The Whitehall wrestling team added an emphatic ending to their regular season when they took home the championship at the Panther Duals last weekend.

The Zephs continued their hot streak at Strath Haven High School, site of the Panther Duals. This run of success has defined the latter part of their season as the Zephs have now won eight out of their last nine matches.

To get to the finals, which were held Feb. 11, the Zephyrs mowed down Springfield Township High School, 62-15, and then preserved through a tough match with West Chester East High School in the semifinals, winning 37-27.

That set up their championship bout against Pine Grove Area High School. The Cardinals were 11-3 during their dual meet season heading into the tournament, having faced a number of Colonial League opponents this season.

Head coach Tim Cunningham said that in order to defeat a strong Pine Grove team, they had to wrestle strength versus strength.

“For the most part our guys won the crucial matches as well as picking up bonus points where we needed bonus points from the guys we have depended on getting bonus points all year round,” said Cunningham. “We did this in the semifinals as well as the finals and our light weights did their job like they have been all year round.”

That talented cast includes Luke Rex (106), Caleb Staub (113), Jaden Youwakim (120), and Noah Rex (126), all of whom delivered bonus points to help ensure the 39-33 victory.

They also got a boost when freshman Kai Clark got a late pin over talented Dillon Kintzel who finished third at 138 during the Schuylkill League Tournament held Jan 21.

Cunningham said that Clark stayed aggressive the entire bout and continued to push the action, turning a close match into an eventual pin in 4:51.

The Zephs also got bonus points from John Kaintz who scored a 11-3 major decision over Eric Shadle at 160. Senior Jesiah Davis was yet another Zephyr who provided bonus points, decking Peyton Nuske in 1:00 at 170. Nikitas Davis also came through at 145, earning a 6-1 decision over Dustin Carlin, 6-1.

The Panther Duals featured eight teams with Whitehall emerging as the champions to cap a winning season for the Zephs. They finished the year 10-7.

Cunningham always stresses getting better every day, and the tournament championship was an indication of that mindset.

“This past weekend our team wrestled the best they have all year,” said Cunningham. “It was a real satisfying way to end our dual meet season.

“The coaching staff is real proud of how this team battled through adversity the first month of our schedule wrestling the best teams in the country and competing the best they can and getting knocked down quite a few times but always coming into the practice room with the philosophy of trying to get better everyday and improving on a daily basis. They continued to work hard and battled through those tough losses looking to get better everyday.”

Cunningham said that everyone shares in their success this season.

“Once again this is a compliment to the group of my assistant coaches I have on my staff working hard in the practice room and studying film of our guys wrestling looking for ways to improve each wrestlers technique after each individual match and tournament,” Cunningham said. “I could not ask for a harder working staff.”

With the postseason looming, Cunningham said that they’ll be devoting their time over the next two weeks to get ready for the district and regional tournaments.