PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

DES MOINES — Two top-seeded wrestlers derailed North Tama’s wrestlers during Friday’s Class 1A session of the boys state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Kolt Knaack took his first loss of the season against defending state champion Corbin Reisz of Logan-Magnolia in the 150-pound semifinals, while Maxon Monat’s season came to an end against Nic Brase of Nashua-Plainfield in the 113-pound “blood round,” stopping Monat short of a medal.

In the case of Knaack, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse commit, it took a wrestler like Reisz winning his 106th-consecutive high school match to close the door on Knaack’s hopes of reaching the finals in his senior season.

Reisz secured a tech fall and advances to face Tiernan Boots of Lisbon in the 150-pound championship on Saturday night.

“He’s probably one of the better kids here at this tournament this weekend,” North Tama head coach Andrew Knaack said. “He caught Kolt flat-footed a couple times, and once he got the ball rolling, Kolt was reeling and just trying to come back and make something happen.”

PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

Kolt can still finish as high as third, starting with a match against Chance Hoyt of Iowa Valley in the consolation semifinals. Knaack pinned Hoyt in a dual with Iowa Valley on Jan. 30. Teague Smith of West Hancock is in the other consolation semifinal with Alburnett’s Reece Klostermann, whom Knaack defeated on Thursday. The winners of the consolation semis wrestle for third, the losers for fifth.

“The nice thing is Kolt has a chance to refocus and come back tomorrow,” Andrew said. “He’s coming in as a fourth seed, so getting third would be above his seed, and higher than people were expecting. He’s in an OK spot, but it’s just about mental more than physical at this point.”

Down at 113 pounds, Nashua-Plainfield’s Brase, upset by Lisbon’s Cael Stricker in the quarterfinals on Thursday, handled Monat with a second-period pinfall.

“He was the one seed for a reason, but we were in the match in that first period and wrestled well,” Andrew Knaack said. “We got into a scramble in that second period instead of bailing and giving ourselves a chance to stay alive, and he locked us up in a tight cradle, and that was about all she wrote.”

After seniors Knaack and Gavin Rausch graduate at the end of this school year, Monat will be the lone Redhawk returning with state experience in his senior season. He closes out his junior campaign at 41-9.

“He knows what it’s like, and he knows that one more step he needs to take,” Andrew Knaack said. “I know he’ll be on the podium next year and be the leader for us going forward.”

Saturday’s schedule

Consolation semifinals and finals, 9 a.m.

Consolation semifinal, 150 pounds – Kolt Knaack, sr., North Tama, 46-1 vs. Chance Hoyt, so., Iowa Valley, 51-6.