Brett Epps to be inducted into Rutgers Prep Athletics Hall of Fame

As the winningest wrestler in Rutgers Preparatory School history, Brett Epps will be inducted into his alma mater’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Epps defeated 107 opponents during a stellar scholastic career, but all those wins combined fall immeasurably short of his victory over end-stage renal disease, a devastating medical condition that nearly claimed his life.

Nineteen months after being diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare disease characterized by scarring in the part of the kidney that filters blood, Epps received a life-saving kidney transplant in June 2016 from his then fiancé Alixandra Cirigliano.

The couple, which was wed 10 months later in a ceremony solemnizing a remarkable love story, are now the proud parents of two children, Luna, 5, and Lincoln, 4.

All will be in attendance as Epps (’06) is inducted along with former baseball coach Larry Santowasso (’91), for whom Brett played, and former basketball star Niki Metzel (’16) during Rutgers Prep’s Alumni Day weekend festivities.

The induction ceremony will be held May 15 in the school’s upper gymnasium as part of Rutgers Prep’s annual student-athlete awards dinner, affectionately known as the RPS ESPYS.

A three-time Somerset County Tournament champion, NJISAA state champion, and third-place Prep National Tournament finisher, Epps compiled a 107-12 mark and set career school records which still stand for takedowns (176) and pins (73).

“I’m often asked, ‘How good was Brett Epps?’” veteran Rutgers Prep head wrestling coach Mike Lamb said. “My response is always that Brett was very hard to keep down on the mat, was really good on top, but from neutral he was not only skilled, but he would physically punish you. He would make you quit. He just always left everything on the mat. Even in the (dozen) matches Brett lost, you always felt he was a move away from putting opponents to their back. I’ve been the head coach at Rutgers Prep for 25 years and I have yet to see a wrestler as good as Brett. There have been wrestlers with good seasons, but for a four-year career, you won’t find a better wrestler that went to Rutgers Prep.”

In addition to recognizing athletic excellence, Epps’ induction is a tribute to an alumnus who continues to teach life lessons that transcend sport through exemplary character, commitment, kindness, resilience, physical and mental toughness, and contagious enthusiasm.

Attendees will be well-served to listen closely when Epps, who doesn’t take a moment of life for granted, delivers his acceptance speech.

“As intense and punishing as he was, off the mat Brett was just as amazing,” Lamb said of Epps, who went on to wrestle at Elizabethtown College (Pa.), from which he graduated in 2010. “He was a loyal teammate, friend, brother and son. He was kind and caring. Brett was, and is, truly one of a kind.”

Epps and his younger brothers Cody (‘12) and Kacy (‘09) were all wrestling team captains at Rutgers Prep, where they combined to win 255 bouts.

The younger siblings, in October 2014, created a Facebook page, fittingly titled “Wrestling My Toughest Opponent Ever,” at the time of Brett’s diagnosis to spread the word that he was looking for a living kidney donor.

The tight-knit high school wrestling community rallied around Epps with scholastic grapplers across the state wearing “Battling for Brett” T-shirts at matches over their singlets as a way of heightening awareness about his condition.

The support reflected an abundance of admiration for Brett and his entire family, a testament to Kurt and Donna Epps, who raised three outstanding young men in their Perth Amboy home.

Of the countless people wanting to be a kidney donor, including Lamb and Epps’ younger brother Cody, who were both deemed unsuitable, the perfect match ended up being Cirigliano.

Cirigliano, who began dating Epps around the time of his diagnosis when the two worked at Verizon in North Carolina, said from the onset she wanted to give him one of her kidneys, but Brett initially refused the offer believing it was his responsibility to protect Alix.

Prior to transplant, Epps was giving himself dialysis treatments at home for nine hours every evening. Even though the grueling ritual of cleansing his blood nightly took its toll physically and emotionally on Epps, he said he would rather continue dialysis than put the woman he wants to marry at risk. Cirigliano ultimately convinced Epps to accept her gift of life, saying without her kidney the couple may not be able to spend the rest of their lives together.

On June 29, 2016, Alix donated her kidney to Brett, undergoing a successful transplant at Carolina Medical Center in North Carolina. The transplant took place in the same hospital where a month earlier Brett proposed to Alix when an initial transplant attempt between the two was cancelled due to medical complications.

“He’s asking for her hand (in marriage), she’s giving him her kidney,” Kurt Epps said at the time. “It’s mind-boggling, in a way. It’s kind of like the perfect love story. For him to find his love match is one thing. For him to find the person that helps save his life is another. Through this (transplant) they are bound forever. It’s more than just spiritual.”

With Alix giving Brett a second chance at life, it only seemed fitting that the couple deserved to have a second wedding.

The Empire State Building selected their love story as the winner of its 24th annual Valentine’s Day wedding contest, providing the couple in 2018 with an all-inclusive honeymoon package and an opportunity to renew their vows from the world-renowned venue’s 86th floor observatory.

With lower Manhattan and the Hudson River providing a scenic backdrop, Brett faced Alix as the two held hands and gazed into one another’s eyes while standing in front of a makeshift altar to say “I do” once again.

“She ended up being a perfect match in more ways than one,” Brett said that day. “Luckily, I’m here, alive and able to marry her twice now. When you know love is there, it’s there. There was no second feeling, no question about when we fell in love. Even before the kidney stuff I knew I was going to marry her for the rest of my life.”

Eight days after Epps received his kidney transplant, Marisa Tufaro, who was born with a severe cardiac defect that required six open-heart surgeries, received a heart transplant.

The transplant, which was supposed to extend her life, tragically cut it short after a post-operative complication developed into a rare form of cancer known as post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, to which she succumbed in January 2017 at the age of 13.

As a sportswriter for the Home News Tribune and Courier News, Marisa’s father, Greg, covered high school wrestling, through which he got to know and admire Brett and the entire Epps family.

While Brett, who is a gifted musician with a mellifluous voice, never met Marisa, he was inspired by her life to turn a song he carried in his heart following her untimely passing into a musical tribute (you can listen to the song here).

The song and feeling behind it are a microcosm of Epps, now a doting father and husband whose compassion for others belies the beast on the wrestling mat who once beat up opponents for an impressive .899 winning percentage in high school.

Brett, who has been writing music for years, and his younger brother, Kacy, who created the beat for the tribute to Marisa, collaborated on Taught Me to Fly (Brett also designed the cover art for his YouTube post of the song).

The lyrics, some of which, including the refrain, can be found below, are written from Marisa’s perspective in heaven as she watches over her parents, Greg and Cyndi.

Sending you some hugs now

Sending all my love down, too

I know it isn’t easy, it’s not easy for the two of you

And even though I’ve flown away

You gave me the strength to be unafraid

And that’s so much more than anyone can say

Don’t hold onto the pain of yesterday

You don’t need to cry when you’re all alone

I walk close by your side

All of the love that you gave to me

I keep it with me inside

You taught me to fly

Lifted me up when I was feeling down

You taught me to fly

When you see the sun rise I’m around

I sing with the angels now

“The fact that Brett would use his talents and be moved to write this song speaks volumes about who he is and captures his quintessence,” Greg Tufaro said.

“Brett is not just a Hall of Fame athlete. He is a Hall of Fame person.”