Last weekend saw the completion of the Northeast Region 3A Wrestling Tournament, and with it came the end of the wrestling season for the Zephyrs.

Whitehall’s Xavier Arner was trying to become the first Whitehall wrestler to advance to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Individual Wrestling Championships since 2012. He gave it a good run, finishing sixth among the 13 competitors in the 132 lb. class. He won two bouts, ultimately losing to Delaware Valley’s Preston Machado in an ultimate tie breaker, 4-2. Arner lost in the third overtime in a match that underscored his fierce determination throughout the five bouts he wrestled at Liberty High School.

He stared the tourney with a win over Wilkes-Barre’s Nino Cinti, pushing him up the bracket.

His next opponent would be Nazareth’s Blaine Wilson. The sophomore lost a 5-4 decision to the Blue Eagle in the championship quarterfinals, bumping him into the consolation bracket. He managed one more win, earning a technical fall over Roman Catholic’s Aaron Scalen, before losing another close decision in the consolation semifinals to Northampton’s Ethan Szerencsits who came out on top 6-4.

It was an outstanding effort by the first-time competitor in the highly competitive Northeast Region Tournament. Arner was in every match, losing his three bouts by a combined five points.

Head coach Tim Cunningham said that Arner’s competitive spirit was on display at the tournament, and that’s what makes him strive to be the best he can be.

“He wrestled a great tournament,” said Cunningham. “He has a strong competitive desire which leads to his success.”

The Zephyrs finished the season 11-6. They placed first in the Lehighton Indian Duals, and were tenth in the District XI team standings at the 3A Individual Wrestling Championships.

The Zephyrs also return a strong group of wrestlers which should give them an excellent foundation heading into next season. In addition to Arner, they’ll return Tyler Cunningham, Johnny Colon, Nathan Mendez, Josef Grol, Michael Hernandez, Hudson Saylor, Aiden Toussaint, Melquan Warren, Yousof Abdelaal, Zachary Beblavy, Daniel Latorre, Rasheem McFall, Chandeler Romain and Ryan Shepherd.

While it’s a team that produced a strong season, Cunningham knows that there’s still much work to be done.

“We had a solid season, but once again we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to move this program forward in a positive direction,” said Cunningham. “ As a staff, we are hoping to have more offseason involvement with our wrestlers attending weightlifting, open rooms, and tournaments etcetera.”

Cunningham said that the pieces are in place for short-term success, but he’s also interested in the long view.

“We have a solid foundation, but the lack of interest in wrestling at Whitehall among the youth program all the way up to the high school level is a concern and something we need to work on throughout the entire program,” said Cunningham. “I believe a lot of this revolves around community involvement. When we had strong teams we had a lot of parent/guardian involvement during the season and offseason attending tournaments together and building a team togetherness atmosphere which we are lacking a little right now other than a few families.”

The demands of building and sustaining a program is always a challenge, and Cunningham is ready to meet them as they prepare for the future.

“We are looking forward to the challenge as a staff throughout our program from top to bottom and will continue to try and improve the interest in the wrestling community here at Whitehall,” said Cunningham. “Strong community and family support are what our youth needs from the Little Zephyrs up through the high school program.”