NEW YORK STATE WRESTLING: OWEGO'S BUNDY SEEKS PODIUM FINISH (2020-02-27)
BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
ALBANY — The New York State Public High School Athletic Association decided this season to seed the state wrestling championships from top to bottom. In Division II, that's 17 wrestlers per weight class.
Along with the seeding change, NYSPHSAA also extended the podium from six places to eight for the first time.
That would have been great last year for Owego's Cam Bundy. As a sophomore, he reached the final eight before being eliminated in what is known as the "blood round" — the round which determined the final two wrestlers eligible to place. Wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals during day one action were guaranteed place-winners.
Bundy, one of three sophomores competing in a weight class with 14 upperclassmen in 2019, went 2-2 at 170 with losses to the eventual runner-up and fifth-place finisher. He was the seventh seed.
This year, the junior comes in as the third seed at 170 behind Norwich senior Mikey Squires and Mt. Sinai senior Matt Campo.
Squires (35-2), the heavily-favored top seed, is a three-time state place-winner, claiming runner-up honors at 152 last year. Campo (40-2) is making his third state tourney appearance. He placed third at 113 as a sophomore and fifth at 152 last year.
Bundy (30-6) has three losses to Squires — at the STAC championships, and the Section IV Division II qualifier and championships. He fell to Campo at the Windsor tournament, 6-0. His other losses came to Newark Valley's Cam Carrier, 3-1 in overtime, and Windsor's Langdon Sibley by a 2-0 count, but defeated Carrier, 4-3, on a late takedown and has beaten Sibley twice since, 6-2 and 6-0. Sibley (30-6), like Bundy, received an at-large bid to states and is seeded seventh.
"Cam has a great shot at making it to the semifinals to get a rematch vs. Campo, which we believe is a winnable match," Owego coach Nick Rodgers said. "He does have two tough kids right out of the gate so we will be taking it one match at a time and keep moving forward. Both Cam and the rest of the coaching staff expect him to be on the podium on Saturday night.
First up is Pawling's Mason Watkins (32-4), the 14th seed. Watkins is coming off a dominant Section I tournament in which he scored two falls and a major decision.
With a win, Bundy would move on to meet No. 6 Tyler Tupper (30-7) of Gouverneur (Section X) or 11th seed Dean Sheinman (22-1) of Section VIII Wheatley. Tupper scored a trio of first-period pins to win sectionals.
If victorious in the quarterfinals, Bundy would most likely get Campo or Sibley in the semis. Campo pinned all four opponents in a combined 2:07 to win sectionals.
Tupper and Sibley both dropped major decisions to Squires
