FRIENDLY RIVALS: Princeton-bound Andy Lowy (top), a former three-time state champion at Sherwood, and Cam Watkins, a former two-time state champion who wrestled at DeMatha, McDonogh and Magruder, grapple for 10, two-minute live bursts with 40 seconds rest in between during their workouts in the basement of Watkins' Olney home.
WELL-TRAVELED: Cam Watkins (left), shown in a match during his 40-0, Class 4A-3A state title-winning season at Magruder of Montgomery County, also was a private schools state champion at DeMatha and a private schools state runner-up at McDonogh.
(See video interviews and highlights below)
The schools they attended as seniors are neighborhood rivals whose distances are merely minutes apart in the Olney area of Montgomery County.
Cam Watkins earned two state titles in four championship berths, winning private schools' states once as a DeMatha freshman, finishing second as a DeMatha sophomore and McDonogh junior, and then, winning the Class 4A-3A states as a Magruder senior in 2005.
A 2006 graduate of Sherwood, Andy Lowy was fifth at Class 4A-3A states as a freshman, and then won three straight crowns -- including a run of 87-consecutive matches without a loss.
But on Saturday, on a mat in the basement of Watkins' home, the latter was the teacher, with Lowy, the student during a grueling, nearly 90-minute workout.
The workout between Watkins and the Princeton-bound Lowy, who spent a year as a post graduate at Blair Academy Prep in Blairstown, N.J., was comprised of 10, two-minute bursts of live wrestling with a 40-second rest between each.
"This is huge, and I think it's helping me so much because I'm just learning little things that he's picked up in college from his college coaches and from wrestling college guys," Lowy said of Watkins, who spent a couple of years wrestling at Old Dominion.
"I'm getting a lot better from wrestling with him and getting challenged and getting into scrambles, because he's an amazing scrambler," Lowy said. "Also, he gives me a lot of tips and just helps me out, technically."
Watkins said, "we were always in the same wrestling rooms growing up, but I was always a lot bigger than him."
"Andy's a lot better now than he realizes, and he's going to do great things at Princeton," said Watkins, who went 40-0 at 135 pounds as a Magruder senior. "It helps me a lot, also, because Andy's tough, and a great wrestler."
ANDY LOWY'S CAREER, AT A GLANCE:
10th grade: 1st Montgomery County; 1st Class 4A-3A West Region, 8-2, over Northwest's Sean McCarty; 1st Class 4A-3A state tournament, 1-0, over Old Mill's Greg Saumenig.
11th grade: 1st Montgomery County; 1st Class 4A-3A West Region, fall, 1:42, over Vince Chiracella of Paint Branch; 1st Class 4A-3A state tournament, 5-1, over Linganore's Casey Marwine.
12th grade: 1st Montgomery County; 1st Class 4A-3A West Region champ over Magruder's Alex Tolbert, 9-0; Class 4A-3A state champ, 8-2, over Old Mill's Tim Lobuglio.
Career record: 136-7 career record;; 87-match winning streak at Sherwood.
CAM WATKINS' CAREER, AT A GLANCE:
9th Grade at DeMatha, at 112 pounds: St. Albans Champ; Private Schools State champ; 3rd at National Preps; member of the three amigos (Mike Rowe at 103, Watkins at 112, Rudy Rueda at 125).
10th grade at Dematha, at 119, 125 pounds: 2nd at St. Albans at 119; 2nd at Hammond at 125 (won semifinal in 2 OT vs Mount St. Joseph's Tim Bohlman); 2nd at Private Schools' states; 2nd at National Preps.
11th grade at Mcdonogh at 130, 135 pounds: 7th at Beast of The East at 130; 1st at Disney Duals, Fla., at 135; MIAA Champ at 135; 2nd at Private Schools' States at 135.
12th grade Magruder at 135: Hagerstown High School Hub Cup Champ (defeated Annapolis' Bubby Graham in semifinals; Northwest's Eddie McCarty in finals); 1st in Montgomery County; 1st in Class 4A-3A West (both over McCarty); 1st in Class 4A-3A states.
Career record: 196-16.