Takedown Report

Caleb Murphy seizing his chance with IU football: ‘My whole life’s led up to this moment.’

Zach Osterman of the Indianapolis Star

BLOOMINGTON – Nestled a little more than halfway between Mitchell and Salem on State Road 60, Campbellsburg is roughly 51 miles from Indiana University’s Memorial Stadium.

As of 2010 census, Campbellsburg claimed a population of 585 people. Its elementary school and its high school adjoin one another. The West Washington Senators compete in Class A.

It is not traditionally the kind of place Big Ten football programs go looking for talent. But Caleb Murphy was determined to do anything he could to close those 51 miles and play bigtime college football for his state’s flagship school. So he started a wrestling program.
“I was just looking for another avenue to compete in the offseason,” Murphy said, “a way I could improve on the football field in the offseason.”

It was one of the many ways Murphy made sure he fulfilled his FBS ambitions, but it might have been the most telling.

At the time, Murphy’s shop teacher, Dennis Tankersley, coached the sport at a regional rival, Salem. Murphy and a friend approached Tankersley with a proposal: If they could get enough signatures to get in front of the school board, and then get the board to agree to support a wrestling program at West Washington, would Tankersley consider coaching them instead.
“Once he said yes, it just kind of rolled,” Murphy said, “and within a year we were a team and competing.”

By his own admission, Murphy struggled his first year. An older teammate actually wrestled ahead of him at Murphy’s original weight class, 220.

By the end of his wrestling career, cut short because of a collarbone injury, Murphy locked down that varsity 220 spot. … rest of story at Indystar.com/story/sports/09/30/caleb-murphy-iu-football-roster-indiana

October 13, 2022 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized