Murphy was 20-4 last season at 184 pounds, but an academic issue forced the business finance major to depart from the team mid-season. He had won the Reno Tournament of Champions just a few weeks earlier, impressively beating Central Michigan's Christian Sinnott 5-1 in the finals.
Morgan Atkinson was having a strong season as well when he had to take time off in February due to injury. He returned to the mat for the Pac-10 tournament, which he won, but then finished with a disappointing 1-2 record at the NCAAs. Even so, he concluded the season at 28-5.
RevWrestling.com's Tom Franck caught up with both wrestlers after each won their respective weight classes at the Fullerton Open. The Titan seniors were eager to talk about upcoming competitions and postseason goals as well as offering thoughts on Internet scouting and their looming matchups with two highly-regarded Golden Gophers.
Ian Murphy
How do you think winning a tournament early on in the season gets you going, confidence-wise?
Murphy: My confidence is great. It's a good stepping stone for Vegas (The Cliff Keen Invitational) in a couple of weeks, you know. Get a (tournament) win under your belt and get a good seed there, hopefully.
There's obviously a lot of tough guys at your weight at Vegas. With the Internet, scouting has never been easier. Do you do any of that -- viewing video matches of potential opponents before the tournament?
Murphy: Yeah. I'll check out the top-seeded guys there. I'm not going to search all 34 guys that are supposed to be there. I'll look at anyone ranked ahead of me. Well, anyone ranked in the top 20, I'll be watching -- see what they do and what I can do to beat them.
So you don't run into a situation like you did today? (Murphy won a close 6-5 decision over Riley Orozco from Cal State Bakersfield)
Murphy: Exactly. I hadn't seen that kid before. I didn't know what he did. I didn't do a good job of watching him earlier today. He put together a pretty good win against (Cal Poly's) Kalika, which surprised me. I was preparing to wrestle either Kalika or (Stanford's) Geison in the finals. And Geison pulled out with an injury that kid upset Kalika so …
I know you've got a dual meet with Minnesota on December 8 and you'll get a shot at No. 2-ranked Roger Kish.
Murphy: Yeah.
Is that the sort of thing that excites you? Getting an early-season, "free look" at someone. How much do you look forward to a matchup like that?
Murphy: I'm really looking forward to that dual. I've been looking forward to that dual since I heard they were coming to California to dual us. I wrestled Varner here last year and he took second in the nation. So it's good to get an early season look at a guy of Kish's caliber.
Ian Murphy (Photo/John Sachs)Murphy: It's not a big deal. It helps a lot for seeding and that's about it. That win would be great, but March is when it matters. A dual win in December is very small compared to March. So I'd rather learn as much as I can from that dual meet and take it to March when it really matters.
It seems like 184 has a lot of tough guys, especially in the Big Ten. It also seems pretty wide open too.
Murphy: Yeah. Anyone in the top ten has a shot at it, I think. Just get in a good tournament.
Obviously a factor here is (defending 184-pound NCAA champ) Jake Herbert taking a (redshirt) year off to try for the Olympic team. He's obviously an incredible wrestler. I'm curious how competitors feel when they learn things like that. Does it make you happy or would you rather have him in the mix to make the field tougher?
Murphy: Herbert's a great wrestler. I've watched him a lot. I've never wrestled him. I was looking forward to wrestling him this year. I want to be the best. If I'm going to win a national title, I'd like to beat the best along the way, you know.
So is it a letdown?
Murphy: It's not really a letdown, it just makes it feel like the national tournament isn't as tough as it could be this year. With him there, that would make nationals much tougher. He would have bumped everyone's seed down at least one.
This is an Olympic year. Will you give a go at freestyle after the season is over?
Murphy: Yeah. I'll do freestyle nationals. Keep my training up all the way through the open and through the trials.
How much of a detriment do you think it is to concentrate on folkstyle?
Murphy: I think I can make the transition pretty easily. I did it last year and had decent success. I hadn't done much freestyle in the past, but last year at the open I made it to the second day. I wrestled (Lee) Fullhart and some of those other guys and got a good look at them. It will be a busy, busy month in the room working on technique and stuff, but my shape will already be there.
Best of luck.
Murphy: Thank you.
Morgan Atkinson
Morgan Atkinson won the Cal Open, beating Cal Poly's Eric Maldonado in the finals. He had an 8-3 lead in the second period, but had to hold on for a 12-9 win and wasn't happy with his performance.
