The annual Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic features the strongest field that the Whitehall grapplers compete against all season.

The tournament features most of the top public school programs in the Lehigh Valley across both 3A and 2A as well as a number of schools from District 1 (the suburbs north of Philly) and even schools from the western part of the state like Greater Latrobe and North Allegheny. It is an opportunity for all wrestlers to assess where they are as the regular season reaches its midpoint.

Council Rock South won the team title with 188.5 points, besting local luminaries Nazareth 168.5, Easton 166.5 and Northampton 148.5. The Zephyrs finished 18th in the 34-team field, right in the mix with the other traditional solid District XI 3A squads: 15- Emmaus 79.5, 16- Freedom 78.0, 17- Northern Lebanon 75.0, 18- Whitehall 74.0, 19- Blue Mountain 68.5, 20- Hempfield 67.0, 21- Liberty 61.5, 22- Northwestern Lehigh 61.0, 23- Parkland 57.0.

Wilmont Kai was the highest individual placewinner for Whitehall. The 107-pound sophomore dropped a 6-0 decision in his first match, against eventual champion Noah Fenner of Easton, before reeling off 6 straight wins in consolations to reach his place on the podium.

Kai had 4 pins in the tournament and has a 15-1 record for the season.

The Zephs other medal winner was James Hopkins at 189. He pinned Quakertown’s Dylan Fenstermacher in round 1 and took a 6-4 decision against Emmaus’ Massimo Tranguch to reach the quarterfinals. Saucon Valley’s Jared Rohn knocked Hopkins down to the consolation bracket with a technical fall.

Hopkins rebounded with a 2-1 win against Tanner Feagley of Northern Lebanon to clinch a medal, before dropping a tight 7-6 decision to Mason Hartung of North Allegheny. He finished the tournament strong with a pin against Ethan Brownback of Wilson West Lawn in the 7th place match.

Kade Pascoe and Seth Pascoe both notched three wins during the two-day event.

Damond Pascoe, Rocco DeLucia, and Trokon Kai were all 2-2.

The team will be road warriors for the month of January. They are at Lehighton this weekend for the Indian Duals. Then they are at Dieruff and Becahi on the 10th and 11th before going to the War on the Shore in Maryland on the 12th and 13th.

The squad finishes the regular season with four potentially very competitive dual: at Parkland on the 17th, at Emmaus on the 24th, at PM East Jan. 27, and finally returning home for Senior Night against Stroudsburg on the last day of the month.