Water Polo

Huntington Beach Water Polo Club teams turned in strong showings at the 2012 SwimOutlet.com Junior Olympics water polo national championships. The clubs' girls' 18-and-under "Blue" team won silver, and the boys' 12-and-under and 16U teams, and the 10-U Coed team, all won bronze medals. The tournament, in its 43rd year, was held in the San Francisco Bay area. The boys' tournament was played July 28-31. The girls' tournament started Aug. 2 and ended Sunday . 12U Boys Championship division: The team, paced offensively by center-forward Wyatt Benson, won bronze after finishing in third-place.

The Golden West College men's water polo team won the California Community College Men's Water Polo State Championship title Saturday by defeating Long Beach City College, 9-6, at the Cerritos Aquatic Complex in Cerritos. Golden West freshman Bero Rusz was named the men's tournament Most Valuable Player. He scored five goals in the title-game victory over Long Beach City College and had 11 goals in two state tournament games. Rustler teammates Marko Madaras and goalie Taylor Lapin also made the state's all-tourney team.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — It wasn't pretty, but Diggy Riley will take it. The Edison High boys' water polo coach wasn't pleased — and his expression showed it — as he watched his Chargers flutter away several first-half opportunities during Tuesday's CIF Southern Section Division I wild-card game against visiting Buena. Riley, however, was pleased with his team's second-half performance which pushed the Chargers to a 9-6 victory at Golden West College and into a first-round match against top-seeded Mater Dei Wednesday.

The Huntington Beach High boys' water polo team came up with a big rally Monday and pulled out a 12-11 overtime victory over host Tesoro in nonleague play. The Oilers trailed throughout the match and were down by two at the half, but they rallied in the second of two overtime periods. They outscored the Titans, 3-0, in the second overtime. "This was a great win for us," Huntington coach Eugene Char said. "We were down 5-3 at the half and shut them out in the second overtime.

Kyle Kopp has been named the new women?s water polo and swim coach at Golden West College. For the past seven years, he has served as an assistant coach for the women?s national water polo team and will be in Beijing for the Summer Olympics. The U.S. women?s water polo team is ranked No. 1 in the world and the favorite to win gold in China. Kopp is a former Olympian, having competed at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Games. While with the men?s national team, he helped lead the U.S. to the 1997 FINA World Cup gold medal and two Pan American Games gold medals in 1995 and 1999.

The Edison High girls? water polo team finished its season last weekend at the CIF Southern Section Masters Tournament, capturing the consolation championship. Edison lost its first game to Riverside Poly, 10-7, but the Chargers came back for a trio of wins. They topped Los Osos, 10-2, before edging Mater Dei, 13-12, and Santiago of Corona, 11-10. Sophomore Haley Kunert ? a transfer from Estancia ? and freshman Alys Williams each scored three goals in the win over Santiago.

The Laguna Beach water polo boys' 14-and-under team opened its new season Sunday with a 13-3 victory over visiting Chino Hills. Laguna led from the start as Robert Chew scored three goals, Spencer Dodson scored twice and Nolan McConnell had a goal in the first period of play. Goalie Peter Weidner, a newcomer to the team, got off to a strong shot with a block of a four-meter attempt in the opening quarter. Dodson, Chew, Cole Kennedy and Nicky Brunner scored in the second frame, and the defense of Robbie Quellmalz, Zach Riegler, Derek Kott, Tommy Renner and new players Brent Donenfeld, Trevor Bass and Casey Connors held Chino Hills to a single first-half goal.

William Meripol posted six goals and the Huntington Beach High boys' water polo team successfully launched its 2003 season Monday with a 13-8 victory at Tustin. The Oilers led, 7-3 at the half and held the Tillers at bay in the second half. Nicholas Sullivan added three goals for the Oilers. Marina won the championship of the Conejo Valley Classic at Westlake High Saturday by defeating Leland High of San Jose, 11-6, in the tournament final.

The Edison High girls? water polo team earned an at-large berth to the CIF Southern Section Masters Tournament, which begins Friday at four pools across Orange County. Edison, the No. 10-seeded team, will face No. 7-seeded Riverside Poly in its first game Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Newport Harbor High. Should the Chargers win, they would face either No. 2 Newport Harbor or No. 15 Los Osos in a quarterfinal game Friday night at 7:30 at the same venue. The 16-team Masters Tournament includes the champions and runners-up from all six Southern Section divisions, plus semifinalists from Divisions I and II. But Edison earned one of the available at-large berths.

The sting is still fresh, less than a week after a last-minute goal prevented the U.S. women’s water polo team from capturing Gold at the Olympic Games in Beijing. “Right now, it still hurts,” said first-year Golden West College women’s water polo coach, Kyle Kopp who is an assistant coach on Guy Baker’s U.S. women’s national team staff. On Aug. 21, Belgium scored in the final seconds to take a 9-8 victory over the U.S. to win the gold medal.

IRVINE - It wasn't the ending envisioned, but it's the journey that the Ocean View High girls' water polo program will always cherish when the Seahawks look back on the season. Ocean View played from behind the entire way of Saturday's CIF Southern Section Division 7 championship game against Hemet at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center. The top-seeded Seahawks had their dream of winning the program's first section title in the sport denied by the third-seeded Bulldogs who earned a 6-2 victory.

Several local boys' and' girls' soccer and girls' water polo teams earned berths earlier this week to the CIF Southern Section playoffs. The girls' water polo playoffs started Tuesday. First-round girls' soccer games begin Thursday and first-round boys' soccer playoffs open Friday. The CIF Southern Section Individual Wrestling Divisional Championships run Friday and Saturday. * Girls' Soccer Edison: The Chargers enter the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs Thursday and play host to Redlands East Valley at 5 p.m. Edison finished in second place in the Sunset League after scoring a 2-1 victory Feb. 7 at Huntington Beach.

Bret Bonanni of Huntington Beach, a freshman student/athlete at Stanford University, was named to the USA Water Polo Men's Senior National Team. The team started play Wednesday at the UANA World Aquatic Championships Qualification Tournament at Calgary, Canada. A two-time All-CIF Southern Section Division 1 Player of the Year (2010-11) at Mater Dei High, Bonanni, an attacker, was one of 13 athletes named to the roster for the qualification tournament. The team features four Olympic athletes who competed at the 2012 London Games.

A strong start to both halves of Tuesday's nonleague girls' water polo game between host Edison and Laguna Beach wasn't quite enough to propel the Chargers to victory in a early-season matchup between teams ranked in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll. Sixth-ranked Laguna scored the game's final two goals, and pulled out a 10-8 victory over ninth-ranked Edison at the Ocean View High Aquatics Center. The Chargers took a 3-2 lead after the first quarter but were outscored, 3-0, in the second quarter and trailed, 5-3, at the half.

The Huntington Beach Water Polo Club boys' 12- and 14-and-under teams took first place in their respective divisions Sunday at the Ventura Cup at Cal Lutheran University. The 14U team scored wins against Bakersfield (13-1), South Coast (13-2), South Bay United (7-1), and defeated L.A. Premier, 8-5, in Sunday's title game. The 12U team defeated Alliance Water Polo Club, 10-5, in the division final Sunday. Huntington had scored earlier wins over Gold Coast (5-1), Riverside (9-1)

Alys Williams, a 2012 graduate of Edison High now at UCLA, was named Monday to the USA Water Polo Women's Youth National Team. Williams was one of 13 players named to the 18-and-under team which is coached by Kyle Kopp and assistant coaches Alison Gregorka and Paul Felton. The USA Youth National Team will compete at the FINA Youth World Championships Dec. 1-9 at Perth, Australia. * Ocean View hoops fundraiser Ocean View High will host the 2012 Coaches for a Cause basketball extravaganza on Nov. 24 at the school's gymnasium.

A big win on the road Tuesday kept the Ocean View High boys' water polo team in the hunt for the Golden West League championship. The Seahawks outscored host Segerstrom, 2-1, in the final quarter to come away with a 5-4 victory over the Jaguars. Glenn Baumann scored a game-high four goals, Cody Basford scored once and Brian Smith had six saves for the Seahawks, who moved into a tie with Segerstrom for first place. Both teams are 6-1 in league. Huntington Beach was tied for first place in Sunset League action after the Oilers took down Marina, 20-2, on Oct. 17. Jovan Jeremic netted seven goals, Matt Cook and Daniel Stephens scored three and two goals, respectively, and Alex Wolf had 10 saves for the Oilers, who share the league lead with Newport Harbor.

In a tense battle between neighboring rivals Oct. 3, it was Huntington Beach that came away with a 12-6 victory against Edison in a Sunset League boys' water polo match. The teams were deadlocked at 6 less than a minute into the second half, but that's when the game shifted gears before a standing-room-only crowd at the Ocean View High pool. Huntington went into the lead for good on a lob shot into the right corner of the Edison cage by junior attacker Dillon Morely. The goal put the Oilers up, 7-6, and it came nearly three minutes after Edison sophomore defender Dane Estrella netted a goal to tie the score.

The Huntington Beach High boys' water polo team is off to a hot start in the 2012 season. The Oilers won their sixth straight game to start the season by downing San Clemente, 12-5, Tuesday. They secured the win by outscoring the Tritons, 4-0, during the fourth quarter. Jovan Jeremic converted five of his nine shots to lead the Oilers in scoring and sophomore goalie Alex Wolf recorded 15 saves. Before defeating San Clemente, Huntington traveled south for the Poway Tournament and won the three-day event.

Huntington Beach Water Polo Club teams turned in strong showings at the 2012 SwimOutlet.com Junior Olympics water polo national championships. The clubs' girls' 18-and-under "Blue" team won silver, and the boys' 12-and-under and 16U teams, and the 10-U Coed team, all won bronze medals. The tournament, in its 43rd year, was held in the San Francisco Bay area. The boys' tournament was played July 28-31. The girls' tournament started Aug. 2 and ended Sunday . 12U Boys Championship division: The team, paced offensively by center-forward Wyatt Benson, won bronze after finishing in third-place.