The winning combination of Jayden Manson and Jack McDougall delivered an Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association wrestling championship for the St. Albert Skyhawks.
Manson captured gold in the 62-kilogram division and McDougall was awarded silver in the 65 kg division at the high school provincials last weekend at Bev Facey High School.
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the team award picture.
The results by the Grade 11 students put the Skyhawks ahead of 16 schools on top of the 3A male team leader board with 17 points, four more than Olds.
Manson finished 4-0 after beating Charles Cook of 1A/2A St. Timothy’s of Cochrane 12-2 in the final.
McDougall was 3-1 after the 4-0 loss to Connor McNeice of St. Timothy’s. McDougall’s three previous wins were 10-0 scores.
Last year McDougall placed second in the 62 kg division and Manson was fourth in the 59 kg division.
The next event for the Edmonton Wrestling Club members is the Alberta Open Provincial Club Championships on April 2 in Edmonton. McDougall will compete at 68 kg and Manson at 63 kg.
Next month the duo will also attend the Canadian Cadet/Juvenile Nationals in Calgary and will travel with a select group of Alberta grapplers to New Mexico for the Aztec Warrior Championships, where they will wrestle in three tournaments representing three styles of wrestling.
In July, McDougall will join selected wrestlers from Alberta and Saskatchewan in Japan for two weeks of training and three tournaments. They will live with Japanese families in the Hiroshima area, attend school and train with the school teams in a cultural exchange. The Japanese wrestlers will be hosted in Alberta in August.
Manson had also been invited to travel and train in Italy for nine days in July.
Both wrestlers have their sights set on making Team Alberta for the 2017 Canada Summer Games.
The St. Albert Skyhawks and Paul Kane Blues are on opposite sides of the draw at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association women’s basketball championship after the round of 16 tipped-off Thursday in Red Deer.
The Skyhawks, seeded seventh in the tournament, beat the No. 10 St. Mary’s Saints of Calgary 69-42 and the No. 11 Blues lost 68-52 to the No. 6 Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Clippers.
Friday the Skyhawks played the No. 2 Jasper Place Rebels in the quarter-finals and the Blues faced the No. 14 Hunting Hills Lightning of Red Deer in the consolation bracket. Scores were unavailable at press time.
Visit www.asaa.ca for results.
The Skyhawks were 27-9 overall and the Blues were 21-13 after Thursday’s results.
The Skyhawks were 0-4 against the Rebels this season before Friday’s match, including a recent 61-53 loss in the metro Edmonton division one final against the 15-0 team in league play
This is the third year at the 4A provincials for the Skyhawks after a record-setting four consecutive 3A championship banners.
The Blues are competing in their fourth provincials in five years and lost the consolation final the last two years.
Stephanie Hazlewood of Bertha Kennedy BobKats was presented with the Irv Barros Coaching Award at the 38th annual Indoor Games last weekend at the Butterdome.
Hazlewood is the only female to receive the coach of the year award, which was first handed out in 2010 when it was the Edmonton Journal Indoor Games.
Barros was the meet director of the Journal Games, when it was introduced in 1979. It is now sponsored by the Running Room.
Hazlewood has been active in the track community for more than 20 years and is an educational assistant and running club coach at Bertha Kennedy School.
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the award picture.
Meanwhile, the following relay teams finished top three in their divisions at the Indoor Games.
Muriel Martin: first – elementary girls, 4:15.14; second – elementary boys, 4:05.93.
Sir Alexander Mackenzie: first – elementary boys, 4:04.61.
Father Jan: third – elementary mixed, 4:30.39.
Lorne Akins: second – junior high girls, 3:53.56.
Paul Kane: second – high school girls, 3:50.44; third – high school boys, 3:24.37.
