DOVER — When Saint Mark’s knocked off No. 1-seeded Sussex Academy for the DIAA Division II boys soccer title on Nov. 15, it was a special day for a number of reasons.
It was the Spartans’ first championship since 2001, and it came on the 39th anniversary of the program’s first crown in 1986. It also gave coach Dan Swasey the opportunity to share the victory with his son, Tom, the Spartans’ sophomore goalkeeper.
But there was another family tie on the pitch that afternoon, a tale of two brothers each celebrating a state championship with a unique story to tell.
Connor Wrinn is a senior who played defense for Saint Mark’s. His brother, Brayden, is a junior midfielder. At the end of the championship game, Connor was hoisting a DIAA trophy for the second time in a week, while Brayden was thankful he was able to suit up at all.
A week before the game against Sussex Academy, Connor was a dozen miles south of Dover as part of the Saint Mark’s cross country team. He finished in 10th place, the second Spartan to cross the finish line, as the team won the Division II state championship. Between two sports and academics, he kept plenty busy.
“It was hard, obviously to balance them, but it worked out,” he said.
Swasey said coordination between Connor, cross country coach Mike DiGennaro and himself was key.
“We’ve had a lot of dual athletes, Mike and I, cross country and soccer. Connor, he knows his schedule. He’s organized. He made it real easy on Coach DiGennaro and myself,” Swasey said.
“I don’t know how many people have (won two championships in the same season), but it can’t be many. It’s due to his hard work and his dedication to both.”
After the cross country championship at Killens Pond State Park, Connor headed to Saint Mark’s and played in the Spartans’ quarterfinal matchup with St. Andrew’s, helping the team to a 3-0 shutout win. One of the goal scorers that evening was Brayden Wrinn, who up until the day before, did not know if he’d be allowed to play.
Brayden was injured in the Spartans’ third game of the season, a 2-1 win at Brandywine. He and one of the Bulldogs went up to play the ball, and Brayden came down on his side, breaking his collarbone. He spent the season watching his team win from the sideline.
He was cleared to play on Nov. 7, the day before the St. Andrew’s game. He added to his goal in that contest with another against Tower Hill in the semifinals, the only goal of the game.
“Every day I was just kind of hoping whenever I would go to the doctor’s they would clear me so I could get back out there,” Brayden said. “I had an appointment set up for the day before the first round, and they cleared me.”
Swasey said the injury forced the coaching staff to scramble a bit.
“We had to kind of piece some things together when he wasn’t there,” Swasey said. “The boys did a great job with that, no doubt. But getting him back was a big boost for us. Just a weapon like him coming off the bench, and being the goal scorer that he is, is a huge confidence boost for this team.”
Aside from the individual accolades, the brothers, members of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Hockessin, were thrilled for the soccer program. This was the Spartans’ third trip to the championship game in the past four years. The past two seasons, their tournament run has ended against Sussex Academy — in the title game in 2023 and the quarterfinals last year.
“I think we knew it was going to come,” said Connor, who expects to run in college and study engineering. “We just had to lock it down defensively because we knew they had a lot of threats out there.”
“We’ve been waiting for this all three years,” Brayden added. “We knew at the beginning of the season that it was going to be a dogfight to get here, but we got it done.”
