Sandy Murray Early Bird Tournament
Wrestlers from SJA, Mt Mansfield, Springfield, Champlain Valley Union High School, South Burlington High School, North Country Union High School, Lamoille, Lyndon Institute, Lake Region, and Twinfield Union High School competed in the Sandy Murray Early Bird Tournament. The tournament, which began in the mid-1980s and is named after SJA’s first wrestling coach, was held on December 14 in the Alumni Gymnasium. Forty-eight wrestlers competed in 61 matches on two mats.
Springfield entered the most wrestlers with 12 competitors and took home the most awards with ten Top-3 finishers. SBHS and CVU tied for the second-most, with six each. Camden Ayer of CVU was selected by the coaches as the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
SJA co-head Coach DJ Rousseau said, “Although we had a small turnout for our home tournament, it still provided an excellent opportunity for some tough matches. We certainly appreciate the teams and their fans for traveling long distances to support Vermont’s second-oldest wrestling tournament, named after the founder of the Academy wrestling program and my high school coach, Sandy Murray.”
School-specific quotes from coach Rousseau (athletes from LI, LR, and Twinfield practice and compete with SJA):
LI. “Junior Karter Morey has set his sights high this season, having finished last season as Vermont’s 132-lbs Runner-Up. We look forward to his progression this year and stepping up to the challenge.”
Lake Region. “Lake Region’s Max Demaine is working hard this season, knowing he has a tough weight class ahead of him. He is not alone this season from Lake Region as he is joined by Sophomore Nell Urie and 9th Grader Nora Demaine. They are all tough kids and we are proud to be working with them this year.”
SJA. “Our SJA wrestlers have a wide range of experience. We are looking toward our more experienced wrestlers to be leaders and get our newer wrestlers up to speed. As more wrestlers across Vermont compete in the off-season, we need to increase the intensity and get on that podium.”
