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From Left: Athletic Director Bryan Geist, Amanda Hoffman, Ryan Hluschak, and Matthew S. Merkle.
Photography compliments of Michael Feifel.
Ryan Hluschak
Class of 2003
Ryan graduated from Northern Lehigh High School in 2003. He participated in wrestling for 4 years, earning 4 Varsity Letters and the following awards: 2001 PIAA Wrestling 5th place; 2002 PIAA Wrestling 3rd Place; 2003 PIAA Wrestling State Champion; 1st Team Colonial League and All Morning Call Wrestling Team in 2001, 2002, 2003, the Morning Call’s Wrestler of the Year in AA (2003); and posted 149 Career Wins. Ryan also excelled in Football with over 3000 Career Rushing Yards and 47 Career Touchdowns. He was recognized by the Associated Press as an All State Football Running Back in 2002; Pennsylvania Football News All State Running Back in 2002; Times News Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002; 1st Team Colonial League Running Back in 2001 and 2002; and played in the McDonald’s All Star Game and won the Coach’s Award. Ryan also ran track for two years, and was a starting wrestler on the 2000 Northern Lehigh High School District 11 AA Wrestling Championship Team.
Ryan continued playing Football and Wrestling at Lehigh University in 2003 and then competed in Wrestling at Drexel University from 2004-2008, earning a then school record 121 Career Wins. He was also 2nd Place in Career Pins with 30, and was a 3 time Division I Academic All American. Ryan was voted Outstanding Wrestler at the Virginia Duals in 2006, placed 8th in the country to earn All American honors in 2007, and was ranked as high as 5th in the nation his Senior Season in 2008.
Ryan currently works for Accenture Federal Services in Washington, DC within the Systems Integration SAP Consulting group, concentrating on leading large scale project management engagements with federal agencies in North America.
Amanda Hoffman
Class of 1998
Amanda was an honor student and graduated from Northern Lehigh High School in 1998 earning an Athletic Scholarship to LaSalle University. Amanda played softball for 4 years where she was all area team catcher in 1997; participated in the 1997 all area softball team; and was Colonial League All League Catcher in 1996, 1997, and 1998. She also played basketball for four years scoring 1,000 points and was offensive player of the year in both her junior and senior years earning the Channel 13 Athlete of the Year in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Amanda was the starting catcher on the PIAA State Championship softball team in 1996. Amanda went on to study Psychology at Lasalle University, minoring in Education and Criminal Justice. While there she played softball as a scholarship athlete for 4 years. She then went on to get her teaching certificate at Kutztown University in both Special Education and Elementary Education. She is currently employed within the Allentown School District as a Special Education teacher. While within Allentown, Amanda earned her masters degree in Education with a Reading Specialist certificate at East Stroudsburg University finishing the program with a 4.0.
She is still involved in both softball and basketball coaching at the NJCAA level at Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC) as an assistant coach in both sports. Amanda also umpires softball within the PIAA and ASA softball leagues.
Matthew S. Merkle
Class of 1985
Matthew graduated from Northern Lehigh High School in 1985 ranked third in his class. Matthew played baseball and continues to hold the following records: Second Place 27 Season Runs Scored ; Fourth Place with Fewest Strike Outs in a Career (8); First Place in 1985 with 34 Seasonal Walks; Third Place in 1984 with 24 Seasonal Walks; and Second Place 58 Career Walks. His batting average was .352 in 84 .322 in 1985 and was the All League Selection First Team Catcher in both 1984 and 1985. He earned the Most Outstanding NL Baseball Player Award in 1985. Matthew also played football and was selected as the Northern Lehigh Scholar Athlete for the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1985.
Matthew continued his career at Penn State University with a .352 career batting average; earned 3 Varsity Letters; was selected as the Scholar Athlete for Baseball in 1989; won the NCAA Atlantic 10 Academic All- American Award just to name a few.
Matt received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Penn State University where he majored in mechanical engineering. He is employed by Air Products and has two sons Zachary (18) and Logan (12).
