But hard work pays off, and Morgret made sure he put in work all offseason. That included working out with the Buffalo Valley Wrestling Club

“I feel that really helped me out and brought me to where I am now,” the Bulldog said.

To say that hard work paid off wouldn’t quite do what happened Saturday justice.

Morgret reached the 152-pound finals at the District 4 Class AAA championships and earned a hard-fought 3-0 decision win over Shikellamy’s AJ Benedict for his first gold medal.

Louden Spotts of Jersey Shore win his match at 139 pounds during against Karson Sipley of Athens during the District Championships at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It feels really good. Last year I didn’t do too well here,” Morgret said with his gold medal draped around his neck. “I’m glad to come back and get first.”

Morgret (22-12) scored all three of his points within the first 30 seconds of Saturday’s championship final. It was 30 seconds in when Morgret wrapped up Benedict (21-17) and secured a solid takedown for three points.

The rest of the match, Morgret wrestled defensively and didn’t allow Benedict to do anything to score and come back.

“You always want to control the match, get points, you want to either keep scoring and hammering it, or ride him out until the end,” Morgret said.

Morgret is one of six Jersey Shore wrestlers to advance to next week’s regional tournament at Bethlehem Liberty and was one of two district champions.

Slate Sechrist of Jersey Shore loses his match to Brody Rebuck of Shikellamy at 215 pounds during the District Championships at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

At 139, Louden Spotts won gold and wrestled great against Athens’ Karson Sipley. Spotts trailed Sipley in the first period just nine seconds in when Sipley recorded a takedown for a 3-0 lead.

Spotts kept working and fighting for points. He recorded a point with 58 seconds left thanks to an escape and with 16 seconds remaining in the first period, had a key takedown for three points and a 4-3 lead over Sipley. It was a lead Spotts wouldn’t relinquish.

In the second period, neither wrestler scored a point.

In the third period, Spotts had an escape immediately to start the period and then, with 37 seconds left, all but sealed the bout with another big takedown for the 8-3 lead.

Shore’s other qualifiers were Slate Sechrist (215, silver), Mazden Lutpon (145, third), Jonathan Dincher (160, third) and Zeke Sechrist (172, third). The top 3 finishers at each weight advanced to regionals.

“We really came up since last year. Last year we only had about three or four regional qualifiers, but this year everyone did a lot better,” Morgret said. “We’re feeling good now as a whole.”

Slate Sechrist came just shy of winning his first career gold medal at districts. The Bulldog, who entered districts with a 32-9 record, wrestled well against Shikellamy’s Brody Rebuck in the final at 215, and trailed just 1-0 after Rebuck secured an escape with 1:20 left in the second period. But Rebuck got Sechrist into position to secure a fall in 3:26, ending Sechrist’s title hopes as he finished with silver.

The Bulldogs did see success in the third-place finals with three champions.

Lupton fell into the consolations and had two dominant victories to fend off elimination. In the consolation semifinals, Lupton won over CMVT’s Fenway Huntington by tech fall, 16-0, 2:26. In the third-place final, Lupton picked up another tech fall, 15-0, 4:21. The Bulldog led just 3-0 in the first period, but scored five in the second for an 8-0 lead and didn’t let up in the third period.

Dincher took bronze at 160 thanks to a 10-1 major over CMVT’s Landen Hipps. Dincher led 5-0 after the first period and added to the lead in the second with four more points to go ahead, 9-0.

One bout later at 172, Zeke Sechrist earned his own bronze medal and did so in convincing fashion by posting a commanding 16-1, 2:49 tech fall over Athens’ Connor Davidson. Sechrist scored an impressive nine points in the first period alone before adding seven in the second to secure the tech fall.