Redhawks host triangular – continue to rack up individual wins
J. Rausch, No. 4 Monat and No. 7 Knaack top podiums in Vinton, Oelwein Dec. 10
The Redhawk boys’ wrestling team hosted a triangular to an exuberant crowd in Traer last Thursday, Dec. 8, taking on AGWSR and Waterloo Christian while the Redhawk girls dualed AGWSR with all three wrestlers coming away with fists raised.
Despite the North Tama boys’ team coming up short on both ends of the triangular – falling 42-36 to AGWSR and 53-27 to Waterloo Columbus – four Redhawks went undefeated in the double dual.
Max Monat (106 pounds), 1A No. 4 Case Monat (113), Christian Dronebarger (126), and 1A No. 7 Kolt Knaack (138) each finished 2-0.
Knaack was the only one of the four to get two matches, as he recorded a 44-second pinfall of AGWSR’s Jayden Nagel and a 16-1 technical fall over Jonathan Hackett of Waterloo Columbus.
Gavin Rausch (132 pounds) also saw success on the home mat, winning by decision, 5-3, over AGWSR’s Noah Clikeman, while teammate Cadan Stull (182 pounds) pinned his own Cougar opponent Jared Granzow in a quick 26 seconds.
Following the meet, head coach Andrew Knaack said all his wrestlers are improving each week as the season grinds on, while emphasizing Kolt Knaack and Case Monat’s continuing dominance on the mats.
“Kolt [Knaack] is wrestling really well,” coach Knaack said of his athlete and son. “He is using the loss at [last season’s] state tournament as motivation to drive him this year. He doesn’t want that to happen again. He has put in the time in the off-season and any extra time he is wrestling. He has filled in well at 138.”
“Case Monat is [also] wrestling well right now and really rolling … wanting to build off his sixth place finish [at last season’s state tournament].”
Redhawk girls dominate AGWSR opponents
Despite the team score favoring the Cougars with AGSWR’s eight-athlete roster beating the small but mighty Redhawk girls’ quartet, 30-24, three of the four North Tama wrestlers pinned their opponents while sophomore Faith Dvorak (135 pounds) — a manager who recently joined the team as a wrestler — took her match by forfeit.
Jade Rausch (125 pounds) quickly pinned Nevada Buchheit in 46 seconds, while teammate Addy Hochstetler (140 pounds) followed suit pinning her AGWSR opponent Kayla Lyman in 49 seconds.
Redhawk Briar Blake (170 pounds) – used to pinning opponents with rapid ease in her rookie season – went three periods against AGWSR’s Rory Siems in a grueling match that lasted just under five-and-a-half minutes before at last taking her down by fall. Following her pin, the home crowd went absolutely wild.
“The match Briar [Blake] had was a hard fought match. It is the first time this year that she has had to wrestle all three periods. That was good for her and she will use that going forward to help her know she can do that. The coaches were excited for her to be able to come from behind and win a match – [that’s] a huge confidence booster,” coach Knaack said.
Saturday success
The following Saturday, while the boys’ squad headed north to the Oelwein Invitational, the girls traveled to nearby Vinton where Jade Rausch topped the Vikings’ tournament podium in the 125 pound bracket.
“Jade Rausch is going out and just taking care of business on the mat,” coach Knaack said of his most senior girls wrestler. “She is really wrestling well right now. She has improved a lot over the last month [and] is going to be someone to watch out for, and someone other girls are not going to want to wrestle.”
In Oelwein up against nine other teams, several North Tama boys’ wrestlers also placed well with Gavin Rausch (132 pounds) taking fourth, and Max Monat (106 pounds), Christian Dronebarger (126 pounds), Ty Guthrie (160 pounds), and Clayton Boldt (heavyweight) each taking fifth in their respective brackets.
Case Monat and Kolt Knaack topped the podium in Oelwein with Monat going 5-0 – all pins plus a bye – and Knaack going 4-0 in the first four rounds with two pins, a win by forfeit, and a win by decision, 7-0.
In the championship round, Knaack beat Braxten Westendorf of Class 3A No. 1 Waverly-Shell Rock by decision, 5-2.
Following a home triangular featuring the full North Tama team against Belle Plaine and BGM on Tuesday and another triangular Thursday in Jesup, the Redhawk girls were set to wrestle West Marshall on the road on Dec. 20, while the boys’ were set to head back to Oelwein the same evening.
Both teams will then break until the week of January 2.