Three boys teams from Westside Aquatics participated in the USA Water Polo National Junior Olympics earlier this week in Orange County and one of them took the bronze medal by winning the Classic (bronze) division.
The 18U squad, coached by Kirk Lazaruk, consisted of Palisades High players Zach Senator, Gabby Feizbakhsh, Lucas Silva, Mitchell Kim, Brandon Epp, