It was going to be a huge task taking down Bethlehem Catholic on their home turf last Thursday evening, but the Whitehall wrestling team was ready for the challenge.

They were up against the denizens of Dewberry Avenue who came into the contest 5-0 in dual meet action, averaging a shade over 61 points in those five matches. They were also the defending District XI 3A champs and were on track to challenge for the title once again.

Whitehall was coming off a successful holiday tournament which saw them crown two champs.

When the match got underway, the Zephs fell victim to a number of pins, but demonstrated within those bouts that the seeds of future success were being sewn on the mat. And even though they lost 69-6, the improvement from their earlier 72-3 loss to Northampton was clearly evident.

At 113, Caleb Staub was deep on a single leg twice in the match. He appeared to have Sean Redington in trouble, but both times the Golden Hawk avoided the takedown. Staub stayed active throughout the bout and was trailing 10-2 when Redington caught him in a pinning combination and ended the match at the 5:40 mark.

Similarly, Noah Rex was giving Mike Lewis a tussle at 126, nearly scoring a takedown at the edge of the mat, but couldn’t pull the Hawk back into the circle. Lewis built a 4-0 lead before catching Rex in a cradle that ended the match in 4:49.

It was like that in a number of matches. Dan Miturra was in on a single leg a few times during the first period against Ryan Zeiner. Mittura couldn’t convert those opportunities and trailed 3-0 after Zeiner register three near-fall points. In the final period, Miturra needed a takedown and back points to turn the tide in his favor, but eventually lost 4-0.

Head coach Tim Cunningham knows that turning those opportunities into takedowns comes with experience. With a roster dotted with underclassmen, many of whom never wrestled before, every time on the mat is a learning experience.

“It’s the same situation we’ve been working on for the last week,” said Cunningham. “These young kids, if you get in on a leg on a kid from Becahi, and when they don’t finish it the way they would against a kid from another school, they panic.”

Cunningham watched as they were able to get the initial advantage in a number of their matches, and believes they must “build off the little things.”

“Hopefully, from this point on, we can continue to build,” he said.

In the wildest match of the evening, Nikitas Davis squared off against Christian Liedke at 138. Davis didn’t waste any time pressing the action, scoring a takedown on a nifty double leg. He was soon reversed by Liedke, but scored an escape to grab a 3-2 lead at the end of the first.

Nikita Davis added to his lead with another takedown, but the Golden Hawk escaped to cut the lead to 5-3. That’s when Nikitas Davis showed off his scramble ability reminiscent of Matt Bonshak as he somehow got Liedke into a double arm bar, scoring back points that gave him a commanding 9-3 lead.

With the match virtually in hand in the final period, the plan was for Nikitas Davis to essentially drop to his belly in the waning seconds, assuring the win. However, Liedke head-butted Davis, a move which got him disqualified and gave Nikitas Davis the six-point win.

The other contender for wildest match was at 220 when Thomas Klotz locked horns with the hulking Antwon Keenan. The bout was scoreless in the first as Keenan’s takedown attempts fell outside the circle. Keenan escaped in the second to take a 1-0 lead, and then Klotz tied it 1-1 after Keenan chose to begin neutral in the third. But with Keenan pressing forward, he earned two stalling points in the final period to go up 3-1.

Klotz needed a takedown and time was ticking down, but the resilient 220-pounder found a way to slide behind Kennan for the takedown, and then rode him the rest of the way to send it into overtime.

With Keenan barely able to move, he somehow got deep enough to lift up Klotz and throw him onto his back, ending the match with a five-point move.

It was a vastly different showing than just a few weeks prior against the Kids, and demonstrates how far they’ve come. Cunningham felt they wrestled better as well.

“In overall team effort, absolutely,” said Cunningham in comparing the two matches. “We told them they have to start opening up, going after the guys. “They did that, but we still have to make a lot of improvements.

“We’ll go back in the room tomorrow. We have the Zephyr Duals this weekend. We’re never satisfied, but all we ask is that the guys go out and give it their all, and for the most part, I think every guy went out and did that.”