BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
ALBANY - Owego's Cam Bundy made his debut at the 2019 NYSPHSAA Division II Wrestling Championships with an impressive 5-1 victory over Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy's Fabio Preka Times-Union Center here Friday.
Bundy, seeded seventh, would drop his quarterfinal to second-seeded Sam Wolf of Warsaw, 12-4.
In his opening bout he scored a late takedown in the first period, getting in deep on Preka's legs.
"Our game plan is to always get in on the legs and score points," Owego head coach Nick Rodgers said. "He did that early in the match. He was backing the kid up and was able to capitalize on that in the first period and then he was able to and then just stay solid, pretty much, the rest of the match."
Buddy added an escape in the second period to go up, 3-0.
The third period would see Bundy putting his opponent to his back using a fared arm bar and wrist control, picking up two near fall points for a comfortable 5-0 advantage.
Preka scored a meaningless escape late in the match to avoid being shut out.
"He got his back points on top," Rodgers said. "The kid was moving. I'd rather give up one than a roll any day, or two.
"I think he wrestled well."
In his second match, Bundy ran into Wolf, a buzzsaw on his feet. The Warsaw standout put on a takedown clinic, putting the Owego sophomore to the mat five times en route to a 12-4 major decision.
"That guy's a seasoned vet. He's been around a while," Rodgers said. "His re-attacks were just lightning fast. We couldn't answer it."
Wolf used a quick single and tilt to post a 4-0 lead, then added a takedown in the second to go ahead, 6-2. He tacked on three more takedowns in the third period.
Bundy faces the winner of Ethan Schmidt of Mattituck and Cesar Santiago of Eldred-Liberty-Sullivan in an elimination bout.
Rodgers said Bundy just needs to take it one match at a time to work his way back to the podium.
"One match at time, focus on the guy you've got in front of you've got to beat him mentally," Rodgers said. "It's tough. It's a long road to wrestle back, but just keep after it and I think we'll be OK."
