Post by ideamark on Mar 29, 2007 10:07:08 GMT -5
www.intermatwrestle.com/news/newsdisplay.aspx?ID=5231
Hall of Fame coach Billy Martin Sr. passes away at 89
DATE: 3/28/2007 4:34:00 PM
Norfolk, Va
By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com
It might be fitting that a legendary life ended so closely to where the legendary legacy began.
For Billy Martin Sr., that legacy of coaching and training champions at Granby High School in Norfolk, Va., was the stuff legends were made of.
On Wednesday, March 28 at approximately 1 p.m., Billy Martin Sr., passed away at Norfolk General Hospital at the age of 89. ... less than five miles away from the historic school which he literally put on the wrestling map so many years ago.
The last month was trying for the Martin family. While Mr. Martin was recovering from hernia surgery in early March, he was readmitted to the hospital after a blood clot was found in one of his lungs. After being released on St. Patrick’s Day, Martin went in on Monday for a routine heart check up and passed away less than 48 hours later.
“It snuck up on us, it totally caught us off-guard,” said Steve Martin, Billy’s youngest son and head coach at Old Dominion University.
While his passing came as a surprise to those close to Mr. Martin, it was a legacy which stretched far beyond the Norfolk city limits that was no surprise.
Martin and his bride, Mary Lou, have spent the golden years of their lives on their farm in Knotts Island, N.C., relocating from Virginia Beach to the small Carolina town in 1980. Mary Lou still coordinating the Granby School of Wrestling camps.
As a high school coach, Martin’s career set the standard, not just in Virginia, but nationally. His Granby High School teams won 22 state titles in 23 years and he crowned 106 individual state champions, many of whom went on to college wrestling glory.
Survived by his wife and seven children and numerous grandchildren, the Martin name has been synonymous with wrestling for the greater part of a century.
A career dual record of 259-9, he had the first crack at six Granby wrestlers that went on to win 10 National Collegiate championships.
Inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1980, and as the web site states “Here, the diminutive figure of Billy Martin stands among the giants.”
All four of Martin’s sons wrestled collegiately: David at Indiana State, Billy Jr. at Oklahoma State, Wayne at Old Dominion and Steve at Iowa. Billy and Steve were NCAA All-Americans and Billy Jr. is still prevalent at many of the nation’s top events, operating Martin Screen Prints.
“Coach Martin was one of the few high school coaches to ever be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla.
“His impact on, not only those that he coached at the high school level, but those that would go on to win championships in college and compete in the Olympic games is a tremendous credit to his impact on the sport of wrestling.”
“People appreciated his creative technical passion for the sport,” said Smith. “How many people create a system that people all over the world use today. It’s a system he developed and enhanced 30-40-50 years ago that continues today.”
“What a legend he’s been and will always be,” said Smith. “We’re proud and honored that his legacy will continue to be appreciated for years to come, forever.”
The six wrestlers that went on to win NCAA titles were: two-timers Pete Blair (Navy, 1954-55) and Eddie Eichelberger (Lehigh, 1955-56), one-time champs Jim Harrison (Pittsburgh, 1963), Fred Powell (Lock Haven, 1964), George Radman (Michigan State, 1967) and three-time champ Gray Simons (Lock Haven, 1960-62).
Simons went on to represent the United States on two Olympic teams and always credited Coach Martin for his preparation.
“He gave me the best preparation anyone could give you,” said Simons. “He not only had great technique, but had great insight on how the technique evolved. He’d teach whatever hold to everybody and one person was doing it a lot better from everyone else, he’d re-learn it from the kid that would have done it best.”
“He made you love wrestling, it was hard work, but I loved practice,” said Simons of his high school days at Granby. “It was like a big laboratory. I looked forward to it every day, it was amazing. He loved the sport and he passed it along to the guys he coached.”
While Simons only one a single state title, as a sophomore, he still carried Martin’s coaching through to Lock Haven, where he won four NAIA titles and three NCAA titles.
“When I came out of high school, I made improvements, but I had enough wrestling technique to compete with anybody and I did. I only probably wrestled 45 matches in high school … you know the preparation that he gave his guys was unbelievable.”
“When you went to college, you were prepared,” said Simons. “You had all the technique you needed and you knew how to build on that technique. My senior year, the NCAA’s were in Oklahoma. In my weight class, we had four Granby guys.”
And it was Martin’s positive reinforcement that had his wrestlers believe they could win.
“When I left Granby High School, he told me you’re going to be a three-time NCAA champ. Luckily I went to a good college and coaching there, he had the same outlook about wrestling, in how to handle his teams.”
Youngest son Steve saw how he molded them mentally “He was a great psychological manipulator through positive reinforcement.”
“Telling kids they were the best and getting them to believe in themselves,” said Steve.
