The Whitehall wrestling team was locked in another spirited battle with Emmaus last week as the two squads tangled to see who would win this season’s grudge match.

Emmaus has emerged victorious the last couple of meetings, with the Zephyrs last win coming in 2018 as they defeated the Green Hornets 35-32 that year.

This year’s match featured some quality competition as six of the 13 bouts were determined by decisions.

Xavier Arner, wrestling at 152, started things off for the Zephs with a 3-1 decision over Kordell Waiters. After surrendering the next two bout of pins, Melquan Warren got that back on track with a 7-2 decision over Cody LaFaver at 189.

One of the many bright spots this year for the Zephyrs has been Warren. He is currently undefeated and has emerged as a force in their lineup. He’s registered six wins so far this season, and three of those have been by falls.

“Melquan is an extremely hard worker and does all the little things to get better,” said head coach Tim Cunningham. “He makes every optional extra workout and has worked on his mental mindset.”

Warren’s been trending this way since last season with a solid freshman campaign, and he’s now gaining traction toward the postseason.

After Warren’s win, Michael Hernandez followed with a 5-3 win over Trevor Gitski at 215.

Those three decision made the score 12-9 for the Hornets after five bouts.

The teams got falls in the next two bouts, with Hornet Connor Carter picking his up at 285, while Damond Pascoe showed Alex Issa the rafters at 106.

After an Emmaus forfeit, the stage was set for the next run of tightly contested bouts that would swing the tide. Of the remaining five bouts, three came down to decisions.

First, Johnny Colon squared off against Marco Albanese at 120. Colon lost 4-3, marking his first loss of the season. He’s currently 5-1 following matches against Palmerton and Dieruff.

After a Hudson Salyor pin at 126, decking Deylain Newton in 5:23, Tyler Cunningham faced off against Nick Velde, losing 4-0. It was also Cunningham’s first loss of the season as he’s now 5-1 on the year.

Finally, Seth Pascoe was defeated by Braulio Hurtado 4-2. Emmaus was awarded a forfeit in the final bout, and with it the match at 39-20.

Cunningham said that they optimized their lineup to get some strong head-to-head bouts.

“Yes, wrestling Emmaus we were more concerned about matching up our best wrestlers with their best wrestlers,” said Cunningham. “We wrestled well and the team has making steady improvements. We wrestled twice this weekend and won both those matches.”

Those two wins came against Northwestern Lehigh and Dieruff. They defeated the Tigers 54-17, and upended the Huskies 69-4.