COLLEGE WRESTLING: SVEC'S MULLEN SIGNS WITH BROCKPORT (2019-05-23)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
SPENCER — Mark Mullen capped his high school wrestling career with a  trip to the state championships in February. On Thursday, the S-VE senior and SVEC mat standout took it to the next level, signing his National Letter of Intent to attend The College at Brockport.

Mullen started his varsity cheer with the Panthers in eighth grade. S-VE eventually merged with Candor to become the Eagles and he continued to be a leader for wrestlers from both schools.

He will become a Golden Eagle at Brockport under the watchful eye of head coach Don Murray, who has directed the program through 49 of its 55 consecutive winning seasons. Under Murray, the Eagles have won five NCAA Division III national championships, have celebrated 141 All-Americans and have compiled a 336-78-7 dual meet record.

“I chose Brockport because I’ve been going to camps there since probably ninth grade or so and I just love the atmosphere there, and I love the coaches and everything,” Mullen said. “I really took a liking to coach Murray really quick when I went there. Over the years as wrestling progressed, I got better and better from training, and I kept in contact with him, saying I’m interested.

“I realized quickly that he takes care of his kids. I went there for an unofficial visit and he told me he already won everything he wants do, he already achieved all his achievements, and that he’s there to take care of the kids. That really hit home with me because it shows that I’m not going to be treated any other way than as a student and he really cares for me. He wants me to do well in wrestling, but he also  cares about the academics first, which is nice, I’m not going there to wrestle. I’m going there for an education.”

Mullen intended to major in Criminal Justice, but has since changed his mind and will be studying Computer Intelligence of Systems.

The support Mullen has received from family, friends and the school system over the years has been a key factor in his growth as a wrestler and a person.

“Honestly, it’s done nothing but motivate me,” he said. “The way that they support me and the way that they believe in me just really showed me that I can achieve anything.”

That support has boosted his confidence level to accomplish what he sets out to do, including joining the ROTC program.

“I’m doing ROTC now,” he said. “I really never thought I could do that, but with the support of my friends, the staff at the school and my parents, mainly, just showed me that I can really achieve things.”

Mullen credits much of where he is at in life to wrestling.

“The sport itself helped me show discipline and self control, and helped me build my character,” he said. “It helped me show respect for other people. Wrestling, you’re beating each other up, but at the end, once the whistles blows, you’re shaking hands because you respect each other. You trained just as hard as the other person, win, lose or draw.

“That can be taken outside the wrestling room, off the mat and into life. It doesn’t  matter. The person sitting next to you, say for a job interview, worked just as hard as you did, so you need to respect that person.

“It’s really helped me, self discipline-wise, in getting my work done at school, and everything like that, and making sure I’m doing what I need to do even when no one is looking.”

According to cnywrestling.com, Mullen never had a losing season and finished his career with a 133-56 record. He was 28-5 as a senior and his losses came against an elite group of four opponents who brought home three medals in the Division II state tournament. The fourth was a Division I state qualifier.

He was a three-time IAC champion, won two Section IV qualifiers and was a three-time Section IV Division II place-winner.

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IN PHOTO: Mark Mullen and his parents, Therese and Matt. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.