North Tama freshman Alaney Sienknecht has her hand raised by the official after defeating Camanche’s Emma Harridge in the 155-pound consolation semifinal round during the Class 1A Region 5 state qualifier held at Midland High School in Wyoming on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

WYOMING – For North Tama girls wrestling head coach Andrew Knaack, last Friday during the Class 1A Region 5 state qualifier at Midland he experienced some of the best moments of his coaching career in tandem with some of the most heartbreaking as he steered unranked freshman Alaney “Laney” Sienknecht to her first state berth just moments after watching his top wrestler, 2025 state medalist Addison “Addy” Hochstetler lose both her championship and subsequent wrestleback matches to place third – thereby missing qualifying for state her senior season.

“I didn’t know I could be happy and sad at the same time,” Knaack told the newspaper, echoing what many Redhawk fans in Midland’s bleachers were feeling as Sienknecht closed out the meet by outlasting West Branch junior Gisele Gross for true second at 155 pounds in a 4-1 win by decision.

With her ticket to the 2026 Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) State Wrestling Tournament punched, Sienknecht became North Tama’s first freshman girl wrestler to ever qualify. And while her triumph Friday night blew many people away – she went 5-1 on the evening after losing her first match and being kicked to the backside where she steadily clawed her way through the consolation rounds for a shot at state – one person who was not surprised by her performance was Knaack himself.

“[O]utside of me and Laney, I don’t know who really believed she would make it (to state). She lost her first match of the day. When she got off the mat I told her, it is OK, we are still going to make it to the state tournament. I don’t know if at that moment she believed me? But after she got two wins, I think she started to believe. … I remember before her true-second match she told me, ‘I am not going to lose.’ That is the kind of girl she is.”

After losing her quarterfinal match to Wilton’s Melany Fitzer by fall in 5 minutes, 52 seconds, Sienknecht moved to the consolation rounds where she notched pinfall wins over Columbus Catholic’s Francoise Ntumba in 5:07 and then Cascade’s Rylan Smith in 3:46. In the consolation semifinal, she won by 8-2 decision over Camanche’s Emma Harridge before claiming victory by 8-4 decision over Lisbon’s Kaylee Jordan in the third-place match. Her defeat of Gross for true second certainly put an exclamation point on the season.

In her wrestleback for true second at 155 pounds, Sienknecht, right, grapples with West Branch junior Gisele Gross as her friends and family look on from the bleachers during the Class 1A Region 5 state qualifier meet held at Midland High School in Wyoming on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Sienknecht defeated Gross by 4-1 decision to take second in the bracket and punch her ticket to the state tournament. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“Alaney is her own person,” Knaack continued. “She is only in her third year of the sport. Talk about growth from day one this season to Friday. It is truly impressive. She has a lot of questions. The beginning of the season she felt like she always needed to be taking shots which at times put her in bad positions. We have worked on her patience and handfighting the last month to learn to capitalize on the other girls’ mistakes.”

Taking to the mats at all after Hochstetler’s final loss was no small feat, Knaack added, as Sienknecht’s “biggest supporter and coach in practice” this season had been Hochstetler herself.

“It still hurts just [talking about] Addy,” Knaack admitted. “She was ready to go – but that is just how wrestling goes sometimes. It is a brutal sport emotionally. To lose in the final like (she did and) then have to come back and refocus to compete for your state berth is difficult.”

Hochstetler clicked through her earlier 145-pound bouts, notching a quick, 49-second pin of Columbus Catholic’s Henrietta Molinaro-Blonigan in the quarterfinals before winning by technical fall over Bellevue’s Carsen Michels in the semis. In the 145-pound title match, she battled it out with Mount Vernon’s Adeline Whisner for nearly the full six minutes before being pinned. In the wrestleback for true second, she fell to Lisbon’s Emma Dietsch.

“Both those girls she lost to are state qualifiers from the previous season,” Knaack said. “But, she is a competitor and is going to play volleyball at the collegiate level next year. With time, she will look back and be proud of what she has accomplished in her wrestling career. She was the first 100-win wrestler for the Redhawk girls. She was wrestling before girls wrestling was sanctioned (in Iowa) and wrestled through the sanctioning – qualifying for the state tournament when it was all one class and then placing fifth last season. Addy is the face of this program. Hopefully, in the offseason I can get her back to help coach wrestling.”

Redhawk senior Addy Hochstetler, left, faces off against Mount Vernon’s Adeline Whisner in the 145-pound title match during the Class 1A Region 5 state qualifier held at Midland High School in Wyoming on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Knaack also gave a shout-out to junior wrestler Grace Dvorak who was on the prowl for a state berth as well, but had to medically forfeit the 110-pound match for third place after notching pins in the quarterfinal and consolation semifinal rounds, going 2-2 on the evening.

“Grace gutted it out to put herself in that match. To have her willing and wanting to do that shows what the (North Tama) program is getting to be,” Knaack said. He then rounded out his thoughts with an overall assessment of the 2025-26 season.

“This year has been awesome. We had nine girls wrestle on Friday and outside of Addy, all will be back next season. Redhawk girls wrestling is on the rise. We also have nine girls in junior high, including a lot of eighth graders.”

“I am extremely happy for Laney as the first freshman girl qualifier. She has the potential now to be only the second four-time North Tama state qualifier since Kolt (Knaack). But I am heartbroken for Addy. You never want a senior’s season to end like that. I am hoping and planning on her going along (to state) as a support and warm-up partner for Laney.”

At the 17-team Class 1A super regional hosted by Midland on Friday, Jan. 30, North Tama placed seventh overall with 85 1/2 points. Mount Vernon took the Region 5 championship with 214 1/2 points, while Vinton-Shellsburg was runner-up with 185 points and Wilton third with 172 1/2 points.

Redhawk junior Grace Dvorak, left, grapples with Wilton's Audra Coss in the semifinal round on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, at the Class 1A Region 5 state qualifier at Midland High School in Wyoming. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

The 2026 IGHSAU State Wrestling Tournament is set for Feb. 5-6 at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Sienknecht (29-11) is seeded No. 16 and is scheduled to wrestle the No. 1 seed, Western Iowa senior Marlee Pittet (40-4) of West Monona Thursday morning. At last year’s state tournament, Pittet competed at 155 pounds in Class 2A and medaled fourth.

Telegraph Note: As a courtesy to our readers, this story is publishing online ahead of the Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 print edition.

Sienknecht, right, grapples with Cascade’s Rylan Smith during the Class 1A Region 5 state qualifying meet held at Midland High School in Wyoming on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Sienknecht, top, grapples with Camanche’s Emma Harridge in the 155-pound consolation semifinal round during the Class 1A Region 5 state qualifier held at Midland High School in Wyoming on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Sienknecht, right, handfights with a visibility exhausted Gisele Gross (left) of West Branch during the Class 1A Region 5 wrestleback for true second at 155 pounds on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, at Midland High School in Wyoming. Sienknecht defeated Gross by 4-1 decision to take second in the bracket and punch her ticket to the state tournament. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Sienknecht hugs North Tama head coach Andrew Knaack following her triumph in the Class 1A Region 5 155-pound wrestleback for true second on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, at Midland High School in Wyoming. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER