WEST LAWN – It’s been a season full of firsts for Ethan Mordaunt.

A week after claiming his first district crown, the Jim Thorpe senior checked off another box on his to-do list Saturday.

Mordaunt dispatched Wilson’s Kolby Flank in 3:48 in the 220-pound final to capture his first Southeast Regional title, capping a dominant two days at Wilson West Lawn High School.

With the victory, Mordaunt joined Kevan Gentile (2015 and 2016) as just the second regional champion in school history.

“It means a lot, knowing that only one kid has ever done it besides myself, that was my freshman year,” Mordaunt said of Gentile. “It’s just exciting to be in that classification of wrestlers in our school’s history.”

Mordaunt has made his own mark this season. In addition to district and regional titles, he also captured his first Schuylkill League championship earlier this year.

But he was perhaps never more impressive than this past weekend, pinning his way through the 220-pound bracket en route to the title.

Mordaunt has also shown steady progression against top-flight talent. He topped Flank 3-1 in sudden victory overtime at district duals, and posted a 6-2 victory a week ago to win the district title.

“It definitely helps with my confidence a lot more, knowing that I only had close matches against him the past couple times we wrestled,” Mordaunt said of his previous wins over Flank. “It definitely helps, because they’re always going to be there. District 11 is well represented at 220 in the state tournament with a couple of the top kids in the state. It just shows how tough our district is, and how much I’ve improved as a wrestler.”

Mordaunt got a takedown in the final seconds of the first period to grab a 2-0 lead, controlling the match from the outset.

“I kind of was concerned to see how he would go into this championship match,” said Olympians’ mentor Shawn Albert. “I thought the first couple seconds, maybe the first 10, 15 seconds you could see it was a big stage … but he bunkered down and went to work.

“Kolby Flank is a very good wrestler, and he comes from a great program. But what I see is, he beat him in overtime the first time; the second time he beats him by quite a few points; and then he pins him. Obviously, we’re progressing in the right way, and we’re progressing at the right time.”

Mordaunt continued his momentum from Friday night, when he earned his 100th career victory, pinning District 12 champion Tyrone Fowler of Bishop McDevitt in the semis.

“I see a kid who is very confident, and very determined to achieve his goals,” said Albert. “He’s the second regional champ from Jim Thorpe, and I know that’s something that he set his mind to to make sure he did, and he’s done it.

“We’re proud of him, and excited about it. Now we get ourselves ready for states.”

Mordaunt has his sights set on making a little more history next weekend in Hershey.

“I’m just ready, and excited to make a run,” he said.

Mordaunt’s milestone highlighted a solid tournament that saw five other Times News area wrestlers punch their tickets to states.

Lehighton’s Logan Pagotto has shown throughout the postseason that he is a force to be reckoned with at 152 pounds. The senior proved it again at regionals, posting a 2-1 decision over Northern Lebanon’s Nick Winters in the consolation semifinals to reach the third-place bout.

Another statement victory followed, as Pagotto pinned Trinity’s Daniel Kosinski for the second time in as many nights, this one coming in 1:39 to capture third-place.

“He’s a scary wrestler,” Pagotto said of Kosinski. “He starts the match really fast. He came out and put me on my back right away.

“But I felt great. I feel like when you beat someone, you just get a little edge over them.”

And the pin?

“I really wanted it,” said Pagotto, who led 6-0 before getting the pin. “If I got him on his back, I wanted to finish it there.”

Pagotto battled Bermudian Springs’ Trenton Harder, the District 3 champion, in the semis, but lost a 13-3 major decision.

“I came here just wanting to be a state qualifier,” said Pagotto, who is advancing to Heshey for the first time. “I didn’t care if I got sixth; I just wanted to make it. Now that I got third, it will give me a better seed for states. It’s just great.”

Tamaqua’s Bronson Strouse edged Saucon Valley’a Nickolas Warnke 5-2 to take third-place at 285 pounds.

Strouse topped Warnke 3-2 last week in the district semis on his way to the title.

Church Farm School’s Emmanuel Lawal scored in the final seconds to edge Strouse 7-6 in the semis. The bout was a rematch of their third-place contest at the Coal Cracker Tournament, which Lawal won 3-1 in sudden victory overtime.

Tamaqua’s Nate Wickersham decked District 11 champion Kolt Schaeffer of Tri Valley in 24 seconds in the 170-pound fifth-place match.

“That was sweet,” Wickersham said with a laugh. “I thought I was getting dumped.

“I knew I was going to have to wear him out. I had a tough match at leagues against him, so I knew I just had to limit the points from neutral, not give up many points from bottom, and work what I can.”

Schaeffer topped Wickersham 10-3 at the Schuylkill League tournament.

Wickersham battled through the consolation bracket to reach the fifth-place match. The sophomore won back-to-back matches with his season on the line to secure his spot in the medal round.

Wickersham fell 6-4 to Faith Christian’s Damon Waktenbaugh in the consolation semifinals.

“It feels awesome to go to states,” Wickersham said. “Not many kids are sophomores in the upper weights going to states.

“I just learned that records don’t mean anything. You just got to wrestle your hardest, and leave it all out on the mat. You made it this far; just keep wrestling.”

Lehighton’s Chris Whiteman dropped a 4-2 decision to Page Karsteter (Fairfield) in his 145-pound fifth-place match.

Despite the setback, Whiteman was happy to reach one of his goals to round out what has been an impressive senior season, one that has included his second Schuylkill League title.

“It means a lot,” said Whiteman, who also hit 100 career wins last week at districts. “I’ve been working for this my whole wrestling career, and it feels good to go, and with one of my best friends (Pagotto). So overall, it’s a good feeling. I’m excited to have some fun this week.”

Whiteman had a rematch with Notre Dame Green Pond’s District 11 champ Andrew Cerniglia in the semis. After getting pinned by Cerniglia in the district semis a week ago, Whiteman lost by technical fall in the rematch.

Jim Thorpe’s Derek Hunter was pinned by Boiling Springs’ Damon Jones in 4:19 in the fifth-place match.

Hunter battled through the consolation bracket, recording two pins before dropping a 5-3 decision to Strouse in the consolation semifinals.

Four area wrestlers had their seasons come to an end in the second round of consolations.

Northwestern’s Jake Dellicker dropped a 12-3 major decision to Ethan Slaybaugh (Biglerville) in his 113-pound match, while Will Dellicker lost a 4-0 decision to David Bortz (Tulpehocken) in his 160-pound bout.

Lehighton’s Alex Zeigenfuss suffered an 8-1 setback to Dominic Kelly (Trinity) in the second round of consolations at 195. Tamaqua’s Aaron Coccio lost a 14-9 decision to Dorian Gonzalez (Newport) in his 132-pound bout.

D11 DOMINANCE … Three of the top-five spots in the team standings were occupied by District 11 teams. Saucon Valley won the title with 125 points, with Notre Dame second (114.5) and Wilson fifth (69). Jim Thorpe was 14th (41), Tamaqua tied for 21st (32) and Lehighton 24th (27). District 11 wrestlers won seven titles Saturday. In addition to Mordaunt, Notre Dame’s Ryan Crookham (120), Saucon Valley’s Josh Jones (132) and Matthew Arciuolo (160), Wilson’s Marckis Branford (138), Mahanoy Area’s Colin Fegley (195) and North Schuylkill’s Ryan Weitz (285) also left with gold. A total of 13 District 11 wrestlers were in the finals.