The sticks or whatever you use has to be flush, right up against the plant stem to work - practically glued to it. That doesn't appear to be the case in your pics. Any space between the stem and the stick allows the cutworm to wrap around the stem and cut it.

Dave

Does it look like cut worm damage? Is there something that works better than sticks?

Yes it does. Some people use a big ole 10 penny nail, some use wood chopsticks, I prefer plastic soda straws or sticks. Some say they wrap the stems with aluminum foil but that would cause problems in the wind. It just has to be something not edible for them and flush up against the stem to work.

I have also had some luck with a band of cornmeal laid around the base of the plants. They eat it and swell up and die.

Dave

Thank you for the advice, Dave. I am headed to garden with my cornmeal.

I use Styrofoam cups and DE around the plant. I also spread grub granules around the garden

I plant seeds in toilet paper tubes and rip them off when the plant gets larger. If you cut the tubes in half, you have a tube a few inches long. Part of it can be embedded in the soil and the rest sticks up around the baby plants. I used to lose my green bean sprouts, but no more.

Don't forget to dig down and find the cutworm and dispatch it post haste.