Two of the North Tama cheerleaders are pictured Saturday, Jan. 22 in the Redhawks Nest cheering on Drayke Podhajsky (145) during his second round match with Mason Maschmann of BGM. The Redhawks hosted the 73rd Annual North Tama Redhawk Wrestling Tournament this past weekend featuring eight teams including reigning 2021 champion Hudson which took the team title again this year. The Redhawks placed third as a team beating out ranked Columbus Catholic. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

North Tama wrestlers ruled the mats in the Redhawks Nest on Saturday, Jan. 22, during the 73rd Annual North Tama Redhawk Wrestling Tournament by taking home three tournament championships, two runners-up, and a third palace finish overall.

Ranked wrestlers Case Monat (106), Kolt Knaack (132), and Aiden Zook (170) placed first in their respective weight brackets with Monat scoring 19.5 team points, Knaack scoring 26.0 team points, and Zook scoring 24.0 team points.

Christian Dronebarger (120) – who recently dropped a weight class – and Nathan Kucera (138) took second place in their weight classes to help propel North Tama to a top three finish in their home tournament.

The Redhawks came in third with 137.5 points beating out Class 1A No. 9 Columbus Catholic which finished fourth with 126 points.

Hudson was the team tournament champion with 191 points, while second place went to Sigourney-Keota with 155 points. Conference rival Baxter came in seventh out of eight teams with 43.5 points.

Tenth ranked Case Monat (right) stares down his first round opponent Andy Langham of Hudson on his way to a championship title in the 106 pound bracket at last Saturday’s North Tama Redhawk Wrestling Tournament in Traer. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

North Tama has not won their home tournament since 1989.

On the Redhawks Nest home mats, No. 10 ranked Monat (27-5) won by technical fall 20-5 over Hudson in his first round match and then again over Hudson by fall in the championship match.

Knaack – newly ranked this past week by IA Wrestle at No. 12 in Class 1A after winning 28 in a row, dropping just his opening match of the season – won his first four matches by fall before taking down Sigourney-Keota’s DJ Hammes by fall in the championship match in 56 seconds.

Knaack is now 34-2 for the season.

The eighth-ranked Zook received a bye in his first round and had to wait much of the morning before taking to the mats in the North Tama gym. Zook took three wins by fall before pinning No. 9 Jack Clarahan of Sigourney-Keota in the championship round.

Case Monat (left) receives guidance from North Tama Head Coach Andrew Knaack (right) following his first round match on Saturday, Jan. 22, in the Redhawks Nest. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

Zook has been undefeated since winter break and is now 32-3 for the season.

Other notable North Tama wrestlers included Gavin Rausch (126) who secured a third place finish and Clay Hershberger (182) who placed fourth.

“First I want to start by saying thank you to every that has helped the Redhawk wrestling team the last two days,” Head Coach Andrew Knaack posted on Facebook following the tournament. “Thanks to all that help run the clocks, announce, fill out brackets, it makes the past two days run smooth. … Lastly, the wrestlers that are on the team, they competed all day yesterday and then gave their time and helped do tables and ref [on Sunday].”

This was the final tournament on their home mats for four senior Redhawks wrestlers – Hershberger, Kucera, Rausch, and Zook.

“We have a big push for the next two weeks to finetune technique to get ready for sectionals,” Coach Knaack said in a text based interview. “This is a fun time of the year. It is what we work for since the first practice.”

Kolt Knaack works to pin his second round opponent Slade Schneider of Hudson during last Saturday’s North Tama Redhawk Wrestling Tournament in Traer. The newly twelfth ranked Knaack went 5-0 for the tournament to become the 132 pound champion. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

This week the Redhawks were scheduled to be on the road Tuesday to South Winneshiek High School in Calmar for a double dual that included a conference dual with Riceville but due to the extreme cold, North Tama canceled.

On Thursday, Jan. 27 North Tama heads to Iowa City for a dual with Iowa City Regina Catholic, Iowa Valley, and Class 2A No. 6 Vinton-Shellsburg. This will be the team’s final competition of the regular season.

Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

Aiden Zook looks to the ref during his opening match against Hudson’s Zach Mills at last Saturday’s North Tama Redhawk Wrestling Tournament in Traer. Zook – now ranked eighth in Class 1A by IA Wrestle – later took down No. 9 Jack Clarahan of Sigourney-Keota for the 170 pound championship title. Zook remains undefeated since winter break and is 32-3 for the season. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker