ARLINGTON — During the Mid-Dakota Monster wrestling tournament Jan. 10 in Presho, tragedy struck the Kingsbury County wrestling team.

KC’s Sutton Murphy fell on his head during a match leading to a major spinal injury for the junior from Arlington.

“Sutton was on the bottom and he came to his feet,” said KC wrestling coach Steve Gilbertson. “The other guy attempted a mat return. They just got into a compromising situation where Sutton’s feet were kind of in the air, his head was faced straight down into the mat and came down square on his head. There’s no blame to anybody, it’s just one of those things that can happen. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”

Murphy was flown to Sioux Falls for emergency surgery lasting seven hours. He suffered two broken vertebrae and dislocated another, with a bruised spinal cord.

“The last report I heard was that he had some feeling in his legs so that’s a huge positive for us to hear, but he’s got a long way to go,” Gilbertson said.

According to the latest update on Sutton’s SupportNow.Org page, he now has reflex activity and passed a pin test to see if he had suffered nerve damage.

While Murphy is on the road to recovery, the Kingsbury County and wrestling community as a whole have been coming together to support the Murphy family to help pay for medical and travel expenses.

On Jan. 12, at the Iroquois-Lake Preston vs. De Smet girls basketball game buckets were passed around for free will donations that raised over $800 for the family.

There will also be 50/50 raffles at upcoming duals with multiple teams in the near future.

“The support has been overwhelming from the wrestling community, and really not just the wrestling community,” Gilbertson said. “People throughout the state, even out of the state, it’s been overwhelming the support that Sutton and his family have received as well as our team.”

There will also be T-shirts sold with the “Sutton Strong” phrase. The upcoming Kingsbury County Invitational on Jan. 24 will also feature a silent auction in Arlington.

Design of the "Sutton Strong" T-Shirts being for Sutton and the Murphy family.

“This guy is the ultimate success story in wrestling,” Gilbertson said of Murphy. “He’s someone that persevered and worked extremely hard. Many years ago there were times when he was pretty down and out because his friends were having success and he wasn’t having that success, and now last week he was ranked ninth in the state of South Dakota at his weight class. 

“He’s just been a success story because of his coachability, his dedication, and his hard work and I’m not just saying that because this situation happened. That is a fact.”