann, Taje Casey, Sam Zastrow and Jerome Morrison. Once again, team numbers were low, but they did manage to finish in the middle of the conference in both duals and the conference tournament.
Conference duals included two losses to Rhinelander by scores of 132-23 and 134-28. Shawano also defeated Tomahawk twice by scores of 91-49 and 81-59. THS was able to defeat Lakeland twice by scores of 64-49 and 77-38, and they also defeated Antigo once 70-29 with no rescheduling of a second contest. The conference tournament was held in Tomahawk with Rhinelander in first with 497, Shawano 296, Tomahawk 170, Lakeland 137 and Antigo 81. All-Conference honors went to Zach Hanse, second team in the 100 yd. breaststroke and honorable mention All-Conference in the 200 yd. IM. The 200 yd. Freestyle Relay Team of Sam Zastrow, Trey Morrison, Taje Casey and Zach Germann also earned honorable mention All-Conference honors.
Sectionals were won by Rhinelander with 428, while Tomahawk finished in 7th of 9 teams with 128. At sectionals, Zach Hanse would qualify for state in both the 100 yd. breaststroke and 200 yd. IM. Noted that this is the second year in a row that Zach qualified for state in these events. At state, Zach placed 15th in the 200 yd. IM with a time of 2:10.14 and 16th in the 100 yd. Breaststroke with a time of 1:04.99. As a team, THS was 27th of 28 teams state.
Hockey
Next is hockey, coached by Chris Bembinster and assisted by Andrew Flynn, Ryan Flynn and Derek Dotter. Team members were Cody Cox, Caleb Dickens, Zach Friske, Austin Lamer, Brayden Larson, Trevor Schumann, Lindsey Nelson, Jaxsen Selissen, Carin Childers, Wyatt Leasure, Scout Stromberg, Kaleigh Seliskar, Logan Seymour, Ben Schertz, Sawyer Hanna, Patrick Samundsen, Gavin Michaud, Mitch Jimenez, Alex Clifford, Rex Peritz, Ty Anthes, Trevor Seliskar and Andrew Samundsen.
Tomahawk’s 9-16 record tied them for the most wins since the 2012-13 team coached by Jake Flohr, who went 9-15. 2021-22 victories were three over Chequamegon 6-5 (winning goal scored with four seconds left in game), 3-1 and 6-2. THS also defeated Merrill/Wausau East twice by scores of 8-1 and 6-2 (Friske had the hat trick) and Medford twice by the scores of 8-6 and 15-3 (Lamers had four goals and Dickens has the hat trick. This was also the most goals scored by a Hatchet hockey team in school history). Tomahawk then defeated Oskhosh North 8-0 and Northern Pines 10-4 (Lamers had the hat trick. First victory over Pines since the 2010-11 season). Losses were to Rhinelander three times by scores of 5-3, 7-1 and 5-4 in the first round of the playoffs. Tomahawk was defeated by Mosinee, Stevens Point Pacelli, Ashland and Antigo twice. Mosinee defeated THS by scores of 11-0 and 9-2. Pacelli was victorious 5-4 in overtime and 5-3 (Pacelli scored two goals in the last 10 seconds of the game for the victory). Ashland skated to victories by scores of 7-4 and 5-4, and Antigo won by scores of 4-1 and 6-4. Single losses were to Lakeland 7-0, Burnett Blizzard (Webster, Siren, Frederic, Luck, Grantsburg) 7-2, Barron 4-0, Waupaca 4-1 and Marshfield 12-3. Overall conference standings were Lakeland 15, Mosinee 14, Rhinelander 13, Waupaca 9, Antigo 9, Tomahawk 6, Medford 3 and Eagle River 3. Receiving All-Conference honorable mention status were Austin Lamer and Ben Schertz.
Girls’ basketball
Our third winter sport is girls’ basketball.
