Goodwin Stays Perfect on Season, Regional Tourney Up Next

The march goes on for Tyler Goodwin, the standout wrestler for the Arundel Wildcats. Goodwin won the Anne Arundel County title on Saturday at Chesapeake High in Pasadena, but he still has many more things left to accomplish this season.

"Go undefeated and win a state championships," Goodwin said Sunday, the day after winning the title at 132 pounds as a junior. "I thought I pretty much controlled everything."

He won the title with a 17-0 decision over Old Mill’s Damien Sheldon.

Arundel was fourth as a team at 139 points while South River took the title with 190.5 points. Old Mill was second at 159 points and Broadneck was third with 143.5. Logan Reece was the other individual winner for Arundel.

"We did not do as good as we thought we could have," said Goodwin, whose team was third last year in the county meet. "A lot of teams had a lot of seniors and we should do well next year."

One of the few seniors for the Wildcats is Crofton resident Steve Kidwell, a senior who was second at 137 pounds. He lost in the finals on a pin by standout Alex Rice of Chesapeake.

"I approached it like any other match. I knew it would be tough. I knew I had to wrestle smart. But I got caught and could not get out of it," Kidwell said.

Kidwell plans to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Joseph, and attend the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut and compete for the school's Division III wrestling program.

"I plan to visit in March," said Steve Kidwell, who has been on campus before to see his brother. "I pretty much plan to attend. I have not signed the papers yet. The deadline is May 1."

Reece won his title 15-0 in the 114-pound event over Tyler Peck, the top seed, from Southern High.

"I felt I wrestled well, but I definitely could have wrestled better," Reece said. "I knew my semifinal match would be tougher than the finals. It was disappointing [as a team]. We were expecting at least a top three finish. We had winning as one of our goals. Fourth is not too bad."

Evan Willis of Arundel was second at 162 pounds as he upset second-seed Tom Reid of host Chesapeake before dropping a 7-5 decision to Patrick Owens of South River.

 Arundel’s Chris Milhorn finished 6th at 147 pounds, Nick Asbury finished 5th at 154 pounds, Thomas Jovinelli placed 7th at 191 pounds and Luke Brownlee finished 6th at 287 pounds.

"We had some disappointments," Kidwell said. "Some kids didn't do as well as we thought they would. We had some really bright surprises as well. Evan was a third seed and made it to the finals."

The top four from the county meet advance to the regional meet on Friday and Saturday at Wilde Lake High in Columbia.