Two staples placed three centimeters into his head won’t slow down Kiski Area wrestler Gavin Murphy. Not if the 133-pound sophomore can help it.
Murphy collected a technical fall win over Armstrong’s Brayden Stull on Wednesday to help the host Cavaliers collect a 46-13 section win.
There is little that could convince Murphy, who improved to 18-7, to stay away from that mat.
“I know most people won’t do that,” Murphy said. “My goal in life isn’t to be the best wrestler there is. It’s to be the toughest person there is.”
Murphy suffered the injury during the Westmoreland County championships last week. He collided heads with Valley’s Juzef Betts while attempting a shot.
Murphy chose to remain in the match, which he lost 4-2. He ended up wrestling back to finish fourth.
“I was taking a double and came up,” Murphy said. “We collided heads. I felt the top of my head and saw blood running down my arm, and I got it taped up and got it back into the match.”
Kiski Area (14-1, 3-0) had a festive atmosphere that began with a ceremony honoring Gold Star families. A Gold Star family is one that has experienced a loss of an immediate family member as a result of active-duty military service.
Each Kiski Area wrestler had the name of a soldier on his singlet, and after every point they scored, the name of the serviceperson was announced.
“They had reached out to our athletic director, Jake Nulph,” Cavaliers coach Chris Heater said. “He came and talked to me. It wasn’t a long conversation. I think what our sport does for our guys with wrestling and discipline, they need to learn how to respect and give back.”
Armstrong (8-2, 2-1) had several strong performances. Braylen Cushey (133 pounds), Kaleb Kinzey (172) and Philup Rearick (285) collected the Riverhawks’ wins.
Sophomore Dante Bradshaw, who is 2-3, took Kiski Area’s Cooper Roscosky to overtime at 215 pounds. Roscosky won the match 4-1.
“I thought he did a good job,” Armstrong coach Brandon Newill said. “I thought he made a critical decision at the end by taking a dive in. It wasn’t a great shot, and he didn’t have a good setup. It’s something we can build on and move forward.”
Kiski Area opened the match with three consecutive wins, including a major decision from Gavin Litz at 107 pounds, and Macoya Johnson and Paxton Newell followed with decisions.
“Gavin did a great job,” Heater said. “We were hoping for a decision either way, and we got a major.”
Gavin Murphy, Ben Murphy and Mario Hutcherson collected technical falls for Kiski Area. Cam Ham (145) and Tyler Bollinger (160) won via pinfall for the Cavaliers.
Ham was in the lineup because of an injury.
“That was awesome for him,” Heater said. “He had to step in. We had a few things going on with some of our guys. We needed our backups to step in. He put himself in a good position to get a fall.”
Murphy said he was eager to get back on the mat. He believed he had the mental edge in his match.
“He has no mindset like me,” Murphy said. “I had it in my mind that I train more than him.”