Garden Spot wrestling coach Thomas M. Hecker was killed Sunday night in a one-car accident in Brecknock Township.

"He was good at his job," said district Superintendent Robert Hollister. "He was well-liked by the kids and parents."

Hecker, 44, was in his third season as Garden Spot's wrestling coach. He took over at the start of the 2006-07 season when former wrestling coach Matt Zamperini became the school's football coach.

"When Tom came in, he took the ball running and made the team great," said Ed Yapsuga, Garden Spot's assistant athletic director. "The program was small, but he stepped everything up with the junior and varsity teams and made it something bigger."

This year, Garden Spot is 12-6 overall, and is in second place in Section 2, with a 5-2 record.

State police in Ephrata said Hecker was driving west on Panorama Drive at about 10:30 p.m. when he lost control of his vehicle and drove off the road.

Hecker's car drove into the front yard of a house in the 400 block of Lauschtown Road and struck a tree head on.

On impact, the car rotated and hit a Dumpster on the driver's side.

Hecker was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Fivepointville Fire Department was the first to arrive at the scene, and later received assistance from the Fivepointville EMS.

Pennsylvania state police are still investigating the accident.

Yapsuga said Hecker's death was announced this morning to the teachers at Garden Spot

"Then later, they called the wrestling team into the school's community room," Yapsuga said. "They let the kids know what happened, and gave them a place to be when the news broke."

Hecker is survived by his wife, Colleen, and two children: a son Mike, who is a freshman at Duquesne University, and a daughter, Sara, who is a 10th-grader at Garden Spot.