Girls’ basketball has been an official high school sport since the 1973-74 season and was coached by Bonnie Converse. Head coach this past winter was Jon Long (the fourth head coach in four seasons) assisted by Tim Albert and Jeremy Baalke. Team members were Emily Maki, Khianna Vacho, Ella Genelin, Caylie Swan, Kaylynn Sandry, Gracie Barnett, Vivian Skees, Claire Albert, Lydia Ziert, Alli Palmer, Gracie Long and Maria Smith. With an overall record of 6-17, THS secured the most varsity wins since the 2011-12 season coached by Amanda Duncan. Victories came over nonconference teams from Bowler 53-26 (Barnett scored 16), Chequamegon 65-25, Butternut 49-31, Tigerton 38-16 (Barnett scored 22), White Lake 53-16 and Goodman/Pembine 54-19. Conference losses were twice to Rhinelander (66-11 and 60-13), Eagle River (41-22 and 57-38), Mosinee (69-13 and 66-19), Medford (60-18 and 52-27), Antigo (71-38 and 54-20) and Lakeland (62-16 and 62-15). Nonconference losses were to Wautoma 54-25, Montello 44-22, Abbotsford 56-24, Rib Lake 57-34 and Menominee Indian 67-28 in the playoffs. The final conference standings show Mosinee 12-0, Lakeland 10-2, Rhinelander 8-4, Medford 6-6, Eagle River 3-9, Antigo 3-9 and Tomahawk 0-12. Tomahawk now has a 4-152 record in GNC conference games since the 2008-09 season. With a 6-5 nonconference record this writer can only hope that THS will find another conference to participate in or go to an independent schedule. This season does show promise for the girls’ basketball future.
Boys’ basketball
Boys’ basketball is our next sport.
Head coach was Jacob Jarvensivu, assisted by Jeremy Zimmerman, Jared Jarvensivu and Levi Spaeth. Team members were Tyler Jablonski, Tyler Welke, Gavyn Palmer, Isaiah Stelling, Mason Schreiner, Ethan Breitenfled, Jacob Towle, Logan Schreiner, Aiden Schreiner, Jaxson Nelson, Joey Reiter, Drew Albert and Kyle Norman.
THS had a conference record of 0-12 and 3-20 overall. The season started out with four losses of 68-36 to Chequamegon, 79-40 to Eagle River, 68-31 to Three Lakes and 72-16 to Medford before defeating Marion 50-40 (Welke scored 23). Tomahawk then defeated Montello 69-45 at the Almond Bancroft Christmas Tournament (Jablonski scored 22 and Welke scored 21) before having eight straight losses to Fall River 46-30, Lakeland 66-30, Antigo 53-41, Elcho 51-41, Rhinelander 65-35, Mosinee 98-31, Prentice 75-55 and Eagle River 55-45 (Welke scored 20). THS then picked up their final win of the season with a 64-22 win over White Lake. The season saw Tomahawk lose to Mosinee 97-30, Crandon 47-38, Medford 80-37, Lakeland 60-35, Antigo 46-41, Rib Lake 52-40, Rhinelander 71-28 and finally to Appleton Xavier 78-27 in the first round of the playoffs.
Final conference standings were Mosinee 11-1, Medford 9-3, Eagle River 9-3, Rhinelander 6-6, Lakeland 5-7, Antigo 2-10 and Tomahawk 0-12. Gavyn Palmer and Tyler Welke were both voted honorable mention All-Conference.
Tomahawk now has a conference record of 22-146 since the 2008-09 season. Perhaps this is a good time to look at a different conference or an independent schedule. We have done this with football with good results, and this writer feels that it is time to treat our basketball programs with the same respect.
Wrestling
Our fifth sport of the winter season is wrestling, with head coach Bob Garrou assisted by Dane Borchardt, Matt Turkiewicz, John Repinski, and Ted Towle. Team members were Douglas Scott, Sam Nelson, Gage Beatty, Addison Peissig, Marcus Matti, Ryan Larson, Bryden Jones, Presley Gutbrod, Blake Felser, Mason Evans, Jack Derleth, Andrew Tollefson, Logan Bishop, Ethan Trayes, Micah Arnott, Jacob Kaminski and Blake Younker.
Wrestling is the one sport that we have come to expect great things from and they did not disappoint us this year. A 22-8 dual meet season, along with titles from the Amherst Duals, Edgar Duals and the GNC Conference Tournament were just some of the season highlights.