“He never sent anyone into competition unprepared,” explained Steve. “He would start preparing a kid a year before. He wouldn’t wrestle them until it was time. He was a big believer in preparation and hard work.”
“My dad was always selling,” said Steve. “’This is the best hold in the world,’ ‘This is the best farm in the world. Isn’t this the best camp food in the world … even though it wasn’t very good at all.”
“He had a very powerful voice of persuasion, he could get you to believe anything, but it was always positive,” he said.
Steve points to another aspect of his father’s life that he took great pride in – impacting the lives of kids and molding them into young men.
“He changed a lot of kid’s lives that wouldn’t have probably not made it out of Granby High School. He liked working with those rough kids from Ocean View and making them better people,” said Steve.
And as a technician, it was the innovation of tape that helped Martin innovate the sport of wrestling.
“My dad’s viewpoint, he believed in scientifically inventing techniques. He believed you could beat them by out thinking them. That’s why he was an innovator of technique. They truly thought they had a superior edge.”
“Anytime you say Billy Martin, the Granby Roll is going to be attached to it. At the time, all (wrestling) was standing and switching,” said Steve. “(The Granby Roll) revolutionized mat wrestling and on top. My dad was a big believer in watching the Russians. Whatever he didn’t invent, he stole. He stole techniques from the best people in the world.”
“He was a big proponent of tape,” said Steve. “I went through the house on Knotts Island the other day and there was enough tape to fill any regular house.”
But it wasn’t all wrestling for Martin. He was an avid farmer, owning land in Virginia Beach before selling and moving to Knotts Island between 1979 and 1980.
“Wrestling was his number one passion, followed by family and farming,” Steve said.
Currently, David runs Martin’s Vineyards and lives on the orchard-filled grounds where his parents have lived the last 27 years.
When asked how to sum up Billy Martin, Simons, arguably the greatest collegiate wrestler to come from Granby High School, had to think, not because there was so few things to say, but there were so many.
Ultimately, it came down to the quintessential bond between athlete and coach.
“He not only taught you about wrestling, but everybody respected him so much, there wouldn’t be anything they wouldn’t do for him,” said Simons.
The funeral is sent for Saturday, March 31 at Great Bridge Presbyterian Church at 1 p.m. and the graveside service will be at Woodlawn Cemetery at 6329 Virginia Beach Boulevard.
The family will hold a memorial service for those that cannot attend to celebrate the life and memory of Billy Martin Sr. on April 21 at Granby High School in Norfolk.
Hall of Fame coach Billy Martin Sr. passes away at 89
DATE: 3/28/2007 4:34:00 PM
Norfolk, Va
By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com
It might be fitting that a legendary life ended so closely to where the legendary legacy began.
For Billy Martin Sr., that legacy of coaching and training champions at Granby High School in Norfolk, Va., was the stuff legends were made of.
On Wednesday, March 28 at approximately 1 p.m., Billy Martin Sr., passed away at Norfolk General Hospital at the age of 89. ... less than five miles away from the historic school which he literally put on the wrestling map so many years ago.
The last month was trying for the Martin family. While Mr. Martin was recovering from hernia surgery in early March, he was readmitted to the hospital after a blood clot was found in one of his lungs. After being released on St. Patrick’s Day, Martin went in on Monday for a routine heart check up and passed away less than 48 hours later.
“It snuck up on us, it totally caught us off-guard,” said Steve Martin, Billy’s youngest son and head coach at Old Dominion University.
While his passing came as a surprise to those close to Mr. Martin, it was a legacy which stretched far beyond the Norfolk city limits that was no surprise.
Martin and his bride, Mary Lou, have spent the golden years of their lives on their farm in Knotts Island, N.C., relocating from Virginia Beach to the small Carolina town in 1980. Mary Lou still coordinating the Granby School of Wrestling camps.
As a high school coach, Martin’s career set the standard, not just in Virginia, but nationally. His Granby High School teams won 22 state titles in 23 years and he crowned 106 individual state champions, many of whom went on to college wrestling glory.
Survived by his wife and seven children and numerous grandchildren, the Martin name has been synonymous with wrestling for the greater part of a century.
A career dual record of 259-9, he had the first crack at six Granby wrestlers that went on to win 10 National Collegiate championships.
Inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1980, and as the web site states “Here, the diminutive figure of Billy Martin stands among the giants.”
All four of Martin’s sons wrestled collegiately: David at Indiana State, Billy Jr. at Oklahoma State, Wayne at Old Dominion and Steve at Iowa. Billy and Steve were NCAA All-Americans and Billy Jr. is still prevalent at many of the nation’s top events, operating Martin Screen Prints.
“Coach Martin was one of the few high school coaches to ever be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla.
