STAC WRESTLING: OWEGO'S CAM BUNDY CAPTURES 170-POUND TITLE, LEADS INDIANS TO 7TH AT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS (24 PHOTOS) (2019-01-18)
BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports ReportJOHNSON CITY - A little last-minute shuffling cost Owego's Cam Bundy the top seed at the STAC Wrestling Championships here Friday. It didn't matter. He won the 170-pound championship anyway.
Bundy defeated top-seeded Nate Alyward of Chenango Valley, 10-4, to take the title. Alyward, who was pre-seeded No. 1 at 160 but moved up, rolled into the championship bout with his patented headlock, and even used it to take a 2-0 lead against Bundy. Unlike the several other headlocks he used during the tournament, he was unable to hold Bundy in position long enough to score near fall points as the Indian sophomore twisted free for an escape and would go into the second period trailing, 2-1.
With another escape, the score was tied, then Bundy used a high single leg takedown to go ahead, 4-2. Alyward would get free before the end of the period, then added another escape early in the third period to tie the bout at 4-4. With 1:27 remaining in the match, Alyward was nailed for a second stalling violation, giving Bundy a 5-4 edge. After that, it was all Bundy. He scored a takedown 22 seconds later to increase his advantage to 7-4. With the clocking ticking toward its final seconds, Alyward tried a forward roll move, but Bundy caught him on his back for a near fall.
Owego head coach Nick Rodgers said they were aware of the headlock threat, but felt Bundy was the superior wrestler.
"He headlocked one of our guys earlier, pinned him. He headlocks the guys in the semis. That's how he won that one," Rodgers said. "We came in here knowing that was exactly what he was going to do. He almost hit him with it in the first period. He got out of it. Other than that he wrestled his match. We knew he was better than that kid.
"I think he knew going into it that he was the better wrestler. That kid, he's a solid kid. He just has one really good weapon. We stay away from that, we beat him up every time."
Buddy advanced through the bracket as the No. 2 seed, pinning Susquehanna Valley's Colton Repsher in 2:49 and Corning's Dillon Kennedy in 5:23 before edging Chenango Forks' Jeremiah Allen, 5-4, in the semifinals. Against Allen, Bundy gave up a late first-period takedown, but went up, 3-2, with an escape and takedown in th second period. Allen scored escapes in the second and third, but with 58 seconds left, Bundy hit a takedown for the final verdict as Allen ran out of gas.
Although Bundy was the only Owego wrestler to reach the championship final, he wasn't the only Indian grappler to win his final bout of the day.
Senior Andrew Laubach pulled off a pair of upsets over Elmira foes to place third. He came in to the tourney seeded seventh, but moved up to No. 5 following some more last-minute shuffling. After drawing a bye, he would pin fourth-seeded Eli Carpenter in 3:14. In the semis, he was an 18-3 technical fall victim of Corning's Drew Withal. He would meet third-seeded Ryan Mahon in the third-place match and dominate for a 10-1 major decision. He countered Mahon's throw attempt for a 5-point move in the first period. In the third, after Mahon escaped, Laubach hit him with another 5-point moved to make it 10-1.
Owego's other place-winners were Matt Laubach (99), Avery Middendorf (126), Austin Culver (152) and James Bundy (182), all of whom finished fourth.
Matt Laubach won by fall, then lost by a pin before dropping an 8-6 decision to Max Morris of Norwich. Middendorf registered a pair of falls, before losing by pin in the semis. In the third-place match, he lost to Windsor's Mike McDaniels, 3-0. Culver pine his first two opponents, then suffered a pair of falls, including a second-period pin against U-E's Pierce Eynon in the consolation final. James Bundy decked his first two foes in the second period, then lost 8-0 to SV's Mitchell Knapp and 5-0 to U-E's Cole Rivell.
"I think we wrestled tough," Rodgers said. "The format of the STAC tournament was changed so there were no wrestlebacks. We had six guys make it to the semifinals. We were hoping for a few more, but the guys who got here wrestled tough."