How do you feel, recognizing that you didn't wrestle at your best, that you have a chance to correct some things before Vegas?
Atkinson: Ever since NCAAs last year, I've just been trying to improve every aspect of my game. I mean doing well there is just my ultimate goal and what I'm looking forward to.
I know you've got Minnesota on December 8, where you'll get a shot at Dustin Schlatter. How do you view that as an opportunity?
Atkinson: Yeah. It's awesome. I think it's an awesome opportunity. At Cal Fullerton I've never been given the opportunity to wrestle the number one guy yet. This is my first chance actually. I'm looking forward to it.
It seems like you did have a lot of success last year, making the finals in Reno and winning the Pac Ten tourney, but there were a lot of guys out there that you weren't getting a shot at.
Atkinson: I think that's part of the reason why I didn't do that good at NCAAs was my lack of competition. My schedule was weak. I mean I had a great record last year. Got a good seed at NCAAs, but when I showed up I wasn't ready to wrestle those guys and I think wrestling those guys this year will help me .
A lot of those guys will be at Vegas this season.
Atkinson: Yeah, and Reno will be tougher this year for me. A little more competition this year.
One caliber opponent that you did get a shot at last year was Harvard's JP O'Connor. You lost a close match to him at Vegas.
Atkinson: I partially tore my ACL in that match. It was the third period, I tore it and then he got around and got two reversal and then we went into the very last overtime. And at NCAAs I had to watch from the stands and I watched him All-American and mean, I was leading him for most of our match so it was very painful.
What do you think you have to do, other than facing better competition, to break through and finally be an All-American?
Atkinson: Well, last year one of the reasons I didn't do as well as could have is because I have a concussion problem and I got a concussion toward the end of the season and had to sit out for about a month. No running or anything. My conditioning was terrible at NCAAs. I think if I can stay healthy and have confidence in my conditioning, I'll be okay.
Morgan Atkinson (Photo/John Sachs)Atkinson: Did he? When I was in high school my last year I had to wear this box mask when I wrestled.
Do you think you'll have to wear it again?
Atkinson: I hope not. Me and my family talked by my doctors and I'm on the last bit of my wrestling. My doctors wanted me to quit after my last concussion, but I'm not quitting.
It's an Olympic year. Will you try freestyle and go to the U.S. Nationals?
Atkinson: Yeah, I don't see why not. If I didn't, I'd regret it for the rest of my life.
You've got the returning NCAA champion moving up a weight (Edinboro's Gregor Gillespie) and guys like Iowa State's Cyler Sanderson moving up as well. So maybe the weight class isn't as stacked as people thought it was going to be. Is that the sort of thing that gives you a bit of relief? Do you feel like you have a bit more breathing room? Or does it disappoint you? Did you want a shot at Gillespie?
MA: I don't think I'm disappointed. Yeah, you lose those guys but then you add a guy like (Iowa's) Brent Metcalf. You lose a guy like (Cornell's) Jordan Leen, but then you've got Will Rowe of Oklahoma coming down. I think it's going to be hard.
How much time do you spend scouting these guys? It seems like there's more footage available than ever on the Internet. With YouTube and all that.
Atkinson: I go to YouTube, Flowrestling. I watch the matches on there as much as I can. Not so much for my Pac-10 opponents. Schlatter's obviously got lots of matches there, so yeah, I watch what I can. It's definitely an advantage.
Is that the sort of thing you work on with your coach?
Atkinson: No. My coach, we watch our own video, but we don't watch other people's videos. That's something I do independently.
Do you worry about people scouting you that way?
Atkinson: I think I might have like one match on YouTube so I'm really scared about that. But it's a possibility, I suppose.
Do you think that might have hurt Schlatter last year in terms of all his close matches?
Atkinson: It could be a factor. Well, he only did lose one match.
But he had a good number of closer matches.
Atkinson: I don't know if people figured him out from video, but I think it was closer because people figured him out and they tried to keep it closer.
One of the more anticipated matchups this season is Schlatter vs. Metcalf. Do you even think about matchups in your weight that you're not a part of?
Atkinson: Not really. I haven't wrestled Schlatter and I wrestled Metcalf like four years ago in Junior FILA Nationals. I don't really have an opinion. I hope to be one of those guys. Not look up to one of those guys, you know.
Well best of luck in your final season.
Atkinson: Thank you.
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