“His impact on, not only those that he coached at the high school level, but those that would go on to win championships in college and compete in the Olympic games is a tremendous credit to his impact on the sport of wrestling.”
“People appreciated his creative technical passion for the sport,” said Smith. “How many people create a system that people all over the world use today. It’s a system he developed and enhanced 30-40-50 years ago that continues today.”
“What a legend he’s been and will always be,” said Smith. “We’re proud and honored that his legacy will continue to be appreciated for years to come, forever.”
The six wrestlers that went on to win NCAA titles were: two-timers Pete Blair (Navy, 1954-55) and Eddie Eichelberger (Lehigh, 1955-56), one-time champs Jim Harrison (Pittsburgh, 1963), Fred Powell (Lock Haven, 1964), George Radman (Michigan State, 1967) and three-time champ Gray Simons (Lock Haven, 1960-62).
Simons went on to represent the United States on two Olympic teams and always credited Coach Martin for his preparation.
“He gave me the best preparation anyone could give you,” said Simons. “He not only had great technique, but had great insight on how the technique evolved. He’d teach whatever hold to everybody and one person was doing it a lot better from everyone else, he’d re-learn it from the kid that would have done it best.”
“He made you love wrestling, it was hard work, but I loved practice,” said Simons of his high school days at Granby. “It was like a big laboratory. I looked forward to it every day, it was amazing. He loved the sport and he passed it along to the guys he coached.”
While Simons only one a single state title, as a sophomore, he still carried Martin’s coaching through to Lock Haven, where he won four NAIA titles and three NCAA titles.
“When I came out of high school, I made improvements, but I had enough wrestling technique to compete with anybody and I did. I only probably wrestled 45 matches in high school … you know the preparation that he gave his guys was unbelievable.”
“When you went to college, you were prepared,” said Simons. “You had all the technique you needed and you knew how to build on that technique. My senior year, the NCAA’s were in Oklahoma. In my weight class, we had four Granby guys.”
And it was Martin’s positive reinforcement that had his wrestlers believe they could win.
“When I left Granby High School, he told me you’re going to be a three-time NCAA champ. Luckily I went to a good college and coaching there, he had the same outlook about wrestling, in how to handle his teams.”
Youngest son Steve saw how he molded them mentally “He was a great psychological manipulator through positive reinforcement.”
“Telling kids they were the best and getting them to believe in themselves,” said Steve.
“He never sent anyone into competition unprepared,” explained Steve. “He would start preparing a kid a year before. He wouldn’t wrestle them until it was time. He was a big believer in preparation and hard work.”
“My dad was always selling,” said Steve. “’This is the best hold in the world,’ ‘This is the best farm in the world. Isn’t this the best camp food in the world … even though it wasn’t very good at all.”
“He had a very powerful voice of persuasion, he could get you to believe anything, but it was always positive,” he said.
Steve points to another aspect of his father’s life that he took great pride in – impacting the lives of kids and molding them into young men.
“He changed a lot of kid’s lives that wouldn’t have probably not made it out of Granby High School. He liked working with those rough kids from Ocean View and making them better people,” said Steve.
And as a technician, it was the innovation of tape that helped Martin innovate the sport of wrestling.
“My dad’s viewpoint, he believed in scientifically inventing techniques. He believed you could beat them by out thinking them. That’s why he was an innovator of technique. They truly thought they had a superior edge.”
“Anytime you say Billy Martin, the Granby Roll is going to be attached to it. At the time, all (wrestling) was standing and switching,” said Steve. “(The Granby Roll) revolutionized mat wrestling and on top. My dad was a big believer in watching the Russians. Whatever he didn’t invent, he stole. He stole techniques from the best people in the world.”
“He was a big proponent of tape,” said Steve. “I went through the house on Knotts Island the other day and there was enough tape to fill any regular house.”
But it wasn’t all wrestling for Martin. He was an avid farmer, owning land in Virginia Beach before selling and moving to Knotts Island between 1979 and 1980.
“Wrestling was his number one passion, followed by family and farming,” Steve said.
Currently, David runs Martin’s Vineyards and lives on the orchard-filled grounds where his parents have lived the last 27 years.
When asked how to sum up Billy Martin, Simons, arguably the greatest collegiate wrestler to come from Granby High School, had to think, not because there was so few things to say, but there were so many.
Ultimately, it came down to the quintessential bond between athlete and coach.
“He not only taught you about wrestling, but everybody respected him so much, there wouldn’t be anything they wouldn’t do for him,” said Simons.
The funeral is sent for Saturday, March 31 at Great Bridge Presbyterian Church at 1 p.m. and the graveside service will be at Woodlawn Cemetery at 6329 Virginia Beach Boulevard.
The family will hold a memorial service for those that cannot attend to celebrate the life and memory of Billy Martin Sr. on April 21 at Granby High School in Norfolk.