After posting a school-record 18 dual meet wins during the regular season, the Whitehall wrestling team drew a familiar foe in the quarterfinal round of district duals Saturday morning at Freedom High School, Northampton.

The Zephyrs had high hopes of knocking off the Konkrete in a dual for the first time since 2005, but were unable swing any of bouts in the middle weights that appeared on paper to be winnable, as they fell 38-26.

The first four bouts of the match looked like they had put Whitehall in prime position to pull an upset.

Dalton Wickel put the Zephs on top 3-0 with a 5-2 decision over Jacob Koch in the opening bout at 215.

Ryan Tran gutted through an injury he received on a false start in the second period to hold Gavin Grell, one of the areas top-rated heavyweights, to a 7-3 regular decision.

Willmont Kai came through with a first-period pin in 1:13 of Ayden Clough at 107 to put Whitehall back on top 9-3.

Although Kade Pascoe lost a major decision at 114, it was against sensational Northampton freshman Gabe Ballard (32-1 on the season). That result had the observers mat side thinking that the Zephyrs had a legitimate chance to win.

The next 5 weight classes told the story of the match. Whitehall needed at least one bout to go their way, but the K-Kids swept 121 through 145 and all with bonus points, 1 major and 4 pins. Three of the pins were after the 5-minute mark, so there were opportunities to save team points.

After the dust settled, Northampton held an insurmountable lead 35-9 with 4 bouts to go.

Seth Pascoe pinned Robert Wambold in 1:36 at 152 pounds to break the K-Kids’ winning streak.

In another match that Whitehall would have liked to have flipped, Preston Saylor lost a 4-3 decision to Chace Roland after being ridden out in the third period at 160 pounds.

Jack Kocher was up 14-4 before registering a pin in 5:25 against Daniel Herritt at 172.

James Hopkins capped the match off with a dominant 16-0 tech fall in 5:05 versus Landon Roland.

Zephyrs’ head coach Tim Cunningham was matter-of-fact in his post-match assessment, “A lot of tossup bouts there. We were expecting a little bit more in the middle, but that comes with experience. Our guys gave everything they had. You win some, you lose some. Hopefully, they learn from this and get back in the room on Monday and get a little better.”

The team will next be back in action for individual districts at Liberty High School starting February 23. Cunningham hinted that there could be some shuffling in the Zephyrs’ lineup as some wrestlers descend in weight class to gear up for their postseason runs.