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SP-F's Bundy Wins the 125 UCT Wrestling Title

He was the only Raiders winner in the match on Saturday.

There's no doubt that Tristan Bundy will go down as one of the best wrestlers to ever compete for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders.

To help cement that claim, Bundy wanted to add a Union County Tournament championship to his already burgeoning resume.

Seeded second at 125, Bundy pinned opponents from Brearley and Linden to reach the championship match.

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Awaiting him there was top-seeded Dan Pisauro, who was a grappler Bundy never went up against before.

It didn't matter. In a battle of seniors both seeking their first UCT crowns, Bundy scored often in the first period, added to his lead with a couple of more points in the second and then scored the match's final two points on a reversal just before the final buzzer en route to a decisive 9-4 triumph.

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Bundy's 20th win this year and 91st overall clinched his first UCT crown during Saturday's 35th annual one-day UCT at Union High School's Louis J. Rettino Gymnasium.

"I was happy with the way I wrestled, except for that takedown, which was only the second one I've given up this year," said Bundy, who first pinned Andrew Scarillo of Brearley in 1:01 and then Adrian Betancourt of Linden in 3:29 to reach the 125 final.

After wrestling at 112 as a freshman – Bundy did not wrestle at all until the 7th grade – Bundy placed third in the 2008 and 2009 UCTs at 119.

His win over Pisauro was his 17th straight, lifting his 2009-2010 record to 20-1, which included his three Saturday victories. His career record at the moment is now 91-33 (.734).

The only wrestler to beat Bundy so far this year was Owen Boyle of North Hunterdon 7-6 in the John Goles Tournament at Watchung Hills back on Dec. 29.

Bundy was not going to be denied by a higher-seeded wrestler Saturday as he jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first two minutes and was then ahead 7-1 after four minutes.

Pisauro, with his takedown included, got the score to 7-4 before Bundy was able to score two more points right before the end.

"With four seconds left I said, 'yeah, I can keep wrestling,'" Bundy said. "I just wanted to dominate early and break him. I noticed in the second period I broke him and any time he was going to get any offensive points on me I was just going to get him back for it. I wanted to stick to my offense, dominate on top and pressure ride and that always helps and always fires me up."

Bundy was in control from the beginning, not allowing Pisauro to gain any kind of advantage in either of the first two periods.

"It's a relief off my shoulders and something I've wanted to do since my freshman year," Bundy said of winning a UCT title. "I'm just real happy. I'm having a pretty good year and I'm still hungry."

There was no real strategy for Bundy going into his match with Pisauro as far as what he knew the wrestler could do.

"I've never really seen him wrestle, so I was just thinking that I know how I wrestle and, honestly, any match I go into I believe I'm one of the best kids in the state," Bundy said. "I don't give up that many takedowns and I get a lot of takedowns. I'm really big on takedowns, so it helps me with everything I do. From the bottom, from where I escape; from the top, with points, everything starts from neutral and that's the most important thing. I wanted to come out hard in the third period and continue to break him."

"I knew this was something he really wanted to do after finishing third at 119 the last two years," said eighth-year Scotch Plains head coach John Scholz, who guided the Raiders to their only UCT crown in 2004. "Coming back to wrestle at 125, he's done a great job and was 17-1 coming into this tournament and 88-33 (lifetime)."

Bundy is now nine wins away from becoming the sixth Scotch Plains wrestler to reach 100 wins. The first five in order, according to Scholz, were Derek Francavilla, Steven Mineo, Pat Mineo, Sal Gano and - last year - Mike Ferrara.

"I've had the pleasure of wrestling with three of them," Bundy said. "When I was a freshman I never thought I would be able to get 100 wins. From here on in, every match I have to win, I have to dominate, I have to get better every week. I just want to keep dominating and have nothing close."

Scholz saw an athlete who wrestled with a lot of confidence against the top-seeded Pisauro.

"His performance was great and he's unstoppable on his feet as you can see," he said. "He had constant movement all the way through and he did a nice job on top, you can't hold him down. He's the complete package. This is good for him. He placed third in the John Goles Tournament (Dec. 29 at Watchung Hills) and then he came back to win the Union City Tournament (Jan. 16 in Union City) last week, which was great and a good prep for this. He went through this in great style.

"I can't wait to see what he does in the rest of our dual meets and then the districts and regions and, hopefully, move on from there (meaning advance to the NJSIAA Tournament – better known as the "states" - in Atlantic City). He's ready and willing and does everything in the (wrestling) room right. He motivates everyone - he's one of our captains – and he helps everyone on the team."

Bundy would like to take a lot more than 100 wins and a couple of more individual championships to the Atlantic Coast Conference and North Carolina State.

One of his idols is present NC State senior grappler Darrion Caldwell of Rahway, who in 2006 became the fifth of seven four-time UCT champions. Caldwell, who has already earned All-America honors at NC State, is taking a medical redshirt season this year and will wrap his career at the ACC school next season.

