The Whitehall wrestling team ended their regular season with a victory, setting the stage for a postseason that has a lot of promise.

The Zephyrs closed out the 2018-19 season with a 67-7 win over Palmerton High School. The win gives them 12 victories on the year.

They won 12 bouts against the Blue Bombers, a good team win for a squad that’s now preparing for the postseason and the ultra competitive District XI AAA Individual Wrestling Championships.

Their lightweights were solid again starting with Wilfredo Jimenez at 106. Jimenez got a fall against Aaron Gardner in 1:15.

Freshman Tyler Cunningham continued his stellar varsity season by earning an 13-3 major decision over Gabriel Ramos T 113.

A forfeit followed at 120 as Johnny Colon picked up the win.

Xavier Arner, another outstanding newcomer, picked up a fall at 126 over Grant Scott in 2:38.

At 132, senior Joshua Grol decked Dennis Lombardi in 0:49.

Whitehall’s Zachary Beblavy was awarded a forfeit at 138, while Kai Clark continued to rack up bonus points this season, pinning Shawn Gardner in 1:41 at 152.

James Roberts secured another forfeit at 160, while senior Sean Cunningham also got his hand raised via forfeit at 170.

At 182, Michael Hernandez earned a tough decision over Aidan Melber, taking the bout by a point, 3-2.

Izak Bright continues to shine this season. Bright pinned Blue Bomber Jeremy Mooney in 0:44 at 220.

Finally, Steele Hess was awarded a forfeit at 285 to cap the scoring for the Zephs.

As they prepare for the D-11 tourney, the objective is to get as many wrestlers through to the next round as possible. It’s something that’s eluded them the last few years, but this year they have a stable of good, young wrestlers who can break that cycle.

Head coach Tim Cunningham has always stressed wrestling just one match at a time, and if they take care of business in their respective bouts, that should help them to advance.

“The tough part at this time is making sure they train harder now than during the season, but at the same time they do not over train,” said Cunningham. “At this point it is more on working on the mental aspect as much as the physical aspect. We try to work on developing the proper mindset and staying focused on their individual goals.”

Cunningham said that the tourney allows them to take the spotlight as they put it all on the line for a slot in the regional round.

“Each wrestler needs to become more selfish at this time of the year and work on the things they need to work on to prepare themselves for this tournament,” said Cunningham. “Working on the fundamentals and drilling the technique they depend on is what each wrestler needs to fine tune, the rest of it is staying healthy and working on their mindset.”

The AAA tournament is slated for Feb. 22-23 at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium. This weekend the junior varsity wrestlers get their turn in the spotlight as they convene at East Stroudsburg South High School for the District XI Junior Varsity Tournament.