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WRESTLING: B-R’s Murphy sustaining success after heartache

Harry Frezza
@thefrez56
  • Six of Murphy’s seven losses last season were to state tournament place winners.
  • Murphy’s sister is the starting goalie for the Rutgers University women’s soccer team.
  • Murphy started the season with victories at the Garden State Classic and Hunterdon Central Christmas tournaments.
  • Murphy is 12-0 with eight pins.

Consolation finals at region tournaments are usually regarded with more reverence than the final.

At least the finalists know their tickets to the NJSIAA Wrestling Tournament in Atlantic City are secure. Not so for those wrestling for third — win and you earn the same opportunity as a region champ or runner-up to capture a state title or earn a place on Boardwalk Hall. The loser, on the other hand, is usually seen sprinting off the mat, looking for a safe, private haven in the locker room to reflect on what went wrong.

Bridgewater-Raritan junior 170-pounder Kyle Murphy had the excruciating experience of finishing fourth at Region V at the Hunterdon Central Fieldhouse last March. The frustration felt worse for Murphy since he had beaten North Hunterdon’s Mike Sicola 4-2 in a late December dual meet, then 5-1 in a region quarterfinal. It was Sicola who won the third — and most important meeting, beating Murphy 3-2.

The season ended for Murphy with a 30-7 record, six of the losses coming to state tournament place winners. Two to East Brunswick state champ Jon Schleifer (8-0 in the region semifinal, 7-1 in a dual meet), two to Bound Brook’s state finalist Josh Ugalde (4-2 in sudden victory in the Somerset County final, 5-1 in the District 18 final), a 1-0 dual meet loss to Trenton’s Maaziah Bethea, who finished third in the state at 152, and a 2-1 dual meet loss to state 152-pound finalist Gary Dinmore of Hunterdon Central.

Murphy, a year-round wrestler, was in Atlantic City as a spectator, watching Schleifer beat Ugalde 6-5 for the title, watching Dinmore lose in sudden victory to St. Augustine Prep’s Jack Clark, saw Bethea beat Delbarton’s Joseph Tavoso 7-1 for third.

“I go every year,” said Murphy, 62-19 for his career.

This year, he’d rather do it in a singlet. The feeling he had after the region consolation final last Feb. 27 has inspired him to work even harder.

“It’s really a feeling you don’t want to have,” said Murphy.

The Murphy’s are an athletic family. His older sister, Casey, led Bridgewater-Raritan to a girls soccer state title in 2013 before going on to become Rutgers’ starting keeper. His mother, Jill, was a basketball and softball player for Voorhees where his father wrestled. His grandfather, Jack, is a longtime chain gang member and a member of the Voorhees High Athletic Hall of Fame. He doesn’t miss any of his grandson’s matches.

Murphy was assisted through the painful loss by a long note written by his sister. She left it for him on his bed he found the night of the region finals. Murphy knows to listen to his older sister. She made the the Big Ten All-Freshmen Team this past season.

“It was really motivating,” said Murphy. “I was depressed, but I had nobody to blame but myself. I was determined to be ready for this year, so I worked hard, worked to improve and get stronger, better.”

He finished in the Top 12 at the Super 32 Challenge in North Carolina in November, beating two state champions on the way to the quarterfinals where he lost to champ Taylor Lujan of Georgia. Murphy did have the bout’s first takedown.

“I feel like I’ve improved, I’ve gotten a year more mature, that helps a lot,” said Murphy.

He’s sustained the momentum. He’s 12-0 with eight falls, two decisions, two forfeits and titles at the Garden State Classic and Hunterdon Central Christmas tournaments.

He would like to make it 3-for-3 by winning Saturday’s Somerset County Tournament at Hillsborough. Longtime Bridgewater-Raritan coach Greg Evans — and an outstanding wrestler for Voorhees — expected this kind of response from the 6-foot-1

“As a wrestler, Kyle's technique has improved this season,” said Evans. “He has put the time in and it shows. The area that I feel he is most improved is his mental approach. He is no longer satisfied trying to cling to a narrow lead. He is wrestling six minutes and trying to score the entire time. He is looking to bust matches open, not score a takedown and shut down the engines.”

Staff Writer Harry Frezza: hfrezza@mycentraljersey.com