"I was talking to him (Caldwell) after my semifinal," Bundy said. "He told me, 'get the chip, it's yours.' He said that in this sport you have to take anything you can get because nobody is going to give it to you. I never did the PAL wrestling or anything like that and didn't start until 7th and 8th grade. I heard of him (Caldwell) and saw him wrestle and said, 'wow.' He's my role model, I like the way he wrestles. I'm quick on my feet and I'm athletic and it just drew me to him. I got to meet him at the end of my junior year and he said, 'we're having a camp, come on down.' What I do in Atlantic City could possibly give me some money (in terms of an athletic scholarship)."

NOTES: In the finals, which started at 145, four matches were decided in overtime.

There were four pins and one technical fall.

There were only two teams with more than one champion and champions from eight different schools.

Thirteen of the 14 top seeds reached the finals in their weight classes, with seven of them going on to win championships.

Top seeds included Mike Kalimtzis of Westfield at 103, Anthony Madonia of Brearley at 112, Anthony Rice of Brearley at 119, Dan Pisauro of Roselle Park at 125, Allen Phillips of Brearley at 130, Matt DiGiovanni of Cranford at 135. Dan Ries of Brearley at 140, Devin Geoghegan of Brearley at 145, Russell Benner of Roselle Park at 152, Dennis Carroll of Roselle Park at 160, Dawud Hicks of Plainfield at 171, Frank Yuro of Roselle Park at 189, Khusen Taramov of Brearley at 215 and Joe Brady of Cranford at heavyweight.

The seven top seeds that won titles included Kalimtzis at 103, Rice at 119, Ries at 140, Devin Geoghegan at 145, Benner at 152, Hicks at 171 and Taramov at 215.

DiGiovanni was the only top seed not to reach a final.

Returning champions who repeated as champions were Ries, Geoghegan and Taramov from Brearley and Giaccio from Cranford.

Returning champions who did not win championships included Phillips and Madonia from Brearley, Carroll and Yuro from Roselle Park and Brady from Cranford.

Mike Ridge won the 145 title last year as junior for Scotch Plains, but did not come out for wrestling this year.

Brearley won the team title for the fifth time and fifth straight year, while Roselle Park placed second for the seventh straight year, including to first-time champion Scotch Plains in 2004 and to third-time champioin Rahway in 2005.

Rahway won its first two titles in 1995 and 1996 before Roselle Park won the championship seven straight years from 1997-2003. Roselle Park has won the most championships, with the first title being contested in 1976. 

35TH ANNUAL UNION COUNTY WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

AT UNION HIGH SCHOOL'S LOUIS J. RETTINO GYMNASIUM

TEAMS: 1-Brearley 273.5. 2-Roselle Park 221. 3-Cranford 164. 4-Gov. Livingston 134. 5-New Providence 113. 6-Linden 94. 7-Rahway 87.5. 8-Scotch Plains-Fanwood 72. 9-Westfield 62.5. 10-Elizabeth 52. 11-Plainfield 49.5. 12-Union 42. 13-Johnson 28.

FINALS:

145: Devin Geoghegan, Brearley, dec. Diego Chaves, Rahway, 21-3 (TF 3:59.)

152: Russell Benner, Roselle Park, dec. John Balboni, Brearley 5-4 (OT).

160: Dillon Geoghegan, Brearley, dec. Dennis Carroll, Roselle Park, 3-2 (OT).

171: Dawud Hicks, Plainfield, pinned Maurice McCullers, Elizabeth, 1:25.

189: Frank Colder, Gov. Livingston, dec. Frank Yuro, Roselle Park, 5-0.

215: Khusen Taramov, Brearley, pinned Julian Campo, Cranford, 2:23.

HWT: Zach Troutman, New Providence, dec. Joe Brady, Cranford, 3-2 (OT).

103: Mike Kalimtzis, Westfield, pinned John Devito, Roselle Park, 2:00.

112: Joe Giaccio, Cranford, pinned Anthony Madonia, Brearley, :38.

119: Anthony Rice, Brearley, dec. Jabari Shults, Rahway, 7-4.

125: Tristan Bundy, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, dec. Dan Pisauro, Roselle Park, 9-4.

130: Mike Stepien, Gov. Livingston, dec. Allen Phillips, Brearley, 3-1 (OT).

135: Nick Lospinoso, Brearley, dec. Joe Hoy, Gov. Livingston, 7-1.

140: Danny Ries, Brearley, dec. Christian Barber, Westfield, 5-1.

Coach of the Year: Rick Iacono, Gov. Livingston.

Quickest falls: Khusen Taramov, Brearley, 3 in 6:30.

Outstanding Wrestler: Dawud Hicks, Plainfield.

Team champion: Brearley, for a fifth time and fifth straight year.

Team runner-up: Roselle Park for a seventh straight year.

Individual champions: Brearley (6), Gov. Livingston (2), Roselle Park (1), Plainfield (1), New Providence (1), Westfield (1), Cranford (1), Scotch Plains-Fanwood (1). 

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