Winning a state medal is a tremendous accomplishment, but the seasons of the other three Whitehall state qualifiers are worthy of recognition and celebration too.

Kade Pascoe found himself in the toughest weight class in AAA, 114 pounds. How tough? He was eliminated in consolations by Bethlehem Catholic’s Reef Dillard, the District XI and Northeast Regional runner-up to Northampton’s Gabe Ballard. Dillard himself was eliminated without a medal in the next round by a former state champion, Kaedyn Williams of Manheim Township.

“It felt hugely different. The environment here is just crazy. It just opens your eyes to see that we’re up with the best competition in the state. We just need to keep grinding and keep working hard. We’re going to place next year,” explained Pascoe, reflecting on his experience.

Trokon Kai’s tournament was ended 5-2 by Easton’s Ben Fanelli, the District XI and Northeast Regional runner-up at 133. Kai spoke about his first state tournament, “The lights. The atmosphere. All the people. You look around and you realize you’re in the Giant Center wrestling. It’s a nice experience. It’s something that we can learn from. Now that we’re here, we know where we can go. Where our work and dedication can take us.”

Senior Ruth Rivera, the District XI champion and regional runner-up, suffered a couple of excruciating losses in her quest to medal at the first-ever PIAA Girls State Championship.

In the first round, she led eventual sixth-place finisher Abigail Dolanch of Fort Cherry 6-3 in the third period with 1:31 left. However, Dolanch scored a reversal and took Rivera to her back earning a pin.

In what would be her final match in a Zephyr singlet, Rivera led 8-0 with 35 seconds left in her consolation bout with Karissa Springer of Selinsgrove, only to succumb to a headlock and fall.

“Everything that happened with the results, I’m very disappointed. But other than that, it’s been cool experience to see other wrestlers that me and my teammates look up to. I wish they had got to see my wrestling talent a little bit more, but there’s nothing I can do about it now,” explained Rivera.

While her Whitehall wrestling career came to an end, Rivera is not done with the sport. She will be competing for East Stroudsburg University in college. As girls wrestling continues to grow as a sport thanks to pioneers like Ruth, perhaps one day she will be back in the Zephyr wrestling room as a coach for a girls wrestling team.