Rohan Murphy Inspires Chester Academy Students

Rohan Murphy, a former D-1 wrestler at Penn State University and nationally acclaimed
motivational speaker told Chester Academy students to always choose greatness and kindness.
Students congregated in the auditorium on Thursday, March 13, 2025 to hear his story of
inspiration and determination.

Mr. Murphy’s story is one of perseverance, having been born with a defect that resulted in him
amputating his legs at 4 years old. He talked to the audience about his lifelong love of sports,
but not being able to play any because of his condition, until his middle school gym teacher
came along. His teacher motivated him to try wrestling, seeing the potential in Mr. Murphy that
he couldn’t yet see.

Mr. Murphy trained hard, going to some of the best wrestling camps in the country; which
helped him end his high school wrestling career strong, winning MVP his junior and senior year.
He talked about some of his arsenal moves and even demonstrated one on a varsity wrestler at
CA. He also discussed how his teammates and coaches were supportive of his ambitions.

“At first, I was low-key nervous (about Mr. Murphy performing a wrestling move on him) but then
I saw he was going to do a low single, so I was like ‘OK, I’ll be alright,’ said Dominick Jeanpiere,
a junior at CA. “He was pretty strong, I can tell by how he grabbed my legs. I enjoyed listening
to his life story, the way he wrestled and how he was able to accomplish winning; it really
motivated me for my next season.”

He spoke of his college wrestling career, and how he convinced the coach to give him a shot to
try out for the team. Mr. Murphy proved himself and was able to join the team. During his years
at Penn State, his coach encouraged him to speak with wrestlers participating in the Penn State
wrestling camp. This sparked Mr. Murphy’s passion for sharing his story across the country.

“I wrestled in high school and in college at Penn State University,” said Mr. Murphy. “While I was
a wrestler in college, my wrestling coach had the idea of me closing one of our camps out with a
motivational talk for the wrestlers. At the time, I told him no because I was kind of shy, but he
made me do it anyway. Ever since then, it just kind of blossomed naturally into a great career.
I'm truly blessed.”

The presentation concluded with Mr. Murphy shared additional accomplishments, such as being
in a Nike commercial, and his goal to share his story in all fifty states. He then did a Q&A with
students, who also had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Murphy after the assembly. Mr.
Murphy will also be speaking with the Chester community this evening at 6:00 p.m.