Thursday, October 1, 2026
Sewanhaka West’s Brandon VanCooten, a four-time all-conference wrestler, already had a terrific ending to his high school wrestling career in place. In his senior season, VanCooten had earned a ticket to the Nassau County championships at Hofstra University and had reached the finals in the 182-pound weight class.
Then VanCooten went and put an exclamation mark on his impressive high school wrestling run, pinning Long Beach’s Tyreek Bromley in 3:57 to win the county championship on Feb. 12. He became the first student-athlete in Elmont Memorial High School history to win a county title.
“In my mind I only expected to be All-County.” VanCooten said, “I didn’t expect to be winning a county championship. I was surprised and very happy that I was able to achieve that.”
VanCooten had suffered a one-point loss to the defending county champion Bromley earlier in the season. Bromley entered the county finals match as the clear favorite, something VanCooten used as a source of motivation.
“I enjoyed being in that underdog role,” he said. “I knew that everybody knew Bromley’s name and expected him to win. I tried to take the pace a little bit slower than the last time I faced him, and was able to time my shots better.
“I didn’t let the bright lights get to me,” VanCooten added. “I only focused on the match that was in front of me. I wanted to come out and get my revenge.”
VanCooten’s upset victory earned him a ticket to the state championships in Albany last weekend. Sewanhaka West coach Kevin Horner says it was VanCooten’s growth on the mental side of the sport that helped him reach this next level of his wrestling career.
“We always knew he was a tough kid and a great athlete, but over the past year, he’s become much more intelligent on the mat,” Horner said. “He’s one of the wrestlers we thought had a shot at winning, but to do it the way he did was more than we expected.”
