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Lucas Murphy springboards joining Little Giant wrestling program with small school state title
For a two-day stretch, Lucas Murphy would be hard pressed to find a better set of results outside of being at the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals.
On Sunday, the North Putnam senior took part in the Indiana A/2A Individual State tournament, a single-day tournament for wrestlers from smaller schools to compete, winning the title at 170 pounds.
Monday, Murphy inked his intentions to continue grappling on the mats by joining the Wabash College wrestling program ahead of the 2023-24 school year.
“It felt like home; it pretty much is home,” Murphy said about attending Wabash. “It’s about 15 minutes from my house and everything seemed like a fit there from the coaches to the professors.
“I like how close together the campus is. If you’re walking from one furthest point to another furthest point on campus, it’s only about 10 minutes, so everything is close.”
The Little Giants have become a wrestling power in Division III in the last decade, having been within a point winning the 2022 NCAA Division III National Title race, falling a point short of becoming the first school since Ithaca in 1994 to win a wrestling title outside of titans Wartburg and Augsburg.
Having debated between football and wrestling, Murphy said his season ending at the semistate began to steer his line of thinking away from the gridiron.
“I had a bad taste in my mouth after the semistate,” Murphy said about deciding which sport to play. “I’ve also had a passion for wrestling that has been growing this season.
“I was pushed a bit by my coaches but finally went on a visit to Wabash and the facilities there are crazy. Their coaches are also awesome.”
“(Wabash) finished as national runner-up in Division III,” Murphy added. “They put out a bunch of studs and make you a man.
“Wabash is worried about making you a better college wrestler. There are guys there that are semistate guys like me that have gone on to be national tournament qualifier, placers and champions.”
The A/2A Indidvidual State tournament, held at Southmont, had 74 schools represented and more than 700 wrestlers compete in the day-long competition.
“I went out there because I wanted to wrestle,” Murphy said about attending the tournament. “This is what I want to do; this is what I was born to do and I wanted to be part of it.”
Murphy began by pinning his first three opponents, Cooper Kopka of Winamac, Erick Krogstie of Eastern and Tyler Halford of Tri-West, in the first period.
In the semifinal, Murphy was able to best Hamilton Heights’ Jimmy Lacey 10-4 and, in the final, Murphy defeated Manchester’s Jordan Ayres 8-5 after a rocky start to the match. Both Lacey and Ayres were also semistate qualifiers in the IHSAA Wrestling State Tournament this year.
“They didn’t really do seeds so I was in the middle of the bracket,” Murphy noted. “It was a little bit rougher road. The last match started with me being thrown on my stomach but I got a quick escape and thought, this is go time.
“The first three kids were ones you might find in sectionals, maybe regionals, but the last two matches were guys who were semistate qualifiers. It’s not the same as the state series but it’s a tough tournament for smaller schools.”
While not the state tournament itself, Murphy said winning the tournament was a rewarding experience all the same.
“It was awesome,” Murphy said. “I got the bad taste out of my mouth from the state tournament.
“Unless your winning or placing in state, you’re not finishing on a win and it’s a great feeling to go out on a win.”
Murphy, who plans to study economics with a view to either a finance or business path, said he expected to have to dig in to his studies once on the Crawfordsville campus full time while also juggling wrestling tournaments that are far longer than the usual Saturday invitational.
“Academics are the main focus,” Murphy said. “In high school, I’ve studied but I’ve gotten by a bit and the stories about studying in college are crazy.
“Being a liberal arts school, you also have to take certain classes you wouldn’t otherwise have to. Athletics are going to be a big adjustment considering I’ll be wrestling college wrestlers and the coaches are going to push me even harder.
“There’s also tournaments that go all weekend long, so there will be a big difference,” Murphy added.
Though a few months out, the win at the tournament and a chance to join a heavyweight wrestling program made Murphy anxious to get started at Wabash.
“I’m ready to go now,” Murphy said. “I guess I have senioritis because I’m ready to start something new.”