Lake Tahoe Grizzlies – Pee Wee A Team: (l-r, first row kneeling and sitting) – Drew Gunderson, Will Posey, Tadi Wright, Charlotte Sonntag, Blaise Broadhurst, and Brennan Monroe; (op row, l-r) Head Coach Mike Gunderson, David Salcido, Assistant Coach Jeff Posey, Carson Oleson, Hayden Cannon, Health Fellows, Assistant Coach Dave Monroe, Jacob Pratt, Patrick Webster, Assistant Coach Jake Pratt, Lauren Romsos, and Assistant Coach Shane Romsos.

The Lake Tahoe Grizzlies Pee Wee A and Bantam B hockey teams won their respective divisions at the state tournament last weekend at Sharks Ice in San Jose.

The wins represent the first time in California state championship history where two teams from one hockey club took home the gold in the same year.

Mike Gunderson, head coach of the Grizzlies Pee Wee A Team, said, “These kids worked their tails off all year long and it really paid off for them. It’s easy to lose focus over such a long season, especially with the ski season we just had, but they never lost sight of their goals. You’d be hard pressed to find a more diverse group of personalities anywhere but they bonded and pulled it together when it mattered most. I am super proud of each one of them and their families should be too.”

Assistant Coach, Shane Romsos, remarked, “These young men and women deserved this after leading the regular season standings in the Northern California. I can’t wait to raise the banner at our home rink!”

Lake Tahoe Grizzlies – Bantam B Team (l-r, front row) Goalies Tammer Bohatch and Devon Cole; (second row) Andrey Shemyakin, Adin Burns, Quinn Proctor; (third row) Head Coach Ken Wood, Diego Honda, Pablo Honda, Noah Sorrenson, Petey Sullivan, Nate Cimino, Mason Croskery, Wallace Sonntag, Ty Gunderson, Assistant Coach Gary Gramprie.

The Pee Wees regular season standings were 10 wins, two losses and three ties.

The Bantam Team had a dominating regular season as well going 11-2-1.

Their performance at the state tournament was similarly amazing, going undefeated for the tournament. Bantam Head Coach Ken Wood said the team played as a team, everyone contributed, and that makes a huge difference in this sport, especially considering that nearly half of the players commuted from Mammoth and Bishop to participate this season. 

Assistant Coach Gary Gramprie noted the team’s statistics as a reason for success: “Our team’s power play broke other team’s backs, scoring about 80 percent of the time during the regular season, and 100 percent in the state championships.”

He also recognized that the team only had 11 players this season – “all contributed in different ways.”

South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena operator, Van Oleson said, “The success of both teams will further help to put Lake Tahoe on the hockey map.”

Pee Wee A is a division of youth hockey that includes youngsters aged 11 and 12. Bantams are ages 13 and 14.

— Provided to Lake Tahoe News