DES MOINES – North Tama’s two state qualifiers this season – sophomore Chase Morris and senior Maxon “Max” Monat – were unable to make it to the podium last week during the 2026 IHSAA State Wrestling Championships held at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

In the Class 1A 113-pound bracket, No. 17 seed Morris went 0-2 overall, losing to No. 16 seed Darinel Ramirez of Postville by pinfall in the first round. Following a bye, Morris lost by 18-1 technical fall to No. 15 seed Jaxon Shew of North Butler.

Redhawks wrestling head coach Andrew Knaack told the newspaper that while the younger Morris’s first time at state was a good experience, the venue might have been somewhat intimidating.

“Chase was a first-timer at the state tournament and I think maybe the bright lights got to him a little bit as it is an intimidating arena to walk into. I hope he uses this experience to get back there next year and make some noise,” Knaack said.

Morris should have plenty of help preparing for a future state run as his dad, Ryan Morris, was a state wrestling qualifier for North Tama back in 2002 as a part of the Gladbrook-Reinbeck/North Tama contingent.

Max Monat

As a three-time state qualifier, Max Monat had a bit more experience than his teammate. He was seeded 14th in the Class 1A 120-pound bracket and ranked No. 5 by IAwrestle ahead of the tournament. In his opening round, he pinned No. 19 seed Konner Keller of Earlham in four minutes, 50 seconds. In the second round, he was pinned by third-seed Jesse Burton of Westwood in 1:07. And in his final bout on the high school mats, Monat was pinned in the consolation second round by No. 13 Cael Stricker of Lisbon in 1:47.

Knaack said Monat was in a tight spot from the get-go at the state tournament.

“It was a different feeling walking into the arena. Max was in a tough spot in that bracket. You could rewrestle that bracket 10 times and have a different result each time. But, Max has nothing to be disappointed with — not too many people can say they made it to the state tournament once and he did it three times. He is a staple of this program for the last four years. The younger kids look up to him and he leads this team.”

Despite missing out on the medals ceremony this year, Knaack characterized his team’s performance as a good learning experience – especially for the younger Morris – and he looks forward to seeing who steps up to mats next season as the “dominating force on the team.”