THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508220125
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
LIKE MOST SIBLINGS, Patrick Early, 16, and his brother Sean, 14, get into wrestling matches sometimes. The difference is that they pursue it, and on the mat, not just around the house.
Patrick will be a junior at Kempsville High this fall and will wrestle at 119. Sean, a rising freshman, outweighs his older brother by seven pounds.
``I wrestled junior varsity last year, and started two varsity matches,'' said Patrick, who also captained the JV team.
Sean finished second in the city middle school championships as an eighth-grader, wrestling for Larkspur.
The Early boys got to squirm for four days in the middle of the summer heat. They also got to roll, practice holds, drills and takedowns and learn other grappling techniques at the Granby Wrestling System Camp at Lake Wright Motel. The wrestlers used a second-floor ballroom covered with wrestling mats. They spent some time across Interstate 64 at Lake Taylor High School, too.
The brothers and 238 other hopefuls attended the second week of the four-day two sessions, July 17-20. Their assistant coach, Keith Lowrance, hosted the camp. Another group of 290 went through the drills from July 10-13.
Lowrance, a state champion at Granby High School during coach Billy Martin's heyday, supervised the practices.
``We have holds developed at Granby that are famous around the country,'' said Lowrance. ``We have wrestlers and coaches from around the country here. Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona and the state of Washington. They've heard about the Granby system.''
The number of T-shirts with strange-sounding names confirmed Lowrance's claim. Coaches from 25 scattered schools attended the camps. They didn't spend much time on the mat, but they did stay busy studying and taking notes.
The Granby name has become so well-known that Lowrance used it as a verb. He watched the wrestlers execute maneuvers and called out to them to ``Granby'' their opponents.
``I want you to Granby when he does that,'' said Lowrance, demonstrating a move in which a wrestler gained advantage by rolling his opponent and flipping him into a takedown position.
``Speed is so important,'' said Patrick Early. ``That's what you lose if you don't practice all the time. And that's what coach Lowrance teaches.''
Sean Early, winded after a brisk drill, leaned over, hands on knees and nodded at his brother's words.
``We've learned some new stuff - an arm-bar tuck, a knee-pick hold and some new takedown moves,'' he said. ``This keeps us in shape.''
Unlike the Earlys, the other wrestlers at the camp won't have Lowrance around to coach them this winter. They could, however, purchase videotapes of the Granby System Wrestling Camp to take home with them.
Lowrance served as head coach of wrestling at Kempsville for 21 years. Four years ago, he cut back and became an assistant. His college team, Michigan State, won an NCAA title during his four years in East Lansing.
``The boys have worked hard at the camps,'' he said. `` But this is not a conditioning camp. It is a skills camp. Most of these techniques are unique to Granby and coach Martin.''
Sean and Patrick Early are familiar with the Lowrance methods. For them, the camp was a ``way of keeping up,'' said Patrick, who will move up to the varsity as a regular this coming season.
David Early, their father and a coach at Brandon Middle School, looked on as his sons went against each other in a drill.
``The boys are fortunate to be coached by Lowrance all the time. Look how far some of these kids have come to attend the clinic,'' said the elder Early. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by Mort Fryman
ABOVE: Patrick Early, left, and his brother Sean practice holds they
use this year on the wrestling team at Kempsville High School.
Patrick, 16, will be a junior and his brother Sean, 14, is a rising
freshman.
LEFT: Keith Lowrance, who hosted the wrestling camp, was a state
champion at Granby High School during coach Billy Martin's heyday.
He supervised the camp.
by CNB