Avoca council members approve switching to LED street lights

Wilkes-Barre on track to team up with collection company to recover insurance costs for emergency service responses

<p>HERSHEY &#8212; In his first two appearances in the PIAA Class 3A Championships, Jimmy Hoffman won just twice combined.</p><p>On Thursday, in his third straight trip to Giant Center, the Hazleton Area 132-pounder equaled those victories.</p><p>The junior won twice, beating Nick Puliti from Garnet Valley by major decision 11-0 in the preliminary round then hanging on for a 1-0 win over Exeter Township&#8217;s Brett Kulp in the first round to advance to Friday&#8217;s quarterfinals. Hoffman (40-6) will meet Hempfield&#8217;s Luke Kemerer (34-3). The 3A quarters are slated to start at 2:15 p.m. Friday.</p><p>&#8220;I only got one win both years the last times I got down here and getting two in one day is a lot easier than coming back in the losers bracket but I gotta get that one win (Friday) and put me in the medal round,&#8221; Hoffman said.</p><p>In his first round match, Hoffman got an escape in the second period and rode out Kulp in the third period. Hoffman tried to tilt Kulp several times for back points to no avail. It didn&#8217;t matter, though, because he got the win anyway.</p><p>&#8220;I just couldn&#8217;t tie up his wrist or if I did I might have got back points, but oh well&#8221; he said. &#8220;If you can turn somebody down here then obviously you&#8217;re doing something right in the room. He kept a good base, it was hard to tie up his hands.&#8221;</p><p>A big occurrence in the 132-pound bracket happened before the tournament started when Parkland&#8217;s Jacob Lizak was pulled due to a skin check. Lizak was Northeast Regional champ last weekend and beat Hoffman in that event&#8217;s semifinals after Hoffman defeated him in last year&#8217;s regional tournament. Lizak was seeded atop the bracket and could have wrestled Hoffman in the semifinals.</p><p>&#8220;I kinda was upset a little bit knowing that I beat him once and he beat me once,&#8221; Hoffman noted. &#8220;And it being his senior year it sucks for him to go out like that, especially at the biggest tournament of the year, but I would have liked to wrestle him at least one more time to see who&#8217;s the better wrestler now.&#8221;</p><p>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Mike Manley joined Hoffman by winning in the preliminary round, coming from behind to knock off Gage Thomas from South Western 8-5. But he wasn&#8217;t so fortunate in the first-round bout against Belle Vernon&#8217;s Derek Verkleeren and was pinned in 1:50. Manley, a senior, drops to the consolations and will wrestle next on Friday in the second round of consolations, trying to stay in medal contention.</p><p>Dallas&#8217; Cole Dixon lost his 182-pound first round match by major decision, and didn&#8217;t have much time to regroup before having to return to the mat. But he got himself together quickly and remained in medal contention with a 5-1 win over Quakertown&#8217;s Nick Bonomo for career win No. 100. It was Dixon&#8217;s third shot looking for the milestone after losing in the regional final last weekend.</p><p>&#8220;Thirteen years of wrestling and for that to eventually happen after I lost my first match here, it&#8217;s awesome. It&#8217;s an awesome feeling,&#8221; Dixon said. &#8220;</p><p>Dixon was trailing 1-0 with time winding down in the third period and being on bottom. But he didn&#8217;t want his career to end. He got a reversal, then put Bonomo in a Peterson and grabbed three back points to collect the win, which set off a celebration by Dallas fans in attendance, who lifted up their shirts and spelled out &#8220;Dixon 100.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I guess that tradition started last year or two years ago when (Ryan) Monk got his (100th) and they painted their chests because they don&#8217;t allow signs in here,&#8221; Dixon said. &#8220;They gotta sneak in somehow.&#8221;</p><p>Dixon will try to earn a medal on Friday in the second round of consolations when he wrestles Altoona&#8217;s Brinton Simington in the round that&#8217;s slated to start at approximately 2:15 p.m.</p><p>Hoffman&#8217;s teammate Chris Lasecki (126) also participated in the first round on Thursday without having to wrestle a preliminary round bout, but he dropped his opening-round match and fell into the consolations.</p><p>On Thursday night in the consolation round, Lasecki was eliminated after going 0-2 at the state tournament for the second straight season when he lost to North Allegheny&#8217;s Luke Landefeld by technical fall.</p><p>Abington Heights&#8217; 160-pounder Nick Carr won his first-round match, beating Cumberland Valley&#8217;s Quentin Milliken 3-2 thanks to an escape in the third period then avoiding giving up a takedown. He joins Hoffman as the only two quarterfinalists on the six District 2 participants.</p><p>Scranton&#8217;s Andrew Burgette (170) and Wallenpaupack&#8217;s Todd Frick (182) will also wrestle in the second round of consolations on Friday.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Hoffman.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jimmy Hoffman of Hazleton Area (left) controls Nick Puliti of Garnet Valley during their 132-pound preliminary round match at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships in Hershey Thursday afternoon at the Giant Center. Hoffman won the match by major decision 11-0. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Hoffman.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jimmy Hoffman of Hazleton Area (left) controls Nick Puliti of Garnet Valley during their 132-pound preliminary round match at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships in Hershey Thursday afternoon at the Giant Center. Hoffman won the match by major decision 11-0. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Manley.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mike Manley of Tunkhannock (right) works to escape from Gage Thomas of South Western during 152-pound preliminary round action at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships in Hershey Thursday. Manley won the match 8-5. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Manley.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mike Manley of Tunkhannock (right) works to escape from Gage Thomas of South Western during 152-pound preliminary round action at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships in Hershey Thursday. Manley won the match 8-5. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Dallas&#8217; Dixon reaches 100-win milestone</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>drosengrant@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant</p></shirttailMeta></div>

PIAA 3A Wrestling: Hazleton Area’s Jimmy Hoffman reaches 3A quarters; Dallas’ Dixon hits 100-win milestone