Kucala and defending state champion Eric Tannenbaum of Naperville North are on course to meet in the 125-pound finals Saturday night in Champaign. Kucala, who lost to Tannenbaum 12-6 in this season's first week, must be wary of Tannenbaum's use of the Russian takedown setup, where he uses his strong arms and hands to tie up an opponent's arm and can work several takedowns from there. He's so tough from there. Some moves have fairly generic names like the Fireman's Carry takedown and the Cradle pinning hold. They look just like they sound.
Moves often get their names when a wrestler or coach has had great success.
The Granby series of rolls is named after Granby High School in Virginia, where coach Billy Martin Sr. has made a second career out of teaching that move. Martin and sons Wayne and Steve have won an aggregate 40 Virginia state team titles using the Granby. Former state champions Paul Collum of Romeoville and Ryan Cumbee of Providence used a pinning combination they called the Cisco after Romeoville All-Stater Cisco Bermudez. Dave Schultz once explained to me how the Metzger came about. Those guys were at Oklahoma, and they had a really good judo program.