TRAER – Last week Thursday, Redhawk wrestling hosted its first home meet of the season, a quad featuring Union/Union-GR, Vinton-Shellsburg boys, and AP-GC. Union’s varsity boys team took all three duals, while the North Tama varsity girls did the same on their end – providing a preview of what is certain to be a stellar 2023-24 season for both the Knights and the Redhawks. Redhawk rookie wrestler Ava Monat’s (pictured in the final moments of her first match) pinfall win at 125 pounds over Union-GR’s Alexus Umbaugh (130 pounds) brought much of the Redhawks Nest to its feet that evening including her cousins, Redhawk wrestlers Case and Max Monat (pictured far left and center, respectively) when she took down Umbaugh after three minutes and 40 seconds of what had been a truly grueling match for both grapplers featuring more than one escape by Monat. “Ava has only been practicing for about three weeks. She has come a long way from that first day. It is always awesome to see an athlete battle to the end, and end a match with a fall like that when she was behind,” North Tama head coach Andrew Knaack said. “I know the boys and girls have two separate teams. But the boys are there for the girls, just as much as the girls are there for the boys. I don’t see them as two separate teams. I ask both groups to do the same things at practice. As you saw in that match, Ava battled to the end and [to] get a fall like that with the crowd there, it put a smile on her face.”

All around, a superb night of local wrestling!