Who’s Karl Edwards and what’s he been up to?
Karl Edwards is one of the area’s most prolific athletes of the 80’s. Growing up with his brother in the rough and tumble area of Harford County referred to as Lower Aberdeen (LA), Karl and his brother, Keith, were raised by their Father. He and Keith ran around “LA” with neighborhood friends, inventing games and rough housing like most adolescent boys.
Karl was bigger and physically more mature than other kids his age. The older kids recognized Karl’s fearlessness in and his willingness to ‘mix it up’. They treated him differently than the typical 10-12 year that were easily bullied and intimidated. Karl realized this one day when he was ‘allowed’ to cross a neighborhood bridge that was typically off limits to most kids, without being hassled. Eventually, an older boy offered some advice to young Karl.
Fast forward to Karl’s freshman year in high school. After ruling the JV football fields, he was eventually called up to Varsity as a 13 year old at the end of season. Karl caught the eye of an assistant football coach, that ‘directed’ Karl to the wrestling room following the football season. Karl was resistant, but the coach was persistent and eventually Karl was all in as a wrestler. After winning his first JV match at Rising Sun, Karl had the confidence needed to take on a the senior 189 pounder, Carvel Tatum, a returning state placer.
Karl was sold on athletics and was willing to do whatever it took in order to succeed. He devoted his time to school work, weight training and developing himself spiritually. Thanks to the guidance of his father, coaches like Dick Slutzky and Dave Easter, he became one of Harford’s most dominant student athletes in history.
Karl had a stellar career at Aberdeen, earning numerous All-County and All-Metro honors as a football player. But wrestling was where he really shined, winning state titles his final three seasons and being named the #1 high school heavyweight wrestler in the U.S as a 17 year old, senior. Colleges came calling from all over and Karl decided on the University of Maryland to play football as tackle. Things changed quickly, when asked to play scout team Linebacker. With a little instruction, Karl was unbeatable at his new position. He became a starting Outside Linebacker as a true freshman at a top ranked division one football team. After 4 years. Karl had managed to balance an outstanding D1 football career and a Physics curriculum.
Following college, Edwards let it be known that he was no longer interested in playing football. With opportunities in the field of Physics unappealing, Karl spent a few years training in Tae Kwan Do with JJ Coven and working many jobs. An eye injury suffered as a child prevented Karl from reaching the upper level in the combat sports arena, so Karl focused on developing a career. Karl found success in sales, sales management, and business strategy development.
Following a chance meeting at a Sam’s Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, Karl was offered a job managing a carpet cleaning business. After a few months of significant business growth, Karl decided to start his own cleaning and restoration business in late 2001. Over the next 25 years Karl and his high school sweetheart developed their business, World Class Steam and became parents of two boys and a girl.
The company that he started in 2001, World Class Steam spun off a subsidiary that specializes developing restoration technology and techniques on the cutting edge of the restoration industry. Karl lives in the Wilmington, NC area with his family, where he’s active in his church and enjoys time with his grandchildren.
