With snow wreaking havoc with the athletic schedule this winter, the Whitehall wrestling team was forced to schedule a double dip Wednesday that saw them splitting a pair of league matches at Zephyr Gymnasium.

In the opening match against William Allen High School, the Zephs celebrated senior night with a 59-9 win over the Canaries.

They registered bonus points in eight bouts en route to the victory. They received pins from Edgardo Rivera (0:27 over Marvin Gayle), Fouad Haddad (1:14 over Cameron Chapelle), Brad Schuler (2:20 over Josh Bennicoff) and Robert Tully (1:00 over Traevis Long). In addition to the pins, Alonzo Mann earned an 11-1 major decision over Bill Tsala-Nkolo, while Justin Maicks got his MD against Anthony Velez, 21-10. The lone decision came at 152 as Quincy Boulware got an 8-5 win over Jesus Bracero.

"They really went out and wrestled well," said head coach Tim Cunningham. "We won just about every match we could of, and we won the close matches, while getting bonus points where we needed to.

That win boosted their win total to 15, a strong indication of how they've responded in a year in which they've had to make plenty of adjustments with the adverse weather.

The follow-up match was against Liberty High School, one of the premier teams in the Lehigh Valley Conference, and the Zephs battled up and down their line-up, eventually losing 51-13.

After a busy day that saw them wrestle back-to-back, Cunningham's crew is getting used to heading into the circle multiple times during the day even if it wasn't planned. It also gave them a chance to go against one of the area's best teams.

"Overall, the guys wrestled well, and that's what's important," said Cunningham. "They competed."

Cunningham said that they needed to get better at the mat's edge, indicating they gave up too many takedowns at the stripe.

"They relaxed a little bit at the edge; we go over that every day," Cunningham said. "We'll get back in the room, go over that, and we'll do a lot of mat awareness."

Cunningham felt they could have won a few more matches against Liberty. They lost five bouts by decision, with four of those losses by just four points or less.

In perhaps the most anticipated bout of the evening pitted the 'Canes Joe Curzi (17-6) against Nico Kauffman (15-1). The bout was scoreless until Kauffman allowed Curzi to escape in the final period. However, his attempts at taking down Curzi fell short, and he was hit with a penalty for a false start, ending the bout 2-0 in Curzi's favor.

Haddad also had a tough assignment as did heavyweight Rivera, drawing the Gunning brothers. They both lost tough decisions. In Haddad's case, it was a scoreless first period. After Jake Gunning escaped, Haddad got a takedown to grab the lead. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring he could muster the rest of the way, eventually succumbing 6-2.

Rivera only surrendered a takedown and an escape, but had a hard time gaining any leverage on Andrew Gunning, managing an escape to lose a close one 3-1.

The Zephs also had a couple of wrestlers who earned bonus points. Tyler Bridgwood put on a takedown clinic against Nate Ensley, earning a major decision 11-3.

Robert Tully also had an impressive outing against the 'Canes. He shutout Parker Henning 6-0, dominating the match on his feet.

The highlight for the Zephs was reserved for Quincy Boulware. The senior was losing 4-2 late in the third period when he suddenly reversed Daniel Castro to tie the bout at 4-4. Not satisfied with a flurry to tie the score in regulation and perhaps earn a decision in the extra session, Boulware put the clamps on Castro, eventually showing him the rafters in OT.

Boulware's ability to come from behind and earn the victory showcased a mental toughness that's been present for this season.

"He's had a great season so far," said Cunningham. "He comes in that room and works real hard. He's a totally different person this year."

Cunningham said that Boulware shed a lot of weight this season to get to 152, a testament to his dedication.

"He knew his best spot for the team this year was at 152, and now he's doing really well for us."

Last week when Boulware got pinned in his bout against Pocono Mountain East, one of the last matches of the evening, he failed to come onto the mat for post game congratulations. That prompted a quick meeting between coach and athlete.

"I said you're a better man than that," said Cunningham. "You win or lose with class."

Cunningham said that Boulware took the message to heart and has made amends, and his dramatic win against the 'Canes showed how good he's become.