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Misericordia tops DeSales for Freedom Conference men’s basketball title

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Colin Pasone, Hanover Area wrestling make history at Class 2A tourney

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The stage was set for the main event. All eyes were focused on the center mat in the Kingston Armory on Saturday for the District 2 Class 3A 132-pound final between Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jimmy Hoffman and Tunkhannock&#8217;s Tommy Traver.</p><p>The two powerhouses of the D2 wrestling circuit had never wrestled before. But on Saturday with a combined record of 74-1, the two highly-ranked wrestlers in the state collided.</p><p>And they didn&#8217;t disappoint.</p><p>Hoffman, who was state runner-up last year, defeated Traver 2-0 only managing a reversal in the third period for his third district gold medal.</p><p>&#8220;I like how they hyped up the match a little bit,&#8221; Hoffman said. &#8220;It feels like &#8216;yeah this is the real deal.&#8217; This is what it&#8217;s like down Hershey last year at states. So the more opportunities you get to have those matches, the better off you&#8217;ll do when it comes time for the big crowds.&#8221;</p><p>Both wrestlers had their chance in the first period with takedowns. Traver got in deep on a single leg, but couldn&#8217;t finish before a restart was called. Later in the period, Hoffman returned the favor off a tie-up, but again they were ruled out of bounds. Loud cheers and boos from the crowd were heard after both near takedowns.</p><p>With Traver choosing bottom in the second period, he couldn&#8217;t escape, but he kept fighting off Hoffman&#8217;s hands as Hoffman couldn&#8217;t work the tilt he&#8217;s mastered so many times, and couldn&#8217;t get any back points.</p><p>&#8220;Normally, I&#8217;m able to tie up the wrists and I&#8217;m able to go, but I couldn&#8217;t grab anything. He&#8217;s good,&#8221; Hoffman said. &#8220;I knew I wanted to get a turn. I wanted to get a turn. I&#8217;m a little upset I didn&#8217;t, but he&#8217;s a great kid and a great wrestler.&#8221;</p><p>In the third period, Hoffman got the reversal early on, but again he couldn&#8217;t get the tilt going for any points and settled for the 2-0 win.</p><p>It was a good test for both wrestlers as Traver was dealt his first loss of the season, and Hoffman was pushed tough for the first time since December.</p><p>&#8220;Now, I know I can ride people out and do what I have to do,&#8221; Hoffman said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t able to get a takedown, and only got a reversal, but I was able to hold onto a lead.&#8221;</p><p>Hoffman helped the Cougars claim their first team title since 2010 as they crowned four champions and scored 202.5 points finishing 41.5 points ahead of second-place West Scranton. Delaware Valley (156.5 points), Dallas (148) and Tunkhannock (137) rounded out the top five.</p><p>&#8220;This team, we&#8217;ve been together so long with Jake, Jimmy, Anthony (Martoccio), all those kids,&#8221; Cougars 195-pound two-time district champ Carson Kinney said. &#8220;It feels good that we won a district title as a team.&#8221;</p><p>Martoccio (126 pounds) and Shane Noonan (182) picked up their first district titles.</p><p>Valley West&#8217;s lightweights, freshman J.J. White (106) and sophomore David Krokowski (113), along with Tunkhannock&#8217;s Gavin D&#8217;Amato (120) and Dallas&#8217; Steven Newell (160) and Xavier Barber (170) were also champions for the Wyoming Valley Conference.</p><p>D&#8217;Amato made a little history for Tunkhannock. The freshman became the first Tiger wrestler to ever win a District 2 title. There have been a few to do so when the school wrestled in District 12 in the 1960&#8217;s, but D&#8217;Amato is the first to accomplish the feat since the school has been part of District 2. He beat Crestwood&#8217;s Jordan Miale 7-3 in the final thanks to three takedowns and only allowing three escapes to the fellow freshman.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s one of the best feelings I&#8217;ve ever had in my life. I love it,&#8221; D&#8217;Amato said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a lot of weight on my shoulders. It&#8217;s pretty astonishing.&#8221;</p><p>Youth also reigned for the Spartans&#8217; duo who topped a pair of Cougars in the finals. White defeated Jake Maurer 4-2 and Krokowski knocked off Charles Everdale 8-2 for his second straight district title. The workout partners defeated their finals opponents for the second time this season.</p><p>&#8220;He did what he was gonna do and he went in there and pushed himself and came out with the W,&#8221; Krokowski said about White.</p><p>Talking about his own match, Krokowski said: &#8220;Charles is a good competitor and I wrestled him earlier in the year. I don&#8217;t take anybody lightly. I just go out there and wrestle and score as many points as I could.&#8221;</p><p>Noonan and Newell, both sophomores also showed the depth of the conference&#8217;s youth by winning their golds with pins.</p><p>The youngsters showed off, but the seniors ultimately stole the show beating underclassmen. Martoccio pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. Barber was in the most thrilling bout of the final, and Kinney continued his dominance against an old foe.</p><p>Martoccio, who was the No. 3 seed in the 126-pound bracket, defeated No. 1 seed Jake Brown from Coughlin 4-0 in the final to pick up his first district gold.</p><p>Barber also took first at districts for the first time when he defeated Coughlin&#8217;s Jake Cole, 4-2 in overtime after trailing early.</p><p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t expecting that. He caught me off guard,&#8221; said Barber, about Cole&#8217;s very fast takedown in the first period. &#8220;It&#8217;s amazing. All my friends and family are right here supporting me. It&#8217;s a great time and I&#8217;m glad I finally got to be a champ.&#8221;</p><p>Kinney won for the sixth time in his career over Tunkhannock&#8217;s Sam Rice winning the 195-pound bracket with a 7-4 win.</p><p>&#8220;I just have to wrestle offensive on my feet. We&#8217;re always on our feet the whole match. I just get good angles and finish my shots,&#8221; Kinney said about his one-sided rivalry against Rice. &#8220;It definitely gets (harder) because he knows everything I do. I know everything he does and sometimes he wrestles defensive or I wrestle defensive.&#8221;</p><p>A total of 31 wrestlers from the WVC in Class 3A advanced to next weekend&#8217;s Northeast Regiona Tournament at Liberty H.S. in Bethlehem by finishing in the top four. Tunkhannock and Hazleton Area lead the way with seven each, while Dallas qualified five. Coughlin advanced four to regionals, Wyoming Valley West and Crestwood three each, and Pittston Area two.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jimmy Hoffman, left, beat Tunkhannock&#8217;s Tommy Traver, 2-0, for third district gold medal. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_D2WrestlingFinals_1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jimmy Hoffman, left, beat Tunkhannock&#8217;s Tommy Traver, 2-0, for third district gold medal. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_D2WrestlingFinals_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Anthony Martoccio, bottom, escapes from Coughlin&#8217;s Jake Brown in the 126-pound bout. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_D2WrestlingFinals_2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Anthony Martoccio, bottom, escapes from Coughlin&#8217;s Jake Brown in the 126-pound bout. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_D2WrestlingFinals_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s J.J. White, back, controls Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jake Maurer at 106. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_D2WrestlingFinals_3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s J.J. White, back, controls Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jake Maurer at 106. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_D2WrestlingFinals_6-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jimmy Hoffman reacts after defeating previously unbeaten Tommy Traver of Tunkhannock to win the gold medal in the 132-pound weight class of the District 23 Class 3A wrestling championships. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_D2WrestlingFinals_6-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jimmy Hoffman reacts after defeating previously unbeaten Tommy Traver of Tunkhannock to win the gold medal in the 132-pound weight class of the District 23 Class 3A wrestling championships. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Hazleton senior wins 3rd districts gold in tough bout</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Hazleton Area’s Jimmy Hoffman wins ‘hyped’ districts wrestling match