WEST LAWN - Caleb Clymer might not have liked his start. 

But the Northwestern senior loved the finish. 

Clymer shook off a sluggish start to power past Northern Lebanon's Blaise Bressler 9-7 in the 160-pound final Saturday at the Southeast Regional tournament. The win gave Clymer his first regional title after runner-up finishes last year and as a freshman. 

"I definitely came out a little slow off the bat, and got caught on my back," Clymer said. "But he was strong, I gotta give it to him. He had a nice shot, and then he countered nice with a, kinda came up with a cradle, so kudos to him, it was nice. 

"But I was able to fight (it) off. I wasn't really panicking; I knew I could come back. I was able to get the reversal right away, and then another reversal with some back points, and then another set of back (points) right at the end of the second." 

Northwestern's Jackson Bernhard also reached the finals. Bernhard lost a 14-5 major decision to Pen Argyl's Chase Anklam in the 152-pound championship match. The contest was a  rematch of last week's district final, which Anklam also won. 

The Tigers have an area best four wrestlers headed to next week's state tournament. Colin Rex (138) advanced with a fifth place finish, while Matt Peters (132) punched his ticket to Hershey by placing sixth. 

Palmerton's Lucas Christman (145), Panther Valley's Tanner Kennedy (160) and Jim Thorpe's Ethan Mordaunt (195) placed third to advance to states. 

Panther Valley's Derrick Beckham (182) placed fifth, and Hunter Kennedy (170) sixth, to give the Panthers three wrestlers in Hershey. Tamaqua's Bronson Strouse (220) qualified for states with a sixth place finish. 

Check out Monday's Times News for more coverage of the action.