Due to the threat of an impending winter storm, the tournament was cut from two days to one, basically making it a one-and-done format. Anyone who suffered a loss in the preliminary or quarterfinal rounds was eliminated without an opportunity to try to wrestle back through the consolation bracket, Wrestlers who lost in the semifinals were guaranteed third or fourth place.
Also competing for Owego were Zach Miner (145), Sean Heffernan (170), Tyler Benjamin (195), Mike Bridge (220), Cooper Cantella (285) and Logan Bailey (285). Heffernan was the only wrestler of the six to post a victory, scoring a first-period fall in the preliminaries before being eliminated by Alyward in the quarterfinals.
Owego returns to dual meet action Wednesday at Susquehanna Valley.
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TEAM SCORES1. Norwich 186, 2. Chenango Forks 128, 3. Horseheads 125.5, 4. Windsor 113, 5. Elmira 101, 6. Chenango Valley 93, 7. Owego 92, 8. Vestal 72, 9. Corning 67.5, 10. Susquehanna Valley 62, 11. Oneonta 58, 12. Johnson City 56, 13. Union-Endicott 50, 14. Binghamton 24, 15. Maine-Endwell 16, 16. Ithaca 8
CHAMPIONSHIP 99: Tyler Ferrara (CF) dec. Donovan Smith (Elimra), 3-2
106: Dante Geislinger (Norwich) dec. Zach Levey (Horseheads), 14-4
113: Dante Rigal (JC) dec. Andrew Brown (Norwich), 2-0
120: Nick Glanville (Norwich) by tech. fall over Constantine Gehrig (Binghamton), 16-1
126: Luke Riley (Elmira) dec. Calum Houper (Horseheads), 9-2.
132: Devin Woodworth (HH) dec. Drew Witham (Corning), 3-1
138: Logan Gumble (CF) dec. Nate Lehr (CV), 9-1
145: Colton Volpe (CV) dec. Langdon Sibley (Windsor), 5-1
152: Mike Squires (Norwich) dec. Jacob Scibek (HH), 5-3, OT
160: Gabe Monroe (Windsor) dec. Tony Giovagnoli (Oneonta), 7-3
170: Cam Bundy (Owego) dec. Nate Alyward (CV), 10-4
182: Brandon Butler (Windsor) dec. Mitchell Knapp (SV), 8-2
195: Todd DeGroat (Vestal) pinned David Kennedy (JC), 4:35
220: Lucas Scott (CF) dec. Richie Serafin (Oneonta), 5-1
285: Tyler Rice (Norwich) pinned Jeremiah Cheatham (Elmira), 5:35
THIRD PLACE 99: Max Morris (Norwich) dec. Matt Laubach (Owego), 8-6
106: Blake Brooks (Elmira) dec. Troy Hayes (Windsor), 3-1
113: Mason Edwards (Norwich) dec. Tommy Dale (HH), 8-0
120: Peter Sacco (Vestal) dec. Zander Arnold (CF), 8-4
126: Mike McDaniels (Windsor) dec. Avery Middendorf (Owego), 3-0
132: Andrew Laubach (Owego) dec. Ryan Mahon (Elmira), 10-1
138: Ethan Hart (Corning) pinned Tristan Rosas (Vestal), 4:36
145: Jarrett O'Connell (HH) dec. Keegan Stanbro (U-E), 4-2
152: Pierce Eynon (U-E) pinned Austin Culver (Owego), 2:52
160: Brady Hope (CV) dec. Quashaun Robinson (Corning), 5-3
170: Angel Francis (Norwich) pinned Jeremiah Allen (CF), 1:41
182: Cole Rivell (U-E) dec. James Bundy (Owego), 5-0
195: Trevor Frable (SV) pinned Greg Davis (M-E), 1:57
220: Collin Bidwell (Windsor) dec. Cameron Mundell (Vestal), 1-0
285: Connor Cleary (SV) pinned Hunter Gibbore (CF), no time available
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IN PHOTO 1: Owego's Cam Bundy. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
