With strengths at two different parts of their lineups, the game-plan for a dual meet win fell on bonus points rather than match-ups, Friday night, ass seen by the 39-31 comeback win of No. 10 Old Mill over No. 16 Arundel.
Trailing 22-6 after receiving a forfeit at 103 and losing five consecutive matches, the Patriots were turned around with back-to-back-to-back falls from Damien Sheldon, Salaman Riddell and Ron Vaughters at 140-145 and 152, respectively, recapturing the lead at 24-22 and still looking to add more.
“I knew the strength of their lineup was at the bottom, and I knew once we got to 140 we needed to get a bunch of wins in there,” Old Mill coach Dan Youngblood said. “I had my experience coming up and I was counting on them getting big wins. They came out and got falls right through there at 140-152, and I knew we were in control at that point.”
Adding on to the prior falls, the Pats worked another two falls by Caleb Marshall (171) and Seth Holbrook (189) following a Sahand Tazdanyar decision at 160, locking in the Anne Arundel County win with enough points to drop the final two bouts of the evening.
Both squads split the evening in wins, each taking seven individual victories, but the bonus points earned in the Patriots’ five falls and one forfeit were rivaled by just three falls on the Wildcat bench, and an added bonus point from a Logan Reece major decision at 112.
“The bonus points were very big,” Vaughters explained. “Even for the kids who weren’t going to win, it was good for them to stay off their backs. And it was good for us to go out there and get pins to work extra points for the team.”
Not only was the night not looking good for the Patriots early in the meet, especially after Arundel’s Tyler Goodwin worked the fastest fall of the night at 130, decking his opponent in 15 seconds, but Steve Kidwell spladeled his opponent at 135 to put momentum completely on the Wildcat’s side.
But the trio of falls to come from Old Mill would swing the momentum in the team’s favor and help lead to the eventual win.
“Momentum brings the team up and makes us better,” Riddell said. “It builds our strength back up from us losing.”
Arundel had two other decisions early in the meet, coming from Vinny Kindall (119) and Justin Goodwin (125), and closed the match with a fall by Thomas Jovinelli (215) and decision by Luke Brownlee (285).
Old Mill is proving to be a strong opponent for anyone on in the state at this late point in the 2010-2011 season, and Coach Youngblood says the team is still getting better in the final month of competition.
“We just have to keep working hard in the room,” Youngblood acknowledged. “We are in the homestretch, here, working hard in the room, getting better single day. And if they keep working hard, the sky is the limit for this group.”
The Patriots will next face Annapolis Area Christion, Feb. 3, in preparation for No. 15 North County the following night, as the Wildcats face Severna Park, Feb. 1.
No. 10 Old Mill 39, No. 16 Arundel 31
103- Tanner Chaplin (OM) forfeit [0-6]
112- Logan Reece (A) maj dec 9-0 Colby Bibb (OM) [4-6]
119- Vinny Kindall (A) dec 12-10 Jeff Glosner (OM) [7-6]
125- Justin Goodwin (A) dec 6-4 Detric McCoy (OM) [10-6]
130- Tyler Goodwin (A) fall :15 Tim Davis (OM) [16-6]
135- Steve Kidwell (A) fall 1:19 Mark Lee (OM) [22-6]
140- Damien Sheldon (OM) fall 3:29 Timmy Brown (A) [22-12]
145- Salaman Riddell (OM) fall :26 Forrest Corona (A) [22-18]
152- Ron Vaughters (OM) fall 1:15 Justin Contryman (A) [22-24]
160- Sahand Tazanyar (OM) dec 5-2 Nick Asbury (A) [22-27]
171- Caleb Marshall (OM) fall 5:25 Evan Willis (A) [22-33]
189- Seth Holbrook (OM) fall :25 Darryl Bagley (A) [22-39]
215- Thomas Jovinelli (A) fall 3:34 Cory Beall (OM) [28-39]
285- Luke Brownlee (A) win by DQ Josh Miller (OM) [34-39]
