All-conference players honored at football banquet

The Rhinelander High School football team celebrated a successful 2026 season with a banquet on Sunday, Oct. 25. The Hodags went 5-5 on the year and qualified for the playoffs where they were dispatched by Fox Valley Lutheran. Rhinelander won both trophy games this season, defeating Antigo in the annual Bell Game and Lakeland in the annual Axe Game.

This season’s all-conference honorees were announced during the banquet. They were Gage Anderson, honorable mention offensive line; Abe Gretzinger, second team quarterback; Marshal Durkee, second team defensive line and honorable mention offensive line; Josh Willoughby, honorable mention linebacker; Matthew Haselton, honorable mention running back, Rowan Wiczek, unanimous first-team receiver and defensive back; Knox Fleming, honorable mention kicker. Team awards were also presented during the banquet. Paul Denis was named scout team player of the year, Durkee was named lineman of the year, Gretzinger received the Transformer Award, Wiczek received the Moose Mathison award for outstanding player, Fleming was named the Strike Force player of the year, and Trenton Smits was named scout team player of the year.