Seaford crowns three champions

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Seaford followed up its first Nassau County Division II dual meet wrestling title in program history with another championship showing.
Three Viking grapplers stood on top of the podium during the Nassau County Division 2 wrestling championships last Saturday at Cold Spring Harbor High School and will now get a chance to hit the mats against the best in the state. Seaford finished with 11 All County wrestlers to finish second in the team standings just five points behind Cold Spring Harbor.
“It’s been one of the best seasons Seaford has ever had and hopefully we can now have a great state tournament to put a nice finishing touch on things,” Seaford head coach Dave Takseras said. “I’m very proud of this team.”
Jake Murphy captured the 113-pound title with a 5-1 decision against cold Spring Harbor’s Max Hawkinson. The triumph puts Murphy on top of the county podium for a second straight year and positions him for a chance to earn All-State accolades at the state championships after just missing out on the honor last year.  The sophomore entered the counties as the top seed with only one loss that came while wrestling at 120.
“Since last year he has been on a mission to get back the podium,” Takseras said of Murphy, who won the 99-pound title as a freshman. “He took a big step toward that last weekend.”

Brendan O’Hagan put an explanation point on his championship in the heavyweight division by pinning Clarke’s Maxwell DeLeon just 1:06 into the match. The sophomore was also commanding en route to the championship match with a pin 14 seconds into his first bout followed by a 15-0 victory in the semifinals.
“He was completely dominant,” Takseras said of O’Hagan, who fell in last year’s county finals as a freshman at 160 and has only one loss this season that was suffered while battling a shoulder injury. “He is such a talented wrestler.”
Pat Quinn won the 182-pound title with a 7-3 decision versus Patrick Fallon of Locust Valley. The junior captured his first county title a season removed from a third place finish at 170 and met expectations as a top-seeded wrestler with three commanding wins including posting technical falls in his first two bouts.
“He has been training really hard this year,” Takseras said of Quinn. “He is a very strong kid.”
Seaford nearly missed out on crowning five county champions with 138-poounder Tom Lynch and heavyweight Nick Brandi both dropping title matches by a single point. Seven other Vikings earned All County honors with top three finished including Andrew Volpi (132), Joe Blasi (145), Hunter Wing (195), Vito Valentino (106) and Shane McClernon (126.)
Seaford’s strong finish at the individual county championships came three weeks after the Vikings won the dual meet title with a dramatic 38-37 win against Cold Spring Harbor clinched by a Frank Politi pin the 195-pound finals. The Vikings will now look to create some more winter magic with high finishes at the New York State Championships scheduled for this Friday and Saturday at the Times-Union Center in Albany.