By Bob Skubal
Retired coach, historian, author of ‘History of Tomahawk Sports’
TOMAHAWK – It’s hard to believe that the Tomahawk High School spring sporting season has come to a close.
This writer would like to start by wishing the 2022 grads all the best in their future. They have had to deal with COVID for two years and now a spring with cold and wet weather.
In the 2022 spring season, every team would have liked to have had a few more in the win column, but this writer is confident that they put forth outstanding effort and represented Tomahawk with a positive attitude. They worked hard for the outcomes they achieved. They never quit and these work habits will help them throughout life.
Baseball
Let’s start our spring summary with the baseball team.
The team was coached by Scot Neu (in his second season as head coach) and assisted by John Roberts and Connor Ahrens. Team members were Jake Kaminski, Marcus Matti, Garrett Nelson, Logan Bishop, Ethan Breitenfeld, Blake Felser, Brayden Jones, Tyler Jablonski, Mason Evans, Brayden Larson, Jacob Towle, Addison Peissig, Zach Friske, Clayton Ristau and Monty Framke.
Their season record stood at 1-16. THS had double conference losses to Rhinelander (10-5 and 10-0), Antigo (20-6 and 12-2), Lakeland (6-4 and 11-4), Mosinee (13-0 and 8-1), Medford (10-0 and 10-0) and Eagle River (5-4 and 1-0).
Non-conference losses were to Merrill 9-6, Crandon 12-5, North Fond du Lac 13-9 and to Wittenberg-Birnamwood 12-5 in the first round of the playoffs.
The Hatchets’ victory was 10-9 over Crandon.
Final conference standings were Mosinee 11-1, Medford 10-2, Antigo 7-7, Rhinelander 6-6, Eagle River 5-7, Lakeland 3-9 and Tomahawk 0-12.
Postseason honors went to Addison Peissig being selected as All-Conference Honorable Mention.
Softball
Next was girls’ softball, coached by John Larson (in his 29th season as head coach) and assisted by Lauren Pfeifer, Alex Bunce and Abby Kraklow.
Team members were Khianna Vacho, Madie Marino, Cayley Scholz, Grace Beranek, Sara Gebauer, Macy Jankiewicz, Emerson Lange, Sammy Gebauer, Kayleigh Haring, Scout Stromberg, Belia Marino and Hannan Beranek.
Their season record stood at 9-11.
Final conference standings were Antigo, Mosinee and Medford all at 10-2, Tomahawk 5-7, Lakeland 3-9, Eagle River and Rhinelander at 2-10.
Conference wins were over Rhinelander (12-0 with Marino throwing a no hitter and 13-0 with Marino throwing a two-hitter and chalking up 25 K’s between both games), Lakeland (4-3 and 9-4) and Eagle River 12-11.
Conference losses were to Medford (10-0 and 12-1), Mosinee (8-2 and 14-0), Antigo (12-2 and 8-5) and Eagle River 15-13.
Non-conference games saw THS lose to Pearl City, Ill., 6-1, Freeport, Ill., 16-0 and Hurley 11-3.
Non-conference victories were over Argyle 7-6, Shell Lake 6-2, Rib Lake 7-4 and Clintonville 3-1 (Marino threw a 1 hitter with 15 K’s, and Gebauer hit a 2 run HR) in the first round of the playoffs before losing to 6-4 to Peshtigo.
Postseason honors went to Maddie Marino, 1st Team All-Conference; Scout Stromberg, 2nd Team; and Bella Marino, Macy Jankiewicz and Sara Gebauer, all Honorable Mention All-Conference.
Golf
On to golf, coached by Garth Gerstenberger (in his 28th season as head coach) and assisted by Beth Baalke and Sean DeBels.
Team members were Sawyer Hanna, Owen Dickrell, Gavyn Palmer, Drew Albert, Grace Erickson, Caidyn Senaraske, Joe Jones, Carson Childers, Tyler Welke, Sadie Miller, Drew Meyers, Austin Lamer, Jaxson Warner and Riley Massa.
Tomahawk finished in last place in all seven GNC contests, shooting their best round at Tomahawk with a 381.
At the Tomahawk Regional, results were Medford 321, Hayward 333, Antigo 337, Northwestern 337, Ashland 356, Spooner 357, Eagle River 359, Rice Lake 359 and Tomahawk 382 (freshman Sawyer Hanna led the team with an 85).
