When a match is already in the books and there are a few bouts left, a coach has an option of not sending out a wrestler and giving up a six team-point forfeit to the other team.
While to some, a forfeit can be seen as a sign of respect, saying, “Hey, you may have gotten the fall anyway,” or, “It is in our best interest to keep this wrestler off the mat,” to Arundel’s Tyler Goodwin, a forfeit is nothing to be celebrated.
“It is very frustrating with all the forfeits I am getting,” Goodwin said. “At tournaments, I figure I am going to get matches. You can’t really forfeit in a tournament, but yeah, I’m hating the forfeits.”
The undefeated (11-0) Goodwin has already been forfeited to a number of times in 2010, but his forfeit-less tournament in the Arundel Holiday Tournament saw four big wins for the junior in route to his 135-pound tournament title.
Tearing through his tournament competition, Goodwin wrestled just 42 seconds heading into the semifinals and dominating Georgetown prep’s Chris Fegan with a 17-1 technical fall before his tournament win.
In his second match, Goodwin recorded a nine-second fall in which he “was intentionally going for the quickest pin.”
But getting a match versus receiving the forfeit isn’t always about the win. Sometimes it is just about getting the mat experience and being able to work moves and get an experience you can’t get in the practice room.
“I wrestle with my brother a lot and when I finish a practice, so when I get a forfeit I can go home and wrestle a few minutes live with him,” Goodwin said, whose brother, Frankie Goodwin, wrestles for the University of Maryland.
Also performing well in the holiday tournament was Arundel’s logan Reece, claiming a title at the 119-pound weightclass.
“It feels great to win this thing two years in a row,” Reece said, who earned two falls in the tournament, and added a 5-4 decision over DeMatha’s Larry Lopez to enter the tournament finals.
Reece is coming off two successful years on the mat, being a two-time county finalist, one time champion, placing third twice in the regions and placing fourth in the state his freshman year.
“We have a very young team, so as a young team I would say we are doing pretty well,” Reece said. “Over the next few years we should be getting better, but this is pretty good.”
