As a team, the Northwestern wrestling squad had a successful winter season, finishing as the runner-up in the Colonial League tournament and making an appearance in the District 11 Class 2A semifinals.

The Tigers, however, may have had an even more impressive run on the individual level.

During last week’s individual district tournament, six Tigers qualified for the upcoming Southeast Regional tournament, including two district silver medalists. Two other Northwestern grapplers missed out on the cut for regionals by one match in the two-day tournament held at Freedom and Liberty high schools.

Looking to repeat as district champion and return to the regional stage, Northwestern’s Caleb Clymer faced a familiar foe in Palisades’ Tyler Marsh, who he defeated in last year’s district title match. This year they met in the same round, but saw a different outcome.

Marsh got an escape with under a minute left in the third period to take a 3-2 lead. Clymer couldn’t get a takedown in the final seconds, leaving his quest for back-to-back district titles empty.

“I got a little sloppy,” Clymer said. “I probably should have had the reversal before that. It didn’t go in my favor, but that’s OK. Wrestling is all about tough matches. Everyone loses.”

That loss, however, was Clymer’s first of the winter season. He entered the tournament at 10-0 after missing much of the year with an injury. Marsh, meanwhile, held a 34-2 record after Saturday’s victory over Clymer.

“I was out most of the season with a hip injury,” Clymber said. “As the season went on, I knew the kids that were here and I still wanted to win districts. And I still want to win regionals.

“I hope I see [Marsh] next weekend in the finals,” Clymer said.

Clymer and his five regional qualifying teammates will be back on the mats Friday at Wilson West Lawn High School in Reading in hopes of earning their way to the state championship tournament March 10-12 in Hershey.

Clymer pinned Tri Valley’s Aaron Heffron in the first round of districts. He topped Williams Valley’s Colten Rebuck next, and earned a tough 4-3 decision over No. 2 seed Tegan Durishin of Lehighton in the semifinals.

The Tigers’ Quentin Bernhard reached the district title bout at 126 pounds. Unlike Clymer, Bernhard was seeking his first district title after falling in the same final round last year.

And while his quest at getting over the hump evaded him, Bernhard put together a tournament that included two pins and a 3-1 decision over Tamaqua’s Tanna McHugh in the semifinals. He dropped his title match to Saucon Valley’s Jonah Zych.

“I wrestled him [Zych] at the Colonial League championship and the district duals tournament and lost by a point there as well, 3-2,” Bernhard said. “The last time was in an ultimate tiebreaker. I knew it was going to be a tight one. I was excited, but there was a little bit of nerves. I knew I was right there.”

Bernhard understood how tough defeating Zych would be after those previous two losses. But as the No. 1 seed, Bernhard had his eyes set on the finals round.

“It definitely would have been a bummer to not do as well this year,” Bernhard said. “I wanted to shoot for the finals this time. I knew there was a lot of tough guys in my bracket all close in ability. I knew I had to come out and wrestle my best today.”

A year ago, Bernhard placed sixth at regionals to qualify for states. He’d like to put together a similar run on Friday and Saturday to make it back to Hershey.

Jarett White (third at 132 pounds), Bailey Wehr (fourth at 12 pounds), David VanBlargan (fourth at 152 pounds) and Andrew Sorensen (fourth at 170 pounds) also qualified for regionals.