Track and field
Finally, the boys’ and girls’ track programs, coached by Kurt Cordova (in his third season as head coach) and assisted by Bill Turgeon, Aaron Wickman, Dani Whiting, Paula Flynn, Jake Wiedemeir, Dane Borchardt and Justin Lund.
Team members for the girls was Logan Hoen, Maria Sparbel, Halle Derleth, Robin Schmidt, Eliabeth Lee, Geena Wanta, Serena Reinke, Allie Palmer, Emily Maki, Marie Gorell, Kambyl Mattke, Ava Dragosh, Arawen Alberg, Ayla McCormick, Rachael Reilly, Moargan Hansmann, Kate Reilly, Kaylynn Sandry, Nadia Schoone, Emily Lacina, Sophie Urmann and Amalie Kurth.
Season results for the girls was a 5th at the Ashland Oredocker 14-Team Indoor Invite, 4th at the Eagle River Nine-Team Invite, 1st at the Eagle River Six-Team Outdoor Relay Meet, 2nd at the Three Lakes Nine-Team Invite, 8th at the Otto Bacher 11-Team Invite in Merrill, champions at the annual Tomahawk Eight-Team Invite and a 5th at the conference meet in Antigo.
Final conference standings were Mosinee 198.5, Medford 109, Lakeland 89.333, Antigo 84, Tomahawk 76.33, Rhinelander 68.33 and Eagle River 67.5.
All-Conference honors went to the 4x800m relay team of Rachael Reilly, Ava Dragosh, Morgan Hansmann and Macy Mann, 1st Team; Ava Dragosh, 2nd Team in the pole vault; Rachael Reilly, 2nd Team in the 3200m; Alli Palmer, Honorable Mention in the 3200m; and Robin Schmidt, Honorable Mention in the 1600m.
Regional results were Mosinee 147, Wittenberg-Birnamwood 102, Medford 93.5, Stratford 81.5, Lakeland 73, Antigo 72, Tomahawk 62 and Eagle River 48.
At Sectionals the 4x800m relay team of Morgan Hansmann, Rachael Reilly, Macey Mann and Robin Schmidt placed 9th, Halle Derleth was 12th in the 200m Dash, Rachael Reilly was 8th and Alli Palmer 9th in the 3200m Run, the 4x400m relay team of Halle Derleth, Robin Schmidt, Macey Mann and Morgan Hansmann was 13th, Ava Gragosh was 16th in the pole vault and Morgan Hansmann was 13th in the 800m Run.
As a team, THS was 31st.
Team members for the boys’ team were Zach Hanse, Domonic Boos, Dane Schoenenberger, Ty Anthes, Taje Casey, Sam Zastrow, Joey Reiter, Keagyn Schoone, Micah Arnott, Rresley Gutbrod, Ryan Larson, Richard Burke and Nik Stefanich.
Season results for the boys was 11th at the Ashland Oredocker 15-Team Indoor Invitational (Joey Reiter led the team with a second place in the shot put), 5th at the Eagle River Six-Team Relay Meet, 6th at the Three Lakes 10-Team Invite, 10th at the Otto Bacher 11-Team Invite in Merrill, 6th at the annual Tomahawk Eight-Team Invite and 7th at the conference meet in Antigo.
Final conference standings were Rhinelander 164, Lakeland 146, Eagle River 121, Medford 95, Mosinee 88, Antigo 49 and Tomahawk 27.
Joey Reiter was All-Conference Honorable Mention in the shot put.
Regional scores were Eagle River 128.5, Lakeland 123, Stratford 102, Medford 90.5, Mosinee 88.5, Wittenberg-Birnamwood 68, Antigo 49 and Tomahawk 38.5.
Advancing to Sectionals was Micah Arnott in the high jump, where he placed 8th.
As a team, THS was 30th.
Last but not least, I would like to pay respects to the following THS athletes who have recently passed away. They are Richard Teal (Class of ‘45), Jack Leggett (Class of ‘58), Judge Dennis Montabon (Class of ‘61), Phil Beiler (Class of ‘65), Mike Timm (Class of ‘65), Bruce FauFau (Class of ‘78) and Art Steinhafel (Class of ‘87). Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families.