To this day, in a sport that preaches avoidance of exposing one's back at all costs, many coaches find the roll across the shoulder blades unsettling. In an effort to escape, or even reverse, his opponent, the front wrestler obtains hand control and initiates a dramatic sideways roll over his own shoulder blades. Standing Granbys, simply stated, start from the belly to back position with the wrestler in front within the grasp of the adversary behind him. The instructor's voice you hear is actually Martin's son Steve, a Virginia coaching legend in his own right, and the current head coach of Old Dominion University.Though some minor differences exist between the technique employed by Taylor against Moore, and that shown above, the central concept remains the same in both. My attendance at these camps first introduced me to a truly systematic approach to the sport of wrestling.)ДЄbove you see a standing Granby demonstrated by NCAA All American Jon Sioredas on Chris Brown, another All American. I attended the Martin's Granby School of Wrestling summer camp a number of times during those years, and Martin, then close to 80 years old, would still lead sessions. (Note: As a high schooler I had the honor of receiving instruction from Billy Martin, at least in passing.

High-level, athletic wrestlers, like David Taylor, will even occasionally hit a standing Granby: a Granby roll executed directly from the feet. From its humble beginnings in the now wrestling crazed southeastern corner of Virginia, the Granby (specifically the shoulder Granby) now is a common sight at wrestling tournaments from coast to coast. The late father of wrestling in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Billy Martin Sr., first developed the Granby, a rolling maneuver used for his wrestlers to score points while in the bottom position, sometime around 1950 while coaching at Norfolk's Granby High School. The inventor of the Granby technique could not have drawn is up any better.ДЄs it so happens, we know very well who, in fact, invented the move. The Granby has been a part of wrestling for quite a while, but rarely are standing Granbys hit with such perfection and ideal results, while in the midst of such a high profile match. Here, against Iowa's 165 pounder Nick Moore, Taylor avoids a takedown, and earns one of his own, using a stunningly performed standing Granby. That was my favorite bit of Taylor's wrestling, before finals of the 2014 Big Ten Championships where Taylor produced the above gem. Then, with his opponent almost completely out of bounds, Taylor takes Hatchett down again with a stunning super duck. Instead of letting the action proceed completely out of bounds for a restart, as most wrestlers would, Taylor cuts Hatchett loose, allowing him to return to his feet. Taylor, already winning by a large margin, ankle picks Hatchett and converts the takedown on the edge of the circle. Previously, my favorite bit of Taylor's wrestling came in the 2012 national finals against Lehigh's Brandon Hatchett. Taylor, more than any other combatant on the mat for the last four years, has shown the propensity to truly amaze a wrestling audience. If every wrestler competed like him, than college wrestling would enjoy far more popularity. During this time, he has made the NCAA finals on three occasions, winning a national championship and a Hodge Trophy, college wrestling's equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy.ДЇor the most part Taylor utterly dominates his opponents with a fun, constantly-offensive style.

In four years of competing for Penn State, the nation's top wrestling program, he has only lost three official matches to two opponents. David Taylor has a penchant for the spectacular.

Elbow roll motionbuilder 2014