By Scott Cooper
Collegian Staff Writer
For Rohan Murphy, sometimes the trip to wrestling practice can be just as daunting a venture as the intense practice itself.
The 125-pounder must go from the wrestling locker room to the South Gym staircase in the company of teammates. That stairwell is not wheelchair accessible, and Murphy, born without legs, will routinely receive help from teammates in order to simply descend those steps which lead to the lower level — and ultimately the wrestling room — in Rec Hall.
“I’ve got some very good teammates, “Murphy said. “They’ll carry me down the stairs, sometimes give me a piggyback down.”
While Murphy may require a bit of assistance in getting to practice, he needs little help while at the practice environment itself — be it on the mats, the steps of Beaver Stadium or the ski slopes of Centre County.
“When we went to the ski slopes last year, I thought my assistant coaches were asking a bit too much when they told him to go up halfway, “Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said. “But not a complaint, didn’t bat an eye, he was just ready to go and found a way to get up. By the time he got halfway up he said, ‘There’s no way I’m stopping.’ So he went up the whole way, and we had a couple guys piggyback him down.”
When thinking back to his first meeting with Murphy, a smile starts to spread on Sunderland’s face. The coach received an e-mail in March of 2003 telling him that a student at Altoona was coming to University Park in the fall, and that he wanted to try out for the team. Giving his typical response to such an e-mail, Sunderland replied that the student should stop by his office in the fall in order to try out and complete the necessary paperwork.
Six months later there was a knock at Sunderland’s office door.
“There’s Rohan, who came to introduce himself, “Sunderland recalled. “He said, ‘I’d like to be part of your program.’ I asked how he’d like to help us, what he had in mind. Then he says, ‘I wanna wrestle for you.’ I was just like, ‘Really.’ ”
If Sunderland was surprised by Murphy’s announcement and confidence, then was even more surprised by the young man’s ability despite the absence of two limbs.
“He got out of his wheelchair, showed me his stance, “Sunderland said. “He talked about his style, what he likes to do on the bottom, on the top, that type of thing. I called up my athletic director, explained to him the situation, and he said that Rohan sounded like a great young man and that we should add him to the team.”
Murphy was fully confident that he would make the team after training hard over that summer. Wrestling was the only sport that opened its arms to Murphy, the only sport that would afford a paraplegic student athlete the opportunity to compete at a Division I level.
“It’s the only sport I could play that wasn’t just a disabled sport, “Murphy said. “It’s kinda hard to play soccer with no legs.”
During Murphy’s first week of practice he fit right in with his teammates. The team was doing fitness testing, and it was time to complete the timed hang on the chinbar. Murphy got up to the bar and was talking trash right away, confidently predicting how he would outlast everyone on the hang.
Murphy backed up his talk, lasting for what one Nittany Lion estimated was around four minutes.
“Rohan has fit in great with the guys on the team, “Sunderland said. “He doesn’t ask for anything special; he’s in there and does whatever’s asked. We ran stadium steps and he’s out there doing those with us.”
Murphy must use his hands for mobility, and has developed a very strong upper body that obviously accounts for most of his weight.
“Strength-wise, he’s equal to or stronger than the others in the 125 group, “Sunderland said.
He’s been bench pressing 275 pounds lately, but Murphy said he could put up 280 if need be.
Murphy describes his wrestling style as funky. Since he doesn’t have legs, he says that he must use his whole upper body when he wrestles — obviously making it look far different from when someone with legs is on the mat.
“He does force opponents to try to wrestle a different way, “Sunderland said. “If they’re just trying to go around him, he’s very mobile and strong enough in his upper body that he can really keep guys at bay that way.”
The Long Island native redshirted his first year with the team, then went 1-8 last season. The losing, or at least the hatred and fear of it, inspires Murphy to train and focus the way he does. It’s what makes him so competitive.
A senior with junior eligibility, Murphy is majoring in kinesiology with plans to attend graduate school.
“I’d like to go to grad school for occupational therapy, “Murphy said. “I’d like to work with disabled children.”
Murphy wants to make the challenges faced by those kids a bit less daunting; he wants to give them a boost. He knows first hand that sometimes one needs a little help doing things like getting food and going up or down the stairs, and now Murphy wants to be the one lending that hand.
But Murphy’s mere presence and determination do more to help his teammates than he thinks, Sunderland said.
“It’s just amazing for all the guys on the team to see him, “Sunderland said. “It’s given them inspiration for whenever they’re feeling tired or feeling sorry for themselves.”
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