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GMCT Wrestling: Upper weight winners' backstories as Love, Butler, Feliciano, Walsh win

andy mendlowitz, mycentraljersey.com
·4 min read

NOTE: There will be separate articles about St. Joseph and St. Thomas Aquinas which will address their upper weight winners.

PISCATAWAY – Sean Love just received a plaque for getting voted the Upper Weights Outstanding Wrestler at the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament for his scintillating win at 150.

So, what did he do to celebrate?

More: GMCT Wrestling: St. Joseph repeats as team champs with 12 medalists

More: GMCT Wrestling: Final results with first, third and fifth-place matches and team scores

The Piscataway sophomore simply went up in the empty stands, clutching a garbage bag, and helped picked up wrappers and water bottles with his teammates and other volunteers.

Remaining humble trumped getting a big head.

“Wins don’t really change how you have to act after it,” he said. “Win or lose, I was going to clean up either way because it’s our home gym. We have to take care of it and it sucks to see all the janitors by themselves cleaning it late at night so it’s good to help.”

The Piscataway wrestlers took pride in hosting the GMCT on Friday and Saturday and were welcoming to all. Heck, Love’s teammate Brian Butler found a stranded book bag with a laptop and it promptly got returned to the right coach.

Butler also did some wrestling and captured the gold at 144. Here is a look at other upper weight winners, including Colonia’s Michael Feliciano (175) and Sayreville’s Connor Walsh (285).

Love prevails

Love certainly earned his OW award. The fourth seed edged top-seeded Jake Tenebruso of Old Bridge, 8-6, in the semifinals.

In the final, he trailed 2-0 to second-seeded Sebastian Blumberg (St. Joseph). Love escaped and hit a Russian late in the third period for the 6-2 win. He avenged an 8-7 loss on Jan. 5.

“I’ve been practicing with Brian (Butler) for a while,” Love said. “It just happened. It was there. I just went for it. … I really can’t process it right now but when I get home I probably will.”

Piscataway's Sean Love holding the Upper Weights Outstanding Wrestler award at the 2014 GMC wrestling tournament.
Piscataway's Sean Love holding the Upper Weights Outstanding Wrestler award at the 2014 GMC wrestling tournament.

How’s this for Love’s improvement – as a freshman he was eliminated in the pre-quarterfinal round. Now, he held the OW award.

“Words can’t even explain how much I think I’ve improved,” Love said. “Still a lot of work to go, though.”

Butler’s leap

Piscataway’s Butler is a high jump star and committed to Rutgers for track. So, he could be excused for not wanting to go through the rigors of wrestling his senior year.

But he’s been competing since the second grade and just couldn’t give it up -- it’s in his blood.

Saturday, Butler earned an exciting 10-7 win over St. Thomas Aquinas’ Liam Zeh in the final after advancing with a pin in 55 seconds, a medical forfeit and a 9-2 win. Butler said he’s been wrestling with Zeh at club practices since fifth grade.

Piscataway’s Brian Butler beats Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Liam Zeh in the 144 lb. weight class in the GMC Tournament Final on Jan. 27, 2024 afternoon at the Piscataway High School gymnasium in Piscataway.
Piscataway’s Brian Butler beats Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Liam Zeh in the 144 lb. weight class in the GMC Tournament Final on Jan. 27, 2024 afternoon at the Piscataway High School gymnasium in Piscataway.

“We already know we’re going to have a good match either way,” Butler said. “So it was fun.”

The home Piscataway crowd helped lift Butler.

“It was definitely exciting,” he said. “The little rec wrestlers, the middle school wrestlers – I’m just glad I can inspire them, the next generation.”

Feliciano claims title

Sometimes, a loss goes a long way. At last year's GMCT, Colonia’s Michael Feliciano disappointingly – for himself – placed fifth in a tough 175-pound division. Instead of moping, he went back to work.

“It was like a turning point,” he said. “It was frustrating but it happens. You just got to use that to get better. We looked at what I was doing wrong, changed it and it worked.”

Colonia’s Michael Feliciano beats Monroe Township’s Omar Cholula in the 175 lb. weight class in the GMC Tournament Final on Jan. 27, 2024 afternoon at the Piscataway High School gymnasium in Piscataway.
Colonia’s Michael Feliciano beats Monroe Township’s Omar Cholula in the 175 lb. weight class in the GMC Tournament Final on Jan. 27, 2024 afternoon at the Piscataway High School gymnasium in Piscataway.

The rest is history.

Feliciano captured district and region titles in a scorching postseason and has continued to improve.

Saturday, he advanced to the 175 final with three falls in a combined 2:16. He earned the gold medal with a 14-8 win over Monroe’s Omar Cholula, 14-8.

Walsh guts out gold

The only things missing were shoulder pads and a helmet. The 285-pound final featured star football players in Sayreville’s Connor Walsh and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Caden Sternlieb. And it sure was a heavyweight-type final with both big guys jostling for position.

Walsh got the 2-1 win in overtime after riding out Sternlieb and then escaping in the tiebreaker. The senior also showed heart in a 5-4 TB-1 semifinal win after opening with two pins.

Sayreville’s Connor Walsh beats Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Caden Sternlieb in the 285 lb. weight class in the GMC Tournament Final on Jan. 27, 2024 afternoon at the Piscataway High School gymnasium in Piscataway.
Sayreville’s Connor Walsh beats Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Caden Sternlieb in the 285 lb. weight class in the GMC Tournament Final on Jan. 27, 2024 afternoon at the Piscataway High School gymnasium in Piscataway.

Hey, he’s in great shape, why not go to overtime?

“I always try to stay calm in that situation,” said Walsh, who is playing football at East Stroudsburg. “I know my conditioning’s better. I can outlast them. That’s kind of my style of wrestling. I know I’m going to be tougher than anyone I wrestle.”

Walsh, as a lighter, quicker heavyweight, is used to pushing the pace. He missed last year’s GMCT with a knee injury, so Saturday’s win was especially sweet.

“This means a lot,” Walsh said. “I wanted this. I wanted to be county champ.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Wrestling: GMCT upper weight notebook