North Tama’s eighth-ranked Case Monat (bottom) works to takedown his Aplington-Parkersburg opponent during Union’s double dual meet in La Porte last Thursday, Dec. 2. Monat went on to win the match by fall, setting the stage for what the Redhawks hope will be a winning 2021-2022 season. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

The Union Knights and North Tama Redhawks wrestling teams launched their seasons last week Thursday in a double-dual at the Union High School gym in La Porte City. Teams in attendance included Union, North Tama, Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center and Vinton-Shellsburg.

Union begins their season with two of their four state-qualifying wrestlers returning from last season. Senior Hunter Worthen was a fifth-place finisher at last year’s state tournament and comes in ranked fourth in preseason polls in the 152 class. Fellow middle weight Stone Schmitz is also back for his final season with the Knights after making his third trip to the state tournament last winter. Preseason rankings show Schmitz ranked third at 170 though he’s begun competition with the Knights wrestling in the 160-pound weight class.

The Knights defended their home mats in front of a packed crowd with dominant wins over North Tama (57-18) and A-P/GC (54-30) while narrowly dropping a dual 36-39 to Class 2A No. 7 Vinton-Shellsburg.

In their last match of the evening, North Tama recorded a win over the seventh-ranked Vikings 36-36 by logging six pins to V-S’s five. Case Monat, Bryar Hall, Nathan Kucera, Aiden Zook, and Clay Hershberger each earned pins against the Vikings. The sophomore 106-pounder Monat comes in as the team’s only returning district-qualifier last season. Monat begins the season polling eighth in preseason rankings.

In their team win over North Tama, Union took six wins by fall to the Redhawks’ one including Jace Hedeman over Case Monat (106), Caleb Olson over Kolt Knaack (132), Dillon Sparks over Drayke Podhajsky (145), Hunter Worthen over Logan Rausch (160), Stone Schmitz over Aiden Zook (170), and Brock Ruzicka over Clay Hershberger (182). Union took open weight forfeit victories at 113, 120, 195, 220, and 285.

North Tama’s eighth-ranked Case Monat (center) pins his Aplington-Parkersburg opponent during Union’s double dual meet in La Porte last Thursday, Dec. 2. Later in the week, the Redhawks traveled to Jesup on Saturday, Dec. 4 for a six-team tournament where Monat wrestled his way to the 106 weight class champion. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

North Tama’s lone win against the Knights came from Nathan Kucera (138) over Wyatt Walker while Gavin Rausch (126) took a forfeit win.

In the dual of the night between Union and Vinton-Shellsburg, spectators were treated to a pair of matchups featuring four of the top wrestlers in Class 2A.

At 152, Union’s Worthen took on senior transfer student Gabe Sanders of Vinton-Shellsburg. Sanders and his younger brother Cooper moved back to the area recently after living in Utah for a number of years where Gabe had become a two-time 4A state champion.

Worthen came out strong in the first period, scoring a takedown to put the first points on the board. After a warning call for stalling, Sanders managed a one-point escape before the end of the period.

Beginning from the bottom position in the second, Worthen scored a two-point reversal and took a 4-2 lead into the third period after another escape by Sanders.

Union’s third-ranked Stone Schmitz (left) begins a match with North Tama’s Aiden Zook (right) during both teams’ season opener in the Union High School gym last Thursday, Dec. 2. Schmitz would go on to win the 170 match by fall. Photo courtesy of Krystal Schmitz

Sanders tied it up with a takedown in the third and ultimately swiped the victory with a final takedown in sudden-death overtime.

At the 160-pound class Union’s Schmitz was paired with V-S’s only returning state-qualifier. Senior Brady Ortner was a sixth-place finisher at last year’s state tournament and is one of three wrestlers to enter the season on the preseason rankings.

In contrast to the Worthen vs. Sanders match, the 160 bout was a flurry of activity.

Schmitz turned in a dominant performance earning three takedowns in the first period with a pair of two-point near fall opportunities to put Ortner in a 10-2 hole going into the second period.

Starting from the neutral position in the second period, Schmitz scored one more takedown before pinning Ortner at the 2:17 mark.

Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

Jesup Wrestling Tournament

On Saturday, North Tama traveled to Jesup for a six-team tournament which, in addition to the J-Hawks, included AGWSR, Postville, Regina Catholic, and Waterloo West.

The Redhawks logged just a single team win on Saturday – against Postville 54-30. But despite suffering team losses to AGWSR, Jesup, Regina, and Waterloo West, the Redhawks came away with two tournament champions – Case Monat (106) and Kolt Knaack (132) – as well as the fastest pin of the tournament, Nathan Kucera’s 0:10 match with Postville’s Abdikhalia Ibrahim (138).

Monat had four wins by fall plus one forfeit victory, while Knaack had one win by fall, one forfeit victory, and three separate decision victories – over Jesup 6-0, Waterloo West 8-2, and AGWSR 5-1.

Aiden Zook (170) also logged a standout performance, 4-1, on Saturday with three wins by fall and one forfeit victory – dropping just one match to Class A No. 4 Aidan Udell of Regina.

Union’s No. 4 Hunter Worthen (top) and V-S’s No. 1 Gabe Sanders (bottom) wrestle in the Union High School gym on Thursday, Dec. 2 as part of the Knights’ double dual season opener. Sanders would go on to win the match 6-4 in overtime. Photo courtesy of Krystal Schmitz

Cliff Keen Independence Invitational

Union wrestlers were also on the road Saturday, traveling to Independence for the Cliff Keen Independence Invitational which featured teams from across Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin.

The Knights took sixth out of 28 teams. Both Jace Hedeman (106) and Hunter Worthen (152) were tournament champs in their classes. Caleb Olson (132) earned third place, while Stone Schmitz (160) and Brock Ruzicka (170) each earned fifth place in their respective weight classes.

Both the Knights and Redhawks are next set to wrestle on Thursday, Dec. 9 – Union in a double-dual at Dike-New Hartford beginning at 6:15 p.m. and North Tama at the Columbus Catholic meet in Waterloo also beginning at 6:15 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Krystal Schmitz

North Tama's head coach Andrew Knaack provides direction from the sidelines during NT's dual with Aplington-Parkersburg in the Union gym. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

Union’s Stone Schmitz (top) – ranked No. 3 in Class 2A – works to pin his V-S opponent, sixth-ranked Brady Ortner during the Knights’ season opener in La Porte on Thursday, Dec. 2. Schmitz won all three of his matches during the double dual meet. Photo courtesy of Krystal Schmitz

Aiden Zook (center) of North Tama listens to the ref during his match with Aplington-Parkersburg in the Union High School gym on Thursday, Dec. 2. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker