News Page
August 23, 2006
Staff Report
A Richmond teen-age girl, who won a national wrestling title and the top amateur golfer in the state have been selected as the female and male Athletes of the Month for July by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
Erin Clodgo of Mount Mansfield Union and Trevor Murphy of St. Johnsbury Country Club and the University of North Carolina-Charlotte are the third set of monthly state winners elected for 2006-07 by the VSSA.
Clodgo edged Molly Aronsson, a Burlington golfer, Carson Laderoute of Rutland and Lions Cup Twin State Soccer, and Alissa Sheftic of Essex and Twin Stat Basketball.
Murphy beat Dan Halpin of Essex and Lions Cup Twin State Soccer, Ian Turner of Fair Haven and Twin State Basketball, and baseball players Isaac Bissell of Bellows Falls American Legion Post 37, Jake Mendell of Hinesburg and SAL-Champlain Legion, Ethan Paquette of Burke and Knights of Columbus-South Burlington Legion, and Mark Murray of the Vermont Mountaineers.
Clodgo captured her second national wrestling title by winning the U.S. Women's Freestyle Championship in the 148-pound category in Fargo, N.D. Clodgo, 15, posted a pair of 1-0 decisions in the first two rounds in the national title match to beat nationally ranked Paige Rifle of Michigan, a three-time state champion. Rifle also was the reigning national folk style wrestler at 144 pounds. Clodgo was 5-0 in the individual tournament, including pins in each of her first four matches at the Fargodome. She then joined Team Connecticut to post five more wins in the duals, which wrapped up July 26, for a perfect 10-0 at the top wrestling event for women in the nation.
The U.S. Olympic Education Training Center has invited Clodgo, a Mount Mansfield Union wrestler, to transfer this fall to its training site in Michigan. The move by the incoming high school junior would help her shot at being on the U.S. Olympic team in either 2008 or 2012. Two years ago, Clodgo took first place in the middle school-age division at the United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championship in Lake Orion, Mich.
Murphy defended his Vermont Golf Association men's amateur golf championship by walloping a field of more than 100 players at his home course of St. Johnsbury Country Club. The 21-year-old Murphy crafted rounds of 71, 64, 69 and 67 for an 8-under-par 272 total and an eight-shot victory. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte standout wasn't finished. He tied for third place at the New England Amateur Championship at The Woodlands Club in Maine.
The following week Murphy qualified for the United States Amateur Championship at Hazeltine Country Club in Minnesota by winning the Sectional Qualifier by five shots.
The May 2006 winners were Mackenzie Pratt of Lamoille Union softball and Collin Vero-Casavant of Rutland High tennis, while the June winners were Katelyn Billings of BFA softball and Garrett Calkins of St. Johnsbury Academy Track.