Cross Country Ski Team

Photos courtesy of GMS.

The GMS cross country team had the opportunity to spend three days at Log Cabin Wilderness Lodge for a retreat.

They learned and practiced survival skills including fire building and animal identification in -30 degree temperatures.

John Rusyniak –Former educator and now an owner of Log Cabin Wilderness Lodge in Tok wrote this about the GMS Cross Country Ski team and Rod Morrison after they stayed at his cabins this past weekend:

Rod,

It’s been years since we met in Tok at Cleft of the Rock B&B, in fact I think it was at the start of your Alaskan career if I remember right.  Well I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all you’ve done for Valdez City Schools and especially the Junior High XC ski team who just spent the last three days with us at Log Cabin Wilderness Lodge.  

It was a real treat to get to host such a fine group of students, coaches and volunteers.  They did you PROUD!  Everyone of them showed the utmost respect, enthusiasm, politeness and eagerness to help out.  I do believe that Coach Beck had a lot to do with that but I also realize that a school culture with these types of behaviors begins long before they head out on the trip.  

Whenever you have the opportunity to recognize and/or thank any of the individuals on this trip please let everyone know they were at their finest here at Log Cabin Wilderness Lodge.  In fact I told the kids when they are ready for work I’d welcome a resume from anyone of them.  

I’ll let you know that I put them to the test with some real Alaskan survival skills tests like fire building 101 and animal identification.  We had some fun too!  And did I mention it was 30 below while they were here?

Keep up the good work!

John

Volleyball

Courtesy of Meagan Craig – The GMS Huskies Volleyball team traveled to Palmer over the weekend where they played a fast and furious two days of Volleyball against Palmer Middle School, Reddington and Su Valley.  It was a fun experience to go play three different schools in the Valley because we don’t face these teams often.  Coach Anderson reported that, “The A team played extremely well against all three teams. Their only loss was against Palmer Middle School. A Team has been working very hard on court coverage and they showed great improvement during the Palmer game.”

B team defeated Palmer twice with close matches that each went to game 3.  According to Coach Craig, “B team showed a lot of heart and was able to battle back after being behind by several points. Their drive to not give up and work hard was very rewarding to see and it paid off.”  Strong serving led to the victories against Reddington and Su Valley.

Several players on both A and B teams made great strides in improvement in various areas such as court awareness, passing, communication.  At this Middle School level, it is neat to see so much improvement in just 3 weeks of Volleyball!  The GMS Huskies have intramural home games on February 7th, followed by a Tournament in Glennallen Valentine’s Day weekend.

Wrestling

Delta Grizzly Grapplepalooza Results for Valdez Middle School

Green  = top 4 Placer

Boys 77

Corey Lent’s place is 4th and has scored 11.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Corey Lent (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Corey Lent (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Anna Valentine (Randy Smith Black Bears) (Fall 1:59)
• Semifinal – Kaleb Pleasant (Tanana Middle School) won by major decision over Corey Lent (Valdez MIddle School) (Maj 17-7)
• Cons. Semi – Corey Lent (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Brody Bingaman (North Pole MIddle) (Dec 8-1)
• 3rd Place Match – Lincoln Werner (Ryan) won by decision over Corey Lent (Valdez MIddle School) (Dec 11-7)

Boys 91

Landon Metzger’s place is unknown and has scored 6.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Landon Metzger (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Niccolas Lockert (North Pole MIddle) (Fall 2:37)
• Quarterfinal – Landon Metzger (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Jasmine Wood (Eielson Junior High) (Dec 6-5)
• Semifinal – Wesley Niegel (North Pole MIddle) won by decision over Landon Metzger (Valdez MIddle School) (Dec 4-1)
• Cons. Semi – Megan Spencer (Randy Smith Black Bears) won by fall over Landon Metzger (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 2:00)

Boys 98

Darius Standifer’s place is unknown and has scored 4.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Darius Standifer (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Roni Tobin (North Pole MIddle) (Fall 2:56)
• Quarterfinal – Kaleb Gass (North Pole MIddle) won by fall over Darius Standifer (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 3:15)
• Cons. Round 2 – Justin Trammel (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Darius Standifer (Valdez MIddle School) (Dec 7-3)

Boys 98

Justin Trammel’s place is unknown and has scored 3.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Kaden Bush (North Pole MIddle) won by fall over Justin Trammel (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 1:55)
• Cons. Round 1 – Justin Trammel (Valdez MIddle School) won in sudden victory – 1 over Evan Klein (Delta Junior High) (SV-1 8-6)
• Cons. Round 2 – Justin Trammel (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Darius Standifer (Valdez MIddle School) (Dec 7-3)
• Cons. Round 3 – Justin Trammel (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Ashlyn Quiros (North Pole MIddle) (Dec 2-0)
• Cons. Semi – Kaden Bush (North Pole MIddle) won by fall over Justin Trammel (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 1:36)

Boys 105

Eli Critchlow’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Eli Critchlow (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Alexia Hedrick (North Pole MIddle) won by fall over Eli Critchlow (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 0:11)
• Cons. Round 2 – Eli Critchlow (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 3 – Eli Critchlow (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Semi – Aiden Klein (Delta Junior High) won by decision over Eli Critchlow (Valdez MIddle School) (Dec 4-0)

Boys 114

Warren Blood’s place is unknown and has scored 4.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Warren Blood (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Chance Halverson (Ryan) won by fall over Warren Blood (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 1:39)
• Cons. Round 2 – Warren Blood (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 3 – Warren Blood (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Zane Lindberg (Randy Smith Black Bears) (Fall 1:23)
• Cons. Semi – Zander Stossmeister (Delta Junior High) won by fall over Warren Blood (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 1:52)

