READING - Not much has been able to stop Jim Thorpe's Kevan Gentile this season.

The junior entered the Class AA Southeast Regional Tournament with a nearly flawless record and plenty of momentum after winning a District 11 AA title just a week earlier.On Saturday night, Gentile reached another milestone in what has been an extraordinary season when he pinned Boiling Springs' Jalin Hankerson in the 106-pound final to earn the first regional title in Jim Thorpe's history."I wanted this so bad," Gentile said. "I wasn't going to let anything stop me this year."Gentile's performance highlighted a tournament that featured 15 Times News area wrestlers placing in the top six, all of which advanced to next week's PIAA Championships. Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Palmerton, Panther Valley and Tamaqua will all have at least one representative in Hershey.In addition to Gentile, Northwestern's Caleb Clymer (138), Northern Lehigh's Ryan Farber (145) and Lehighton's Connor Frey (182) also advanced to the championship final in their respective weight classes.Worth the WaitAfter reaching the semifinals last year, Gentile lost his final three matches to finish sixth, failing to advance to the PIAA Championships.With the number state qualifiers from the Southeast Regional increasing to six this year, Gentile had secured his spot in Hershey by reaching the semis on Friday night.But that simply wasn't going to be enough for the junior, who wanted to finish the job and leave with a title."It's just such an amazing feeling," Gentile said. "I've worked all year for this, and I'm so happy I was able to do it."He did it in style, too, pinning three of his four opponents, and earning a major decision in the other victory.The convincing wins were especially satisfying for Jim Thorpe head coach Shawn Albert, who has seen Gentile come a long way since he entered the program."To me, he's earned everything he's worked for since Day 1," Albert said. "He's been around wrestling since junior high…and he deserves a lot of credit for where he is."But I'm also excited to see how he dominated kids in this tournament. Even in that finals match against (Jalin) Hankerson, who is a heck of a wrestler and will be for years to come. I'm just so proud of Kevan."On the VergeUnlike Gentile, Clymer, Farber and Frey weren't able to go back-to-back after winning district titles last weekend.Clymer ran into Boiling Springs' Kyle Shoop, who was a state runner-up last year, in the 138-pound final.Though he suffered an 8-0 loss, the match showed the freshman what he's capable of against the top ranked 138-pound wrestler in the state."I felt a lot more comfortable as the match went on," said Clymer. "I tried to go into it thinking I had nothing to lose and just tried to do my best."It's not the outcome I wanted, but it was great experience for me and hopefully I can ride that into states."While Clymer is hoping the exposure to top-ranked competition helps him now, Northwestern head coach Jim Moll sees many long-term benefits of the championship match."Being a freshman and qualifying for the state tournament is huge," said Moll. "In a lot of ways, it's not about being a regional champ - it's about qualifying for states."Being in this environment will help him next week, but it will also pay dividends over the next three years."Farber, who faced Biglerville's Nate Newberry in the 145-pound final, also suffered an 8-0 loss.Like Clymer, Farber is hoping the challenge of facing elite competition will decrease the learning curve in the state tournament"This tournament showed me that I can beat some really good wrestlers," he said. "And that's just going to motivate me in the room over the next couple of days to prepare for Hershey."What will also help is the fact that the Bulldogs have already competed inside the Giant Center at the PIAA Team Championships last month."I think that'll be a huge advantage for us," said Northern Lehigh head coach Steve Hluschak. "Just knowing what the atmosphere is like and what the procedures are will be big, because there's nothing else that can simulate that."Frey, who placed fourth in last year's regional tournament, proved throughout the weekend that he's among the best in the state at 182 pounds.The junior took Bermudian Springs' Colton Dull, who finished seventh in Hershey last season, to overtime before losing a 3-1 decision in the 182-pound final."Going into the match, I promised myself that I would leave everything out there, and try every move that I knew," Frey said afterwards. "I didn't want to have any regrets coming out of that match."I knew that if I wanted to have a chance to win I had to give it everything I had. It could have gone either way, and I just came up short."Though he didn't come away with a title, it's clear the Frey is ready to be a factor heading into his second appearance in Hershey."It's rare when you go out (to states) the first time and medal," said Lehighton head coach Danny Williams. "A lot of times a kid will make it out his first year and wrestle tough, but not place, and then come back the next year and get that medal."He was a match away from getting a medal last year, and that experience sets him up to do well this year."Moving OnGentile, Clymer, Farber and Frey will be joined at the PIAA Championships by: Northern Lehigh's Matt Schmall (3rd, 132) and Colten Rex (5th, 113); Northwestern's Matt Peters (6th, 106), Quentin Bernhard (6th, 120) and Jarret White (5th, 126); Palmerton's Zachary Graver (5th, 170) and Jared Mooney (6th, 182); Panther Valley's Rian Shubeck (3rd, 195), Darren Goida (6th, 126) and Ali Capobianco (6th, 138); and Tamaqua's Dylan Rynkiewicz (4th, 132).