Massapequa, Miller Place wrestling teams win state dual meet championships

SYRACUSE — The strength of Long Island wrestling was on full display at the state dual meet championships at the SRC Arena. Long Island schools wrestled side by side and captured the Division I and Division II titles Saturday night.

Quite the accomplishment for Strong Island.

Miller Place and Shoreham-Wading River powered their way through the Division II tournament for an All-Long Island final.

Massapequa took out Minisink Valley, the state’s defending Division I champion, in a wild semifinal. It was the second time Minisink Valley failed to reach the final in the eight years of the tournament.

While Massapequa avenged its only dual meet loss of the 2025-26 season against Shenendehowa with a 42-21 win for the D-I title, it was two North Shore schools from Miller Place and Shoreham-Wading, located on the East End of Suffolk County vying for the D-II crown.

For the third time in two weeks, Miller Place took down Shoreham-Wading River with a 45-24 win to earn the Panthers the school’s first Division II dual meet state championship.

After a drop in enrollment, Miller Place (24-3) was moved into Division II this season. The Panthers were buoyed by key wins at 190 and 215 before Bradyn Ellis pinned Connor McAlvin in 3:09 at 285 pounds to clinch the win.

“It’s a close match every time with Shoreham,” Miller Place coach Matt Kaszubski said. “We had to make some adjustments to get the right matchups or it could go the other way. Our guys really came through tonight.”

With the score tied at 24, Miller Place junior Brice Browning trailed Jer’Shawn Coffey 9-4 in the second period. While on their feet, Browning overpowered Coffey with a tremendous body lock and put him to his back for the pin in 3:09 for the 30-24 team lead.

“They don’t call me Big Move Brice for nothing,” he laughed. “Wow, that felt great. I’d made a few mistakes and fell behind but I stayed focused to come back and win.”

Andrew Bennett-Guma came back for a 4-2 win over James Como at 215 pounds to set up Ellis’ team clinching pin over Shoreham (25-3).

“It’s hard to beat a quality team like Shoreham once,” Kaszubski said. “Our kids were outstanding and met the challenge three times.”

Miller Place survived a brutally physical semifinal in a 39-31 win over Marcellus. The Panthers allowed a 15-point lead nearly slip away and held a 33-31 lead into the final bout of the dual at 285 pounds. Ellis sealed the win with a pin in 41 seconds for the final margin and a spot in the final.

“He’s the guy we want out there in the big spot,” Kaszubski said. “He always comes through and rises to the occasion.”

So do the guys on the Massapequa squad. They did the unthinkable, taking out the state’s top-ranked team in the semifinal from Minisink Valley and then blowing out Shenendehowa for the crown.

In the semifinal, Massapequa led Minisink Valley 31-12 with four bouts remaining. Minisink Valley rolled to four straight wins but couldn’t pull out the win as Massapequa held on for a 31-30 win.

Minisink Valley, which has won three of the past six state titles, needed a major decision or a pin at 285 to complete the comeback. They bumped up Zach Filip, the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 215 pounds, to 285 to try and take out James Mulhern.

“I wasn’t letting my guys down,” Mulhern said. “I had a job to do against a tough guy. I know deep in my heart I did what was needed for the team victory.”

Filip erased a 3-0 deficit to beat Mulhern in sudden victory, 5-3. But it was only good enough to get Minisink Valley within a point and Massapequa advanced to meet Shenendehowa for the crown.

With Minisink Valley in the rearview mirror, Massapequa opened a 31-8 lead on Joe Brooks' 5-0 win over Ethan Young at 165 pounds.

“We had some big wins and gambled in the middle of our lineup,” Massapequa coach Mike McCann said. “We moved [Jake] Nieto to 138 and [Giovanni] Addona to 144. They helped us open the huge lead.”

Nieto took out Greg Green, 11-4, in a battle of state ranked wrestlers. And Addona turned in a pin in 2:56 over Ryan Ivy. And Kai Tiringer kept the momentum with a pin in 1:10 over Zayon Simmons at 150 pounds for the 28-5 lead.

“This was personal,” said Brooks, the Massapequa team captain. “We have a group chat that’s called, ‘2026 State Champions’. We weren’t worried about what happened in December. We were missing quite a few guys. We couldn’t wait to wrestle them with our full team.”

Shenendehowa handed Massapequa (26-1) its only dual meet loss Dec. 20 at the Van Slyke Duals in Burnt Hills by a whopping 58-23 count.

“December losses are good losses,” McCann said. “We’re never ready in December. Our football team is successful, and it takes time to get those guys ready. We reset and learn from an early loss. We dial in and work a little harder and get ready for the postseason when it matters most.”