Connetquot's Ryan Monahan rallies for Suffolk Div. I quarterfinal victory at 172 pounds
Ryan Monahan of Connetquot wrestles Christian St. John of Huntington in a 172 pound matchup of the Suffolk Division I individual wrestling quarterfinals at Stony Brook University on Monday, February 13, 2023. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Ryan Monahan wasn’t going to let the opportunity to wrestle for the Suffolk wrestling title slip away.
The Connetquot senior got caught in a powerful front headlock by Huntington junior Christian St. John in the second period of their quarterfinal bout at 172 pounds in the Island Federal Arena at the Suffolk County Division I wrestling championships at Stony Brook University.
He was inches away from being pinned.
“He caught me with his best move,” Monahan said. “But I wouldn’t give up and battled my [butt] off to get out.”
The second-seeded Monahan broke St. John’s hold and proceeded to score 11 of the next 13 points for a 13-7 come-from-behind win and a spot in Tuesday’s semifinal round.
Monahan, who improved to 39-1, opened the third period with a neat reversal for a 9-7 lead and nearly pinned St. John on two occasions for near-fall points and the final margin.
“This was a very tough bracket,” Monahan said. “I was in a bad spot but sometimes that’s what separates the weak from the strong. The guys that can overcome that adversity and pull out the win.”
Monahan will meet Floyd’s Aaron Nelson in the semifinal round.
At the top of the 172-pound bracket, top-seeded Robert Cunningham of Miller Place cruised through his first two bouts with a pin in 5:06 and a 19-1 win by technical fall. Cunningham (39-2) beat Monahan 5-4 earlier this year and the two are on a collision course for the final.
Defending state champion Matt Marlow of Northport (35-0) advanced to the semifinal round with a 52-second pin and a 19-2 win by technical fall at 118 pounds.
The biggest upset on the first day of wrestling came when Brentwood’s unseeded Elmer Cruz pinned second seeded Juan Pantaleon of Islip in 4:00 at 285 pounds. Cruz also pinned his quarterfinal opponent Will Siegel of Sachem North in 5:55 to advance.
Two girls qualified for the Suffolk championships for the first time in the 83 years of the sectional tournament. Newfield seventh grader Julianna Hernandez became the first girl to win a league championship when she captured the League III title. The first-place finish earned her the fifth seed in Monday’s 110-pound weight class. She drew a first-round bye before losing to freshman Devin Connelly of Longwood in the first round, 6-2. She went into the wrestleback round and dropped an 8-4 decision to Spencer Bruno of Miller Place.
“I’m proud of her and the way she battled out there,” Newfield coach Frank Ganter said. “She’s only 12 years old and she’s still learning in only her second year of wrestling. Bruno pinned her in 53 seconds earlier this year. This time she went the distance with him and was seconds away from tying the bout — she really earned that big ovation from the crowd.”
Islip junior Mora Peterson earned a spot in the Suffolk tournament after she placed fourth in the League VI tournament in the 110-pound weight class. She battled into overtime against West Babylon’s Matt Critchley and was eliminated in the pigtail bout after she gave up a takedown in a 5-3 loss.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
