The Whitehall wrestling team got off to a strong start, claiming a tournament championship as well as winning its first league match of the season.

The Zephs placed first at the Springfield Duals, reeling off five wins to capture the crown. The meet, held Dec. 13 at Springfield Township High School, featured eight teams with Whitehall going a perfect 5-0 en route to the victory.

In the opening round, the Zephs dismantled Franklin Towne Charter 69-12. They recorded five falls in the win. In their second match they faced Martin Luther King and won 78-6. Their third match against Danville Area High School proved to be their toughest, edging the Ironmen 45-33. That was followed by a 72-9 win over Glen Mills School. That resulted in a meeting with Pope John Paul II which they won 66-18.

During that run, a number of Zephs went undefeated including, Robert Tully, Joe Gladish, Edgardo Rivera, Noah Rex, Nikitas Davis, Jesiah Davis and Tyler Schaeffer.

Before their win at Springfield, the Zephs hosted East Stroudsburg South High School on Dec. 10, kicking off their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference schedule. They won that meet, eclipsing the Cavaliers 41-33.

It was a good jumpstart to the season with the Zephs taking seven bouts to pull out the victory.

Rex was impressive again, recording a fall in 1:06, while Matt Schuler and Brad Schuler also gave their opponents a rafter view, giving the Zephs 12 bonus points between the two.

Gladish was another wrestler whose first two outings in the maroon and gold resulted in a flurry of back points. This time he decked Kyle Marsh in 3:44. Also scoring bonus points for the Zephs was Tully who gained a technical fall over Austin Sphar in 3:22.

While it was a good beginning, head coach Tim Cunningham knows there's still a lot of work to be done. That was evident when the locked horns with Easton Area High School on Dec. 11, taking on one of the most storied programs in the EPC.

The Zephs lost 61-15. They did manage to get bonus points in their three wins as Gladish pinned Ronald Zimmerman in 3:16, Brad Schuler had a tech fall over Isaiah Walker in 4:44, and Rivera posted an 11-3 major decision over John Williams.

"We have started off pretty strong at this point, but we need to wrestle harder and with more Zephyr pride when we wrestle the tougher teams," said Cunningham "The wrestlers need to wrestle with the same confidence and relentless style against top notch caliber teams as they do against teams they do not know anything about.

"This will come with time and as the year goes on as they get more experience. I think entering the tournament at the time of the year we do after wrestling a powerhouse team like Easton is important to see if the team can get back up after getting knocked down and continue to wrestle hard and tackle adversity in a positive manner."

Still, the strong start gives them something to build upon as the season progresses. When they traveled to the Springfield Duals, Cunningham witnessed a defining trait that will carry then through rough times.

"The most impressive thing I felt the team improved on was team chemistry and enthusiasm," said Cunningham. "As the team was wrestling throughout the weekend you can feel the team enthusiasm carry from the team bench cheering each teammate on out to the mat helping the guys wrestle harder for the team."

With a meet with Allentown Central Catholic on tap for Dec. 17, Cunningham said the team needs to work on some areas that were exposed in their loss to the Red Rovers.

"We work on top bottom position everyday, but I feel our weak spot right now is hand fighting and positioning from the bottom position which we will address the next few weeks at practice," said Cunningham.