North Tama’s Xander Bradley (top) controls Mason Olmstead of Alburnett during the 1A sectional tournament at Columbus Catholic on Feb. 6. Bradley is one of two Redhawks advancing to the district meet on Feb. 13. Darvin Graham/North Tama Telegraph

Freshman Case Monat and senior Xander Bradley each finished as runner-up in the 1A sectional tournament on Feb. 6 and will head to BGM on Feb. 13 to compete in the state-qualifying district meet.

The Redhawks are in their third season since decoupling from the long-time shared wrestling program with Gladbrook-Reinbeck in 2018.

During the 2018 season North Tama’s Chase Morrison and Tyler Morrison both qualified for the district tournament but finished third and fourth respectively and missed the state tournament. Last season the Redhawks fell short of the district tournament all together with no wrestlers placing higher than third.

This year, North Tama brought a roster of nine wrestlers to compete at Columbus Catholic High School against a Class 1A sectional field loaded with talent. Top-ranked Don Bosco Catholic was the clear favorite with 11 ranked wrestlers that included five returning state placewinners.

North Tama senior Noah Weber wrestles during the Class 1A sectional tournament in Waterloo on Aug. 6. Weber finished fourth in a tough bracket.

The Redhawks were led by runner-up finishes by Monat at 106 and Bradley at 285.

Monat started with a win by fall over Mason Burr of Columbus to advance on to the championship round. The freshman 106-pounder then took a loss by fall to No. 8 Caleb Coffin of Don Bosco and would advance as the runner-up without a wrestleback.

Bradley meanwhile was on the opposite end of the spectrum as a senior heavyweight. He avenged a regular season loss to Mason Olmstead of Alburnett by beating Olmstead in the sectional semifinals with a fall in the third period.

In the championship match against Don Bosco’s sixth-ranked Mack Ortner, Bradley lost by a 4-0 decision and advanced on as the runner-up.

Finishing right behind Monat and Bradley were junior Logan Rausch (152) and senior Ashton Bradley (160) who both ended their seasons with hard-fought third place sectional finishes.

Freshman Case Monat (right) ties up with Mason Burr of Columbus as the sectional tournament on Feb. 6. Monat defeated Burr and advanced to districts as the runner-up in the 106-pound bracket. Darvin Graham/North Tama Telegraph

Rausch started his day with a pin of Logan Fernandez of Don Bosco in the quarterfinals but ran into an undefeated buzzsaw in Columbus freshman Maximus Magayna. After losing by fall to Magayna, Rausch battled for a wrestleback opportunity, defeating Hudson’s Blake Carolan to force a second place bout against Gunnar Keeney of Alburnett. Keeney got the better of Rausch earlier in the season and would repeat the effort with a win by fall, shutting out Rausch from advancing to the district tournament.

Ashton Bradley may have had the most unfavorable bracket in the state of Iowa last Saturday as his 160 sectional field contained top-ranked Tate Entriken of Hudson and second-ranked Cael Frost of Don Bosco. Bradley was hot out of the gate, scoring the quickest victory of the day with an 11-second pin of Columbus’ Fabian Sanudo in the quarterfinal round.

He then faced Entriken in the semis and lost by fall. A win over Hayden Baker of Alburnett put Bradley in a wrestleback opportunity but he would hit a brick wall against Frost who ended the second place match with a pin just after the first minute.

Looking ahead to the district tournament, Monat and Xander Bradley will travel to BGM on Feb. 13 for a shot at the state tournament. The top two finishers from each bracket will move on to the Class 1A state tournament in Des Moines the following week.

Monat (24-4) will start his bracket with a semifinal match against sophomore Brayden Peterson (24-7) of Belle Plaine. The winner of that match will take on either Coffin (19-4) of Don Bosco or Jack Marshall (10-13) of Iowa Valley. Peterson and Monat have not faced each other this season and have had few common opponents.

Bradley (22-5) will start his day against Aiden McFadden (22-16) of Baxter. The winner of that match will face either Ortner (29-7) of Don Bosco or Kennen Roadcap (21-12) of Montezuma.

On paper, Bradley is positioned favorably having defeated McFadden and Roadcap earlier in the season. Though he has yet to defeat the sophomore Ortner, the two have wrestled multiple times with each match ending by a close decision.

Wrestling begins at noon on Saturday at BGM High School.

North Tama Sectional Results

106 – Case Monat – 2nd Place

113 – Christian Dronebarger – 4th Place

126 – Cale Bradley – 4th Place

132 – Drayke Podhajsky – 4th Place

138 – Nathan Kucera – 6th Place

152 – Logan Rausch – 3rd Place

160 – Ashton Bradley – 3rd Place

170 – Noah Weber – 4th Place

285 – Xander Bradley – 2nd Place