In an upset of sorts, Perth Amboy squeezed by Old Bridge for the secondplace championship awarded at the Greater Middlesex Conference wrestling tournament held at Piscataway High School this past weekend. Championship, you say?

Well, it was a foregone conclusion that first place would go to perennial powerhouse South Plainfield and it did — by a wide margin. The Tigers accumulated 284 points, more than doubling the second-place Panthers who scored 130 points. The thirdplace Knights came in third with 124 points. Sayreville, with 105.5 points, placed fourth followed by Monroe in fifth with 105 points. The places and scores for other area teams were: South Brunswick, sixth with 104.5 points; Edison, eighth with 90.5 points; Highland Park, 12th with 57 points; East Brunswick, 14th with 39 points; North Brunswick, 16th with 35 points; a tie for 17th place between Metuchen and Spotswood with 30 points; and South River finishing in 20th place with 26 points.

While South Plainfield reaffirmed what everybody in the GMC knows — it is a program which, year in and year out — manages excellence like few teams do in New Jersey, the focus shifted to not how many points were scored, but who won the individual weight classes.

These are the results of the final round involving area teams: At 119 pounds, the top seed Herbert Quintana prevailed over second-seeded Anthony Peterson of Edison (9-6) by a 7-5 score. At 125 pounds, Edison’s top-seeded Ray De La Neuz (24-1) defeated Bishop Ahr’s Mike Pysniak (22-3), 10-3. At 135 pounds, South Plainfield’s top seeded Nick Heilmann (26-0) knocked off Monroe’s third-seeded Sam Emburgia (19- 4), 5-2. At 145 pounds, top seeded Ryan Sacco of South Plainfield pinned Old Bridge’s Jaime Bond in 1:35. At 152 pounds, Monroe’s top-seeded David Saley (23-0) scored a major decision over secondseeded Garrett Cuddey ( 23-3) of Spotswood.

Also, at 171 pounds, South Brunswick’s second-seeded Brendan Vercammen (22-1) edged top-seeded Steve Zafrani (21-2) of Old Bridge. At 189 pounds, South Plainfield’s top-seeded Mike Wagner defeated Nick Orak (20-2), second seeded, by a score of 7-4. At 215 pounds, South Plainfield’s Seth Yocum defeated Monroe’s third seed, Marc Tyson, 5-4.

In the third-place consolations, at 103 pounds, Sayreville’s Gary Siriday pinned John F. Kennedy’s Colin Farley in 1:57 to extend his record to 22-4. At 112 pounds, South River’s Mike Palambo pinned John F. Kennedy’s Mike Buttitta in 5:45 to become 20-4. At 119 pounds, South Plainfield’s Tyler Hunt defeated Anthony Geiger of Sayreville (25-4), 10-5. At 125 pounds, Piscataway’s Mike Mora defeated Jake Freed of Metuchen (17-7), 7-2. At 130 pounds, Highland Park’s D’Andre Bell (19- 4) defeated Ryan Levinsky of East Brunswick (16-5), 5-1. At 135 pounds, Bishop Ahr’s Derek Delacruz (23-3) edged Kyle Anderson of Sayreville (22-7), 3-2.

Also, at 140 pounds, Old Bridge’s Conor Hayes (23-1) defeated Devon Coates of Edison (16-6), 8-2. At 145 pounds, Bishop Ahr’s Taylor Black defeated Mike Billitz of Monroe, 5-2. At 152 pounds, Perth Amboy’s Carlos Rosario scored a major decision over Highland Park’s Louis Middletown (21-3), 12-1. At 160 pounds, Monroe’s Hunter Pipala (20-2) pinned Sayreville’s Gino Schifiano (18-9) in 1:49. At 171 pounds, Sayreville’s Alex Yanuzzelli (15- 13) defeated North Brunswick’s Ben Catanzaro (18-5), 5-4. At 189 pounds, East Brunswick’s Julian Quintin (17-4) defeated South Brunswick’s Jeff Goldhagan (18-6), 5-3. At 215 pounds, Piscataway’s Matt Recine pinned Edison’s Sean Lightner (6- 12) in 1:20. At 285 pounds (heavyweight), Bobby Sacks of South Plainfield pinned Noah Kendell of Highland Park (20-5) in 2:39.

Other area wrestlers who scored points by gaining the quarterfinals are: at 103 pounds, South Brunswick’s Chad Capraro, and Old Bridge’s Mike Nadera; at 112 pounds, Bishop Ahr’s Brian McCrystal, South Brunswick’s Justin Lopez and J.P. Stevens’ Chris Campione; at 119 pounds, Monroe’s Kyle Jensen and Old Bridge’s Joe Suozzo; at 125 pounds, Bishop Ahr’s Mike Pysniak; at 130 pounds, Sayreville’s Chris Pearson, South Brunswick’s James Pagano and Old Bridge’s Phil Sandford; at 135 pounds, Metuchen’s Kevin Sullivan and Edison’s Sebastian Ocampo; at 140 pounds, East Brunswick’s Ryan Marosy, Edison’s Devon Coates, Sayreville’s Noel Santiago, South Brunswick’s Tyler Jaramillo and Bishop Ahr’s John Dean; at 145 pounds, North Brunswick’s Sam Kuldinow and South Brunswick’s Luke Rimmer.

Also, at 152 pounds, Old Bridge’s Sebastian Bea and South Brunswick’s Jake Petrafesa; at 160 pounds, South Brunswick’s Justin Deandrea and Edison’s Bryan Duran; at 171 pounds, Metuchen’s Quin Meng and Bishop Ahr’s C.J. Hart; at 189 pounds, Spotswood’s Justin D’Amico, Highland Park’s Tyler Rios, North Brunswick’s Alex Baranov and Sayreville’s Nick Richiusa; at 215 pounds, North Brunswick’s Spiros Travlos; at 285 (heavyweight), Tyler Carlock of Sayreville.

The pairings for the sectional wrestling team champions have been announced with sixth-seeded South Brunswick (13-5) traveling to third-seeded Howell and fifthseeded Old Bridge (12-2) traveling to fourth-seeded Hillsborough in Central Jersey Group IV.

In Central Jersey Group I, sixth-seeded Metuchen (8-5) will travel to third-seeded Bordentown. In Parochial A, second-seeded Bishop Ahr (8-6) hosts St. John Vianney with the winner to face top-seeded St. Augustine. All first-round matches will be held Monday with the tournament continuing Wednesday at the site of the highest remaining seed.