It was pure jubilation for Dan Schiffert when he came off the championship mat from Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium Saturday evening.

Schiffert (HWT) slid past Northampton’s Gavin Grell with five seconds left in the third period to score the winning takedown and take home a 4-1 victory at the District 11 3A finals.

It was the highlight celebration of the night for any wrestler, as Schiffert was mobbed by teammates and family, basking in the moment of his first district gold medal.

“I quit wrestling when I was younger and picked it back up in eighth grade,” said Schiffert. “I put so much work in and my family has made a lot of sacrifices and this means a lot. We were sweaty there at the end and I was thinking about working the hip toss, but I slipped right in there.”

Schiffert’s road to the title included avenging losses during the regular season to the likes of Grell and in the semifinals, when he squeaked by Liberty’s Dante Morrison for a 3-2 win.

His heavyweight showdown with Grell on Saturday evening gave the crowd a memorable start, as both wrestlers found themselves flying into the mat side broadcast tables on two occasions in the first period.

“He [Grell] came out and wanted to show everybody who was the big dog,” Schiffert said of the first period throws into the tables. “It was sort of funny and ridiculous that he wanted to push me into the side there, but at the end of day I came out on top and that’s all that matters. I look forward to seeing him in regionals now.”

Schiffert was one of four Patriots to advance to this weekend’s Northeast Regional 3A tournament, as he’ll be joined by Ivan Bonilla (152), Keenan Ray (145) and Nicholas Lyden (139).

Bonilla had the highest finish of the final three Pates, taking home fourth place following a loss to Blue Mountain’s Owen Woll by fall in 4:14 during the third-place medal round.

Ray and Lyden secured their trips by winning their fifth place bouts, as Ray handled Parkland’s Donato Ciampittiello with a 17-0 tech fall in 4:00.

Lyden scored a 7-3 decision over Xyler Sallit of Emmaus in his fifth place medal match.

Wrestling resumes this Friday at Memorial Gymnasium at 5 p.m. and wraps up on Saturday at 4 p.m. with consolation finals and finals on three mats.

The top five placewinners from each weight class advance to Hershey for the PIAA tournament.