January 12, 2007

Wrestling: The Granby Way

By: Steve Franklin

Billy Martin Sr. changed the wrestling world when he introduced the Granby system in the 1950's.

In the mid 1950's, a quiet, soft spoken Norfolk man revolutionized the sport of wrestling.

A physical education teacher and wrestling coach at Granby High School, Billy Martin Sr. continuously searched for the best wrestling techniques to teach his young protégés.

One day, while working with some of his grapplers during gym class, Martin stumbled on to something big. While freestyle wrestling, one of the boys - whose name has been lost over the years - started doing a forward shoulder roll.

At first, Martin was a naysayer, doubting the move would ever work. He felt his young wrestler was being reckless and putting himself in jeopardy of getting pinned. But as the young understudy continued to use the roll over and over again, Martin became a believer. As he examined the move and began to tweak it, Martin developed what would become his greatest invention - the Granby roll.

A Granby roll is performed from an inferior or referee's position, usually when the top wrestler has a hold of the lower wrestler's waist from the side, or as the top man moves to take the back. Once this happens, the bottom wrestler rises slightly and cross steps under his own body. Using one leg as a post, the wrestler kicks high with the other leg as they perform a forward shoulder roll on the inside shoulder.

When performed correctly, it can result in an escape, reversal, or a combination move where a wrestler hooks his opponents arm rolling them onto their back for five points (two points for a reversal and three back points).

"Back then no one had ever seen this move before," two-time Olympic wrestler and 1959 Granby High School graduate Gray Simons said. "I used the Granby roll in almost every match. It became the signature move of all Granby wrestlers and helped a lot of us win state titles in high school."

Eventually, the original Granby roll developed into an entire system of integrated rolls, front headlocks, and various takedown maneuvers. It was the birth of the Granby system - a world-class style of wrestling

Using the Granby system, Martin led Granby High School to a 259-9 dual meet record with 21 state championships in his 22 years as head coach. He coached 109 individual state champions, six NCAA champions, and three Olympians. In 1980, he became the first high school wrestling coach to be elected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and was also selected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame later that year.

"He is the greatest wrestling coach there ever was," Simons said. "He knew everything there was to know and if he found something better, he made everyone learn it."

As dozens of Martin's former wrestlers went off to college the Granby system garnered fame throughout the country. The forward shoulder roll was their trademark.

"Everyone in the country knows the Granby now," Simons said. "There were just so many of us in college that were successful using the system."

Wrestling has become a family tradition in the Martin household.

Billy Martin Sr.'s four sons all won state championships in high school using techniques taught in his system.

The oldest Billy Jr. was a two-time state champion who went on to wrestle at Oklahoma State, where he was a three-time All American. David, the second son, was a four-time state titlist before jaunting off to Indiana State, where he was a conference champion. Next in line was Wayne, who won a state title in the 1970's wrestling at Kempsville High School. The youngest, Steve, won three state championships before matriculating to NCAA powerhouse Iowa, where he finished seventh in the 1989 NCAA championships.

The two younger Martin boys - Wayne and Steve - followed in their father's footsteps, becoming very successful high school coaches. In 1983, Wayne assumed control of Great Bridge's wrestling program and led them to five state titles in seven years.

In 1992, he stepped aside, and gave control to Steve, who led the Wildcats to 11 state championships in 12 years as head coach. Steve left in 2004 to take his first collegiate coaching position as head coach at Old Dominion University.

Wayne took back the reigns in his absence and won one more state title, before retiring this summer.

"Our father taught us that there's always something more to learn, and that you've got to stay on top of things," said Steve Martin. "The system that he taught is one of the most successful in history."

Together, the three Martin's used the Granby system to win 38 Virginia High School State Championships in 45 years of coaching.

In the mid 1960's Billy Martin decided to share his secrets with the world.

In need of extra income to feed his wife Mary Lou and their seven children, Billy Martin Sr. launched the Granby School of Wrestling in 1966. It was the first high school wrestling camp in the country. Since then, wrestlers from across the globe have made the annual trek to Southern Virginia to attend the weekly camp held in Hampden-Sydney. The Martin faithful claim that learning wrestling from Martin Sr., is comparable to learning football from Vince Lombardi or basketball from James Naismith.

Billy Martin Sr. annually grazed the camp until a couple years ago when he decided to retire to the family farm outside of Virginia Beach. Now at age 88, the hall of fame coach sits back as his younger sons continue the family tradition.

"People from throughout the world come to our camp to learn our system," Steve Martin said. "We get campers back each year to learn the latest version of our roll. Each year we find something to make the roll just a little better.

"We have had some very successful coaches who've come to our camp and installed the roll system at their schools."

Mike Routt, a 152-pounder at Culpeper County High School attended the camp a few years back, and the Granby roll has become a staple in his repertoire ever since.

"I'm not a big throw guy, so I learned how to get off the bottom at the Granby School," Routt said. "If I'm down a point or two and I desperately need some points, I go to the Granby roll. It works almost every time."

Critics of the roll claim that the move is dangerous. For a split second the wrestler goes to his back, and they allege the wrestler is vulnerable to being pinned.

Hogwash, says Steve Martin.

"If you come to our camp and learn it our way, there's no risk it all. The proof is in the pudding."

After seeing the results posted by the East Coast's most successful wrestling family, who can argue.

You may contact Sports Editor Steve Franklin at 825-9882, or by e-mail at sfranklin@timespapers.com.