One wrestler appearing in the district finals; another wrestler taking his third-place consolation bout into overtime, and a top-ten finish among some of the best wresting teams in the country.

That was part of the Whitehall wrestling team’s résumé at the District XI 3A Individual Wrestling tournament held at Parkland High School over the weekend.

First, Xavier Arner made it to the 145-pound championships finals. He was facing Northampton’s Dagen Condomitti, and it would mark the first time since 2012 that a Zephyr would appear in the finals.

Arner won three bouts en route to the championships, earning a grueling 4-3 victory over Bethlehem Catholic’s Trey Miletics in the quarterfinals that helped pave the way for his first shot at gold as a varsity wrestler.

In the finals, he would be facing Condomitti who was part of a Kids team that finished third in the twenty-one team tourney. It would be a tough task, but he was ready for the challenge.

Arner ultimately fell short in the finals, losing 12-5 to Condomitti.

Still, it marks the second consecutive year that Arner has made it to the regional round. This year’s format will vary because of the pandemic, as it will be a one-day tournament this Saturday at Charles Chrin Community Center of Palmer Township. It features districts 11, 12 and 2. It’s an eight-man bracket and the top two wrestlers will advance to the Super Regionals.

Head coach Tim Cunningham said that it doesn’t matter to Arner who the opponent is, he’s going to treat it like any other match and bring his best.

“Xavier wrestled a very good tournament, and yes, he did lose to one of the best out there,” said Cunningham. “He wrestles everyone the same no matter who he wrestles.”

Tyler Cunningham’s journey to the consolation finals was a rematch from his quarterfinal bout against Northampton’s Patrick Snoke. Tyler Cunningham, who wrestled at 126 in the tourney, lost to Snoke 9-3 in the quarters, sending him into the consolation bracket. There he met Snoke again after the Kid lost to Bethlehem Catholic’s Tyler Kasak, 8-1.

This time Cunningham would extend the match into overtime where he lost 4-2 in Sudden Victory. In prior years, a fourth-place finish would have ensured a wrestler a spot in the Northeast Regional. This year that number was trimmed to three.

Still, it reflects his ability to rebound after an earlier loss. He didn’t let what happened previously affect his mindset and in so doing, put himself on the verge of advancing to the next round.

“He wrestled a great tournament and lost the last match on a controversial stall call,” said Cunningham.

The Zephyrs also got outstanding performances from Johnny Colon and Melquan Warren. Warren won three matches at 189 on Saturday, while Colon won two bouts at 120.

They also got wins from Michael Hernandez at 215, Hudson Taylor at 132, Zach Beblavy at 160, and Nicholas Rudowski at 285.

All that success led to 54 team points which placed them ninth among the competitors.

“Overall I think most of our wrestlers competed to the best of their ability and we are very proud of each and every wrestler,” said Cunningham.

While they he acknowledged that they performed well at the D-11 tourney, he admitted that there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“Yes, we are competing with the best teams in the country and placing ninth was a good performance but as always we have a lot of work to do and we are looking forward to it,” Cunningham said.