Boys 118

Peter Van Der Meulen’s place is unknown and has scored 6.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Peter Van Der Meulen (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Paxson Ott (Tanana Middle School) won by fall over Peter Van Der Meulen (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 2:35)
• Cons. Round 2 – Peter Van Der Meulen (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Madison Osteen (Delta Junior High) (Fall 1:31)
• Cons. Round 3 – Peter Van Der Meulen (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Emily Joye (Randy Smith Black Bears) (Fall 0:54)
• Cons. Semi – Jacob Connelley (Randy Smith Black Bears) won by fall over Peter Van Der Meulen (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 1:46)

Boys 118

Kai Montgomery’s place is 1st and has scored 25.5 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Kai Montgomery (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Kai Montgomery (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Michael Lomax (Tanana Middle School) (Fall 0:20)
• Semifinal – Kai Montgomery (Valdez MIddle School) won by tech fall over Jacob Connelley (Randy Smith Black Bears) (TF 16-0)
• 1st Place Match – Kai Montgomery (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Cameron Faro (North Pole MIddle) (Fall 3:46)

Boys 122

Romen Weber’s place is 4th and has scored 9.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Romen Weber (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Braidin Martin (North Pole MIddle) won by fall over Romen Weber (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 3:46)
• Cons. Round 2 – Romen Weber (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 3 – Romen Weber (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Konan Wood (Tanana Middle School) (Fall 2:17)
• Cons. Semi – Romen Weber (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Quincy Franklin (Tanana Middle School) (Dec 7-0)
• 3rd Place Match – Emanuel Bostwick (Randy Smith Black Bears) won by fall over Romen Weber (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 2:45)

Boys 122

Nick Grande’s place is 1st and has scored 24.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Nick Grande (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Nick Grande (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Sally Masoud (Ryan) (Fall 0:33)
• Semifinal – Nick Grande (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Quincy Franklin (Tanana Middle School) (Fall 0:17)
• 1st Place Match – Nick Grande (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Braidin Martin (North Pole MIddle) (Dec 13-9)

Boys 126

Jaxson Gallatin’s place is 2nd and has scored 16.0 team points.

• Round 1 – Jaxson Gallatin (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Braeden Smith (North Pole MIddle) (Fall 1:36)
• Round 2 – Jaxson Gallatin (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Evan Brown (Eielson Junior High) (Dec 15-12)
• Round 3 – Marlon Trejo (Tanana Middle School) won by fall over Jaxson Gallatin (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 2:52)
• Round 4 – Jaxson Gallatin (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Cadence Spilman (Delta Junior High) (Fall 1:39)
• Round 5 – Jaxson Gallatin (Valdez MIddle School) won by decision over Logen Bellmay (North Pole MIddle) (Dec 15-11)

Boys 132

Will Crater’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Will Crater (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Rylan Hughes (Eielson Junior High) won by fall over Will Crater (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 1:41)
• Cons. Round 2 – Will Crater (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 3 – Skyler Wyman (North Pole MIddle) won by fall over Will Crater (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 0:28)

Boys 132

Kovai Christensen’s place is unknown and has scored 6.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Kovai Christensen (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal – Kovai Christensen (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Thor Samsa (Randy Smith Black Bears) (Fall 0:40)
• Semifinal – Jacob Hilton (Delta Junior High) won by fall over Kovai Christensen (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 0:37)
• Cons. Semi – Skyler Wyman (North Pole MIddle) won by decision over Kovai Christensen (Valdez MIddle School) (Dec 5-4)

Boys 140

McKennan Mayer’s place is 3rd and has scored 15.0 team points.

• Round 1 – Tim Stovall (North Pole MIddle) won by tech fall over McKennan Mayer (Valdez MIddle School) (TF 15-0)
• Round 2 – McKennan Mayer (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Samuel Euresti (North Pole MIddle) (Fall 1:34)
• Round 3 – McKennan Mayer (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Wade Arbizu (Ryan) (Fall 0:27)
• Round 4 – Greyson DeVaughn (Eielson Junior High) won by fall over McKennan Mayer (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 4:41)
• Round 5 – McKennan Mayer (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over Liam Hutchinson (North Pole MIddle) (Fall 0:46)

Boys 148

Donovan Day’s place is 5th and has scored 7.0 team points.

• Round 1 – Donovan Day (Valdez MIddle School) won by fall over EdwardFFT Beal (Ryan) (Fall 0:38)
• Round 2 – Mason Villalobos (Randy Smith Black Bears) won by fall over Donovan Day (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 0:24)
• Round 3 – Jayden Bitton (Eielson Junior High) won by fall over Donovan Day (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 0:14)
• Round 4 – Titus Villalobos (Randy Smith Black Bears) won by fall over Donovan Day (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 0:42)
• Round 5 – Owen Stenberg (Tanana Middle School) won by fall over Donovan Day (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 0:43)

Boys 160

Aj Tudela’s place is unknown and has scored 5.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 – Maiko Garcia (Ryan) won by fall over Aj Tudela (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 4:06)
• Cons. Round 1 – Aj Tudela (Valdez MIddle School) received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 2 – Aj Tudela (Valdez MIddle School) won by forfeit over BrianFFT Garner (Ryan) (FF)
• Cons. Round 3 – Aj Tudela (Valdez MIddle School) won in sudden victory – 1 over Austin Kauffman (Tanana Middle School) (SV-1 7-5)
• Cons. Semi – Maiko Garcia (Ryan) won by fall over Aj Tudela (Valdez MIddle School) (Fall 1:14)