The North Tama senior is determined to make his final state tournament his most lucrative, and claimed victory in a 150-pound second-round match to start down the path at the Class 1A session of the IHSAA Boys State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

Knaack, the fourth seed in the bracket, handled William Lawson of Pocahontas Area with a 16-0 tech fall to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“I was just trying to stay strong on my feet,” Knaack said. “I feel really confident when I get on top, so I’m always just trying to get there.”

The lead gradually grew for Knaack, scoring a takedown in each period and adding some back points in the second period before a seven-point move in the third period to end it early with 44 seconds left in the match.

The two had met at districts Saturday, a match Knaack won by fall in 56 seconds.

“First match is always nervous and I thought Kolt looked a little sluggish in those first 30 seconds or so,” North Tama head coach Andrew Knaack said. “He knew what to expect but now that he’s got that first one out of the way the nerves can go away. He’s got a big one tomorrow.”

Knaack, now 45-0 this season, will take on fifth-seeded Reece Klostermann of Alburnett (41-4) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“I’m obviously feeling pretty confident coming into this tournament,” Kolt said. “It’s my final year here and I don’t want to leave anything out there.”

Redhawk teammate Maxon Monat got off to a strong start on Wednesday, winning his first match at state with a 34-second pinfall of Lane Knudson of Central Springs.

In the second round, he drew Atlee Dewitt of Alburnett, who finished fourth at 106 pounds last year.

After a scoreless first period, Dewitt escaped out of bottom position and grabbed a takedown, which ended up being enough for a 4-1 decision over Monat.

Andrew Knaack still saw improvement from Monat, who was 0-2 at the state meet last year. Monat will compete in a second-round consolation match against Tri-Center junior Carter Gittins on Thursday afternoon.

“He wrestled well all day,” Knaack said. “We had a couple opportunities for takedowns there against the Alburnett kid that would’ve changed the match, just a couple different positions that Max needs to be able to capitalize on to finish that match and maybe we go to OT. … But he’s improved from day one this year, coming in with confidence, and he’ll get a day to recover, come back tomorrow and see what happens.”

Thursday’s schedule

Class 1A session, 1:30 p.m.

Second-round consolations

113 pounds — Maxon Monat, jr., North Tama, 39-8 vs. Carter Gittins, jr., Tri-Center, 30-18

Quarterfinals

150 pounds — Kolt Knaack, sr., North Tama, 45-0 vs. Reece Klostermann, sr., Alburnett, 41-4