The season started out with a second-place finish at the St. Croix Duals with a 60-24 win over Osceola and 66-18 over Boyceville (Jones had a 27 second pin, Evans a 36 sec. pin, Felser a 42 sec. pin and Matti a 43 sec. pin) before falling to St. Croix Central 48-24. Next came the Tomahawk Invite, where they went 1-1 in duals with a 42-36 win over Weyauwega Fremont and a 45-34 loss to Cadott. At Merrill’s Northern Exposure Christmas tournament, THS went 3-4 in duals over two days. They defeated Appleton West 54-24 (Arnott got a 29 sec. pin and Evans a 13 sec. pin), Waukesha South 48-30 (Matti got a 46 sec. pin and Peissig a 40 sec. pin), and East Troy 48-36 (Derleth got a 45 sec. pin and Bishop a 31 sec. pin). Losses were to Shakopee, Minn., by a score of 65-9, Oskhosh West 46-27 (Peissig got a 40 sec. pin), DePere 52-21 (Evans got an 11 sec. pin and Wisconsin Dells 45-30 (Felser got a 31 sec. pin and Evans a 26 sec. pin). Their first conference dual meet saw THS defeat Lakeland 54-27 (Tollefson got a 45 sec. pin, Arnott a 60 sec. pin and Matti a 46 sec. pin). THS was 5th of 20 teams at the Merrill Blue Jay Challenge.
Tomahawk’s second conference dual meet was a 63-15 win over Antigo (Evans got a 43 sec. pin). THS then traveled to the Markesan Nine-Team Invite, where they placed second to Arrowhead (Gutbrod got a 12 sec. pin, Peissig a 49 sec. pin, Larson a 50 sec. pin and Bishop a 20 sec. pin). The third conference dual saw a 54-30 victory over Rhinelander, followed by a first-place finish at the Amherst Duals with victories of 84-0 over Almond-Bancroft/Stevens Point Pacelli, 63-18 over Amherst (Mattke got a 44 sec. pin and Matti a 31 sec. pin), 70-12 over Manawa, 43-32 over Bonduel and 69-9 over Menominee Indian (Arnott got a 43 sec. pin). At the Edgar Duals, Tomahawk defeated Edgar 51-30 (Arnott got a 41 sec. pin), 42-36 over Marathon and 77-3 over Athens. Conference Meet #4 saw a 54-23 win over Mosinee, followed by a 39-37 conference loss to Medford (Gutbrod got a 32 sec. pin)
Final conference dual meet standings were Medford 5-0, Tomahawk 4-1, Lakeland 3-2, Rhinelander 2-3, Antigo 1-4 and Mosinee 0-5. At the conference tournament, Tomahawk would turn the tables on Medford by securing more pins. Final conference tournament placing was Tomahawk 420, Medford 416, Rhinelander 359, Lakeland 230, Mosinee 211 and Antigo 159. At the conference tournament, Gutbrod got 21, 40 and 53 sec. pins, Felser got a 41 sec. pin, Larson got a 33 sec. pin, Evans got 34 and 52 sec. pins, Bishop got a 15 sec. pin and Matti a 28 sec. pin. All-Conference honors went to Presley Gutbrod, Mason Evans, Logan Bishop and Marcus Matti, all first team. Addison Peissig, Andrew Tollefson, Ryan Larson and Hudson Mattke were all second team, with Jack Derleth, Micah Arnott and Blake Younker honorable mention. At the conference tournament, Tomahawk would defeat Antigo 63-13, Lakeland 60-18, Mosinee 66-18 and Rhinelander 59-24, but lose to Medford 47-27. The conference also voted Marcus Matti GNC Wrestler of the Year and coaches Bob Garrou, John Repinski, Ted Towle, Matt Turkiewicz and Dane Borchardt GNC Coaches of the Year.
Postseason saw Tomahawk place second at regionals behind Oconto Falls, with Presley Gutbrod, Mason Evans, Logan Bishop (36 sec. pin) and Marcus Matti (56 sec. pin) all place first, with Micah Arnott, Andrew Tollefson, and Addison Peissig placing second, and all seven would qualify for sectionals. They were joined by Blake Felser, who also advanced when a wrestler who placed ahead of him got sick and could not compete. At sectionals, THS was 6th of 24 teams, with Addison Peissig and Logan Bishop placing fourth and missing qualifying for state by one match, while Mason Evans and Marcus Matti would place second in their weight classes and advance to the state tournament in Madison.
At state, Marcus Matti would go 1-2 and not place, while Mason Evans went 3-2 and placed 4th.
Two seniors would end their high school careers as member of the 700 Club. Marcus Matti ended up 98-42 with a .700 winning percentage while Logan Bishop ended up 112-30 for a .789 winning percentage.
Last but not least, I would like to mention THS student athletes who have passed away over the winter sports season. They include Todd Kahle, class of ‘74; Craig Brimacombe, Class of ’87; Bernie Scholz, Class of ‘60; Richard Venne, Class of ’62; Jack Houston, Class of ‘58, Jim Keskinen, Class of ’58; Ron Crass, Class of ’58; and Charlie Kahn, Class of ‘74. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.