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3A wrestling: Dallas duo, Hazleton Area’s Noonan start strong at states

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Mountain Top’s Hossage closing out a lifelong career in wrestling

<p>HERSHEY &#8211; Wrestling coaches always teach their athletes to never stop wrestling in a match no matter what the scenario.</p><p>While that&#8217;s easier said than done for a lot of wrestlers, a pair of Wyoming Valley Conference grapplers did just that and didn&#8217;t give up to pull out late victories in the PIAA Class 2A Championships on Thursday morning to reach the quarterfinals.</p><p>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Dave Evans and Hanover Area&#8217;s D.J. Erickson both notched late-second victories in their only bouts of the day to advance in the championship round.</p><p>Evans, a 120-pounder, worked a reversal with two seconds remaining to win his first round match, 5-4, and Erickson, a 152-pounder, locked in a headlock for a takedown with 27 seconds to go for a 2-1 victory in his bout.</p><p>&#8220;You gotta have a lot of heart here. You gotta be able to stay in those close matches,&#8221; Erickson said. &#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of urgency. You just gotta throw everything out the window and go get whatever points you can. You gotta do what ya gotta do.&#8221;</p><p>Joining Evans and Erickson as winners in Class 2A on Thursday were Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Bob Long (132) and Hunter Burke (145) and Tunkhannock&#8217;s Gavin D&#8217;Amato (145), who are all in the consolation rounds.</p><p>Evans, a junior, trailed Saegertown&#8217;s Alex Kightlinger 4-2 to start the third period. After being awarded a point for stalling to cut the lead to 4-3 &#8211; and being ridden out for most of the period &#8211; Evans knew he had to do something and was running out of time. Finally, with just a few ticks left on the clock, he got a leg free, hit a dump and got the two points for the reversal and the victory.</p><p>&#8220;With 16 seconds left I looked at my coach and he said &#8216;pressure back into him&#8217; and I said &#8216;OK,&#8217;&#8221; Evans said. &#8220;He was strong. He kept pulling me up on the arm, and I wasn&#8217;t listening to what my coach was saying. I was just doing what I wanted to do and then I pressured back into him and got the win there.&#8221;</p><p>Erickson, a senior, entered the third period against North Star&#8217;s Alec Supanick with no score. Supanick got a point 45 seconds into the period for an escape. But as time was winding down, Erickson still couldn&#8217;t manage the takedown. Then he saw an opening for a headlock and moved quickly getting the points late in the period then riding out his opponent for the final seconds for the win.</p><p>&#8220;You just gotta find that inner strength and the killer instinct. You gotta get that win. The win is the most important priority,&#8221; Erickson said. &#8220;I was definitely looking for other things (besides the headlock). It&#8217;s just hard to get a beat on some of these kids.&#8221;</p><p>Both regional champions from last week, Evans and Erickson also picked up wins at the state tournament last year before leaving without a medal. In this morning&#8217;s quarterfinals, Evans will meet Boiling Springs&#8217; Caydin Wickard in the round of 8, while Erickson will wrestle Trenton Harder from Bermudian Springs in the quarters; both will be eying up a berth in the state semis later in the evening.</p><p>&#8220;I definitely can&#8217;t let the pressure get to me,&#8221; said Evans, who made the quarterfinals last year in Class 3A. &#8220;Last year, I knew if I won I&#8217;d be on that podium so there were definitely a lot of nerves in me. I&#8217;m trying to go as far as I can this year. I don&#8217;t care who&#8217;s there. I&#8217;m just gonna wrestle my match and take it one at a time.&#8221;</p><p>Burke won his pigtail round bout, but then fell in the first round to returning state runner-up Caleb Dowling from St. Joseph&#8217;s.</p><p>D&#8217;Amato and Long rebounded from losses in the preliminary round to win their first consolation round bouts to stay in contention for a medal, and both looked good in the victories. D&#8217;Amato won by major decision over Lehighton&#8217;s Chris Whiteman, while Long pinned Southern Columbia&#8217;s Patrick Edmondson after losing to him twice previously this season.</p><p>&#8220;This time around it was seriously like if I don&#8217;t win this match, my wrestling career is over and that really hit hard. He just came off a big loss and I was like, if I&#8217;m ever gonna beat him it has to be now. And then it happened, and what a great feeling,&#8221; Long said. &#8220;He tried taking me straight back in a mat return and I just stepped over him and put him right on his back. He stayed there for about five seconds and the ref called the fall.&#8221;</p><p>Hanover Area&#8217;s Joey Rowley (120) and Lake-Lehman&#8217;s T.J. Meehan (220) both went 0-2 on Thursday and were eliminated from the tournament.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Hunter Burke (back) defeated Page Karsteter of Fairfield 4-0 in their 145-pound preliminary match Thursday in Hershey. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Burke3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Hunter Burke (back) defeated Page Karsteter of Fairfield 4-0 in their 145-pound preliminary match Thursday in Hershey. </caption0><photoCredit0>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Evans.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock&#8217;s Dave Evans (top) won a narrow 4-3 decision over his 120-pound Class 2A opponent Alex Kightlinger of Saegertown Thursday in their first-round match. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Evans.jpg</photo1><caption1>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Dave Evans (top) won a narrow 4-3 decision over his 120-pound Class 2A opponent Alex Kightlinger of Saegertown Thursday in their first-round match. </caption1><photoCredit1>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Erickson2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">D.J. Erickson of Hanover Area used a 2-1 decision to win his 145-pound Class 2A first-round match over Alec Supanick Thursday in Hershey. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Erickson2.jpg</photo2><caption2>D.J. Erickson of Hanover Area used a 2-1 decision to win his 145-pound Class 2A first-round match over Alec Supanick Thursday in Hershey. </caption2><photoCredit2>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Burke.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Hunter Burke (top) defeated Page Karsteter of Fairfield 4-0 in their 145-pound preliminary match Thursday in Hershey. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Burke.jpg</photo3><caption3>Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Hunter Burke (top) defeated Page Karsteter of Fairfield 4-0 in their 145-pound preliminary match Thursday in Hershey. </caption3><photoCredit3>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Evans2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock&#8217;s Dave Evans won a narrow 4-3 decision over his 120-pound Class 2A opponent Alex Kightlinger of Saegertown Thursday in their first-round match. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Evans2.jpg</photo4><caption4>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Dave Evans won a narrow 4-3 decision over his 120-pound Class 2A opponent Alex Kightlinger of Saegertown Thursday in their first-round match. </caption4><photoCredit4>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Meehan.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Joey Coblentz of Pequea Valley grabs hold of Lake Lehman&#8217;s T.J. Meehan (left) during their 220-pound consolation bout Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Meehan.jpg</photo5><caption5>Joey Coblentz of Pequea Valley grabs hold of Lake Lehman&#8217;s T.J. Meehan (left) during their 220-pound consolation bout Thursday. </caption5><photoCredit5>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_damato_r2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gavin D&#8217;Amato (top) of Tunkhannock controls Chris Whiteman of Lehighton during their 145-pound consolation match Thursday. D&#8217;Amato won by major decision, 16-5. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_damato_r2.jpg</photo6><caption6>Gavin D&#8217;Amato (top) of Tunkhannock controls Chris Whiteman of Lehighton during their 145-pound consolation match Thursday. D&#8217;Amato won by major decision, 16-5. </caption6><photoCredit6>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit6></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Erickson3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">D.J. Erickson of Hanover Area used a 2-1 decision to win his 145-pound Class 2A first-round match over Alec Supanick Thursday in Hershey. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo7>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Erickson3.jpg</photo7><caption7>D.J. Erickson of Hanover Area used a 2-1 decision to win his 145-pound Class 2A first-round match over Alec Supanick Thursday in Hershey. </caption7><photoCredit7>Ed Boardman | For Times Leader </photoCredit7></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

2A wrestling: Last-minute magic lifts Evans, Erickson into PIAA quarterfinals