Valley Grown: Former Palmer football standout honored by NAIA

** Editor’s note: Valley Grown is a regular feature highlighting the work of Mat-Su athletes at the next level

PALMER — Concordia University junior Adam Christiansen, a former Palmer High School football standout, earned NAIA honors recently. The junior linebacker was named a 2017 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Christiansen is majoring in journalism and public relations.

Student-athletes recognized by Daktronics must maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average and be nominated by the school’s head coach or sports information director.

Christiansen, a 6-foot-1 linebacker, completed his junior season in 2017. He is a 2015 graduate of Mat-Su Central, and a three-time letterman with the Moose football team. Christiansen was named first-team all-state twice, first at center as a junior and then at linebacker as a senior. He has two older brothers who also played at Concordia, Collin and Cameron.

“Originally, my plan was to go somewhere else. I didn’t see myself going where they were at first,” Adam Christiansen said after committing to Concordia. “In the end, it was a great fit for me and it worked out that my brothers were there.”

Palmer graduate leads team in Minnesota wrestling tourney

Former Palmer High wrestling standout Caleb Deemer earned his team’s top finish during the Worthington Open hosted by Minnesota West Community College earlier this month.

Deemer, a junior at Morningside College in Iowa, finished fifth in the 197-pound weight class. After suffering a loss in the second round, Deemer scored three straight wins to place fifth.

Deemer, a 2014 graduate of Palmer High, earned a Northern Lights Conference title and a 4A state runner-up finish at 195 pounds as a senior.

Wasilla graduate enjoying big minutes at JC

Issac Houck, a 2017 graduate of Wasilla High School, is averaging nearly 22 minutes per game as a freshman at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington.

Houck, who helped lead the Wasilla Warriors to the 4A boys title game as a senior, is averaging 5.8 points per game in 18 games this season. He’s made seven starts.

Contact Mat-Su Valley sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.