By: Ken Weingartner
The South Brunswick High wrestling team failed to crown a champion at the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament last weekend, but that doesn’t mean the event was a complete disappointment.
Paul Strincoski, Mike Valentino and John Nortesano each had second-place finishes for the Vikings, who as a team placed seventh in the 20-squad tournament at Piscataway High School.
And for Brady Shelcusky, who finished third at 171 pounds, the weekend was fairly rewarding. Shelcusky, who was seeded fifth in his weight class, beat Matt Voliva of Piscataway 5-2 in the consolation final.
"I wanted to go in, wrestle well, and finish higher than my seeding," Shelcusky said. "That was my goal. I’m happy I was able to do that. Overall, I think things went pretty much as expected for the team. Everyone pretty much finished where they were seeded."
Shelcusky, who was a Region 5 qualifier in 2002, didn’t place at last year’s GMCT. In the quarterfinals he won 5-0 over Mark Poore of Sayreville. He lost a 4-1 decision to John Clay of East Brunswick in the semis before bouncing back to defeat Voliva. Shelcusky is 16-5 this season.
"I think it went pretty well," he said. "And it should help my seeding for the district tournament. I just want to keep wrestling well, finish in the top three at districts and do well at regions, see if I can keep it going into the state tournament."
Shelcusky, who has been wrestling for about seven years, said he still needed to improve his technique in the neutral position to fare better in the future.
"I need to do better on my feet, be more aggressive sometimes," he said. "I think the mental part of the sport is the most difficult, remembering your technique and knowing when to do it."
Strincoski, a senior wrestling at 125 pounds, finished second at the GMCT for the second straight year. He won 5-0 over Steve Hompesch of Middlesex in the quarterfinals and pinned Chris Bellavia of North Brunswick at 1:26 of their semifinal bout. He fell in the finals, 8-5, to Mike Cilento of Colonia.
Valentino and Glenn Gross of South Plainfield have set the stage for what could be an exciting rivalry the rest of the tournament season. Gross won a 10-8 overtime decision over Valentino in the GMCT final at 160 pounds. Earlier this year, Valentino beat Gross, 6-4. Gross is considered one of the state’s top wrestlers in the weight class.
A senior, Valentino reached the finals by pinning Mike Hook of J.P. Stevens in the quarterfinals and posting a major decision, 15-3, over Stephon Cooper of Metuchen in the semis.
Nortesano advanced to the championship bout at 189 pounds by winning a major decision, 13-4, over Ian Waring of Bishop Ahr and pinning Keyvon Green of McCarrick in 1:58 of the semifinals. He lost a 9-3 decision to Felix Batista of Perth Amboy in the title tilt.
East Brunswick, without benefit of an individual champ, won the GMCT with 172.5 points.
The Vikings (2-12) visited Hillsborough on Wednesday and host Central Regional, Perth Amboy, and Southern on Saturday. It is South’s final action prior to the District 20 Tournament on Feb. 28.

