This past weekend in Hershey, Whitehall 107-pounder Willmont Kai earned the Zephyrs’ first state wrestling medal since Taray Carey claimed sixth at 215 pounds in 2010.

He battled his way through a tough, balanced weight class that culminated in defeating District XI and Northeast Regional champion Nick Salamone of Easton 14-4 in the seventh-place match, a week after dropping a 2-0 decision to the Rover for the regional title.

Kai described the experience of winning the medal, “It feels great. Seeing my name on that board every time I go in that room now, it’s going to make want to put in even more work and work even harder in the offseason. Winning that blood round match, that was huge. I felt great. I felt excited. I couldn’t stop talking about it. Couldn’t stop watching it when I got back to the hotel later that night.”

The seventh-place finish undersells how well Kai wrestled over the three days and how razor-thin the margins at states are. His first loss was to eventual champion Dominick Morrison of Hatboro-Horsham 2-0 in the quarterfinals. His loss in the consolations was 4-2 to Alexander Diaz of Council Rock North, who finished third at 107.

Outside of the major decision against Salamone, Kai’s other wins were 1-0 on a third period escape versus Sam Culp of Red Land in the opening round. In the crucial blood round, he beat Dylan Barrett of Penn Trafford 9-6.

Head coach Tim Cunningham spoke about his medal-winning sophomore, “Willmont is a special kid, a special talent. Loves the sport of wrestling. He’ll do whatever it takes work-ethic-wise. He does all the little things to get better. Last year, I brought him here to watch and he told me as we were standing watching, ‘Next year, I’ll be here.’ He had a goal in mind already and his goal for next year is to win a state title.”