Another exciting season of varsity winter sports is in the books. Girls and boys varsity teams around eastern Suffolk County took home the hardware this season. Congratulations to all the teams and individual winners who won titles at various levels this season! Way to make Suffolk County and Section XI proud!
The Messenger is happy to report, again, that a majority of the winter sports teams covered this season have gone on to win some hardware. Whether it be individually or as a team, the Messenger spoke with varsity head coaches across Suffolk County throughout the season to highlight their teams’ successes.
Kicking off the boy’s roundup is basketball. Eastern Suffolk County schools dominated the court this season in terms of titles. The Bayshore Marauders won the Class AAA championship and the Long Island championship. Smithtown West won the Class AA title and Long Island title for the first time in school history. Mt.Sinai won the Class A championship, earning their second straight Suffolk County title.
The lanes were taken over by the Commack Cougars this season as they claimed the Suffolk County title and the New York State championship in Syracuse. The Cougars defeated East Islip for the Section XI title, with six bowlers combining for a total of 7,050 pins. At states, the Cougars combined for a total of 6,513 pins to defeat their opponent.
Commack continued to win, this time on the piste. The Cougars claimed the Suffolk County fencing title with a 14-11 win over Ward Melville. The title was their first County title in four years. Individually, Ward Melville’s William Dreyer notched his second consecutive county title.
On the mat, Sachem North took home the 2026 Division I Suffolk County title in wrestling, with Valdey Pierre, Tommy Vecchio, and Jack Cusumano leading the way. Miller Place took home the Division II Suffolk County title and the NYS title, defeating Shoreham-Wading River for both titles. Sachem East’s John Schroff (165lb), East Islip’s Rocco Destefano (132lb), Ward Melville’s Chase Philips (118lb), Bellport’s Camryn Howard (157lb), and Smithtown East’s Matthew McDermott (144lb) all won individual Suffolk County titles in February.
Wrestling also saw two Suffolk County wrestlers take home hardware at the NYS championships. Camryn Howard (157lb) of Bellport and Gavin Mangano (144lb) of Shoreham-Wading River pinned their opponents to emerge victorious. The two wrestlers returned from Albany as NYS champions. For Howard, this is his second state title.
Last but not least, hockey saw the St.Anthony’s Friars compete for and win both the Suffolk County and Long Island championships. The Friars took down the Smithtown/Hauppauge Bulls in a best-of-three series to claim the county title. In a battle for the title of Long Island, the Friars matched up against the Nassau County winner, the Long Beach Marines. St.Anthony’s defeated Long Beach 3-2 to win the Long Island championship.
Now, let’s turn it over to the girls’ side of sports and see who locked it down in their respective sports this season.
What’s that saying about “2,4,6,8… who do we appreciate?” It’s Section XI cheerleading, if anyone was wondering. The Ward Melville Patriots varsity co-ed cheerleading team led the way this season, claiming both Suffolk County and New York State titles. Sachem East won the Class A title, clinching its third consecutive Suffolk County title. The Class B title was won by Hauppauge, also their second consecutive county championship. Class C is owned by Mt.Sinai which now has nine Suffolk County titles in program history, for a 10-year-old team. In addition to a county title, the Mustangs showed up and showed out at states, winning the 2026 NYS championship. Port Jefferson took home the Class D title in 2026.
In the world of bowling, East Islip maintained its winning status, clinching both the Suffolk County and New York State championships. East Islip has won three consecutive county titles and earned its first state title since 2014. The girls were led by three seniors: Makayla Boyd, Brooke Anderson, and Peyton Scholl.
The wrestling mat saw an abundance of winners this season at both the county and state levels. Starting off with the Suffolk county champions is Rocky Point’s Zoey (94lb) and Julianna Hernandez (126lb), East Islip’s Alicia Cardona (107lb) and Ava Philips (120lb), Bellport’s Olivia Angelo (100lb), Caitlin Maragiolo (132lb), Veronica Sky-Williams (145lb), Miko Foster 185lb), and Aaliyah Morrow (152lb), Bay Shore’s Brooke-Lynn Murray (138lb) Melody Medina (165lb) and Sydney Fisher (235lb), were all winners this season. Of the 12 Suffolk County winners, Aaliyah Morrow of Bellport competed in Albany at states and won her first-ever New York State title.
On the track, we have to talk about Maggie McCormick. The senior is a track & field star for Bay Shore who won the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:23:25, claiming the New York State championship. This is nothing new to McCormick, as she’s medaled at the state meet five times now. Her coach, Shayne Lewis, has raved about McCormick and what she brings to Bay Shore when the Messenger spoke with him earlier this season.
On the piste, the Ward Melville girls’ varsity fencing team claimed the Suffolk County title. The number one team in the county fenced off against Huntington for the title, winning 14-5. Individually, Caelan Bues of Harborfields and Sophie Chen of Newfield each earned titles at the Suffolk championships back in February.
Winter is over, hopefully… With that, so are varsity winter sports. After spending a few months indoors, spring has sprung, and so have the outdoor sports. Teams across eastern Suffolk County are itching to get the season going. Some teams will look to defend their titles, others will look to claim their first. If the fall and winter sports seasons are anything to go by, we’re in for a treat this spring. Follow along as baseball, softball, lacrosse, girls’ flag football, golf, track & field, and boys’ tennis hit the fields for game day!
