Zephyr Gymnasium was once again the place to be for local wrestlers as the Zephyr Duals took center stage last weekend.

This year’s Zephyr Duals featured 16 teams in the 21st edition of the annual event that showcases wrestlers from a wide swath of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Those teams included Bangor, Blue Mountain, Catasauqua, Central High, Dieruff, East Stroudsburg South, Emmaus, High Point (N.J.), Martin Luther King, Muncy, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh, Quakertown, Southern Lehigh, Whitehall and Wyalusing.

For the past two years, Wyalusing emerged as the champs. This year Wyalusing was eliminated in the semifinals by the eventual champs, High Point High School. The Wildcats went on to defeat Emmuas in the finals, 48-21. It marks the third consecutive year that the Green Hornets lost in the championship match.

Whitehall went 2-2 in the tourney, defeating Martin Luther and Dieruff, while losing to ESS and Muncy.

In their 59-21 victory over Dieruff, the Zephs won 10 matches.

At 106, Luke Rex registered a technical fall over Austin Marte; Jaden Youwakim pinned Miguel Pena in 1:09; At 126 Josh Grol decked Brad Hinkel in 0:25; At 138 Kai Clark pinned Issac Kassis in 0:47; At 160 John Kaintz flattened Michael Colon in 1:05, and at 195 Marwan Rajha pinned Victor Alvarado in 5:46. Additionally, four Zephyrs received forfeits.

In the win 63-15 against Martin Luther, the Zephs lost just three bouts.

Grabbing bonus points for the Zephs were Luke Rex (fall 0:56), Staub (fall 0:19), Youwakim (fall 0:51), Noah Rex (fall 0:17), Clark (fall 1:05), Jesiah Davis (fall 0:15), Izak Bright (fall 3:45), and Rajha (fall 1:26). Additionally, Kaintz won a 9-2 decision at 160, while Grol and Luis Arzola had forfeits.

Three Zephs went undefeated in all their matches with Clark registering pins in each of his four bouts during the tourney. Caleb Staub had three pins and a forfeit, while Youwakim had three falls and a major decision.