The holiday wrestling tournaments were in full swing last weekend, and Whitehall was one of the teams competing in one of the many area tourneys.

The Zephyrs participated in the Donegal Tournament. It was hosted by Donegal Senior High School who competes in District 3. The tournament featured 16 teams and was won by Upper Dauphin High School with 171 points. Whitehall finished in the 12th spot with 85.5 points. The other Eastern Pennsylvania Conference team competing was East Stroudsburg South High School and they finished second with 158 points.

The Zephyrs managed to claim three third place finishes at the tourney, with sophomore Nick Demjan (106), senior Noah Rex (126) and senior Jesiah Davis (170) taking third, while freshman Jaden Youwakim finished fourth at 120. Davis won four consecutive bouts to finish in third, battling back after a quarterfinal defeat. Additionally, Kai Clark (145) finished in seventh place, pinning Norristown’s Rick Bregenzer in 4:37, while Izak Bright was eighth at 220.

Cunningham said that this year they’ll be competing in some more rigorous tournaments, beginning with the Donegal that was held Dec. 17-18. Last year at this time they were competing in the Springfield Duals, and followed that with an appearance at the Jim Thorpe Invitational Wrestling Tournament. This year the Donegal Tournament will be followed by the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic that will bring together some of the strongest teams in the area. That two-day tourney gets underway Dec. 28.

Jesiah Davis, Rex and Youwakim have been shining stars early in the season for the Zephyrs.

Additionally, Bright and Marwan Rahja have given them success at the upper weights. Before they get set to participate in Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic, they’ll face another tough league opponent when they host Northampton Area High School on Dec. 21.