Tommy Keegan's stunning win sparks Sachem North to its first Division I wrestling title crown

Sachem North’s Tommy Keegan after winning his 124-pound match at the Suffolk Division 1 wrestling dual meet championships against Connetquot on Saturday. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Tommy Keegan would not be denied. The Sachem North senior earned his 100th career victory in a semifinal dual meet win over Bellport early Saturday afternoon helping his team advance to the Suffolk Division I dual meet championship.
But Keegan saved his best move for later that afternoon against top-seeded and undefeated Connetquot at Bay Shore High School.
Connetquot coach Bill Santoro positioned Julian Medina to meet Keegan at 124 pounds in a pivotal bout in the finals. The move made sense as Medina had majored Keegan a year ago.
The move also motivated the much-improved Keegan, a fiery team leader for Sachem and a certain catalyst in their lineup.
Medina controlled the bout and led 3-0 with eight seconds left when Keegan used a two-point reversal and put Medina to his back for two near fall points as time expired for the 4-3 win.
The six-point team swing propelled Sachem to reel off seven straight wins to wipe out a six-point deficit and go on to upset Connetquot, 28-18, and claim the school’s first Division I dual meet title.
Connetquot (19-1), which lost in the dual meet final for the second year in a row, had beaten Sachem North, 34-21, on Dec. 11 to capture the Suffolk League II title. It was North’s only loss of the season.
“We didn’t wrestle poorly but we made some bad decisions in that loss,” Sachem North coach Anthony Marino said. “It was the beginning of the season, and everyone wasn’t at the right weight and Connetquot outwrestled us. We internalized things and we were ready today.”
The rematch was no match. Sachem North (15-1) embraced the grind and won nine of the 12 weights wrestled.
“We tell our guys if there’s time on the clock there’s time to win,” Marino said. “Keegan embraced that mindset and got the big win. He’s a lifer in wrestling from kindergarten to his senior year. He’s a fantastic leader and his win ignited our bench and fired up our guys.”
Teammate Seamus McBreen clinched the championship at 160 pounds. He put the exclamation point on a spectacular team effort when he went to battle Connetquot’s Andrew Amarando. Sachem North led 22-12 with three bouts left and needed one more win to seize victory.
Amarando had McBreen flat on his stomach with a tight bar arm for more than 40 seconds but couldn’t run him over and turn the North wrestler to his back for the pin.
McBreen, who was beaten by Amarando earlier this season, fought out of the jam, and pounded his way back for two takedowns and an 8-2 upset win.
“He would have had to rip my arm off before I let him pin me,” McBreen said. “. . . It was about being mentally tough and I wanted payback badly.”
North’s Tom Vecchio followed with a 7-0 win over Kai Shapiro at 170 pounds.
“We wanted this matchup with Connetquot,” Vecchio said. “We had something to prove.”
Marino huddled his guys afterward.
“I told them we knew every weight class would be a war and how proud we were that they embraced the grind and the struggle of the six minutes with Connetquot’s guys,” he said. “That was the difference. And our guys have such an incredibly close family dynamic and once we started to win, they fed off each other.”
GLENN WINS THIRD STRAIGHT
Glenn (10-0) won seven of the first nine bouts and opened an insurmountable lead in a 42-29 win over Shoreham-Wading River to capture the school’s third straight Suffolk Division II dual meet crown.
“We have a great senior class and real good balance in our lineup,” Glenn coach T.J. Brocking said. “The program has real solid depth. We were missing four quality starters and the guys really filled in and did the job.”
Glenn had beaten Shoreham (19-6), 46-19, on Jan. 9. Senior Carmine Gerbino pinned Adam Benali in eight seconds of the first period at 215 pounds to help the Knights open a 14-0 lead.
Tom Aiello, who took fourth in the Division II state tournament at 108 pounds, turned in a pin in 3:12 over Shane Cowan at 116 pounds and Aidan Lee had a pin in 55 seconds over Jake Davis at 124 for a 32-11 lead to clinch the win.
“It’s a great group,” Brocking said. “Now we see what we can do at the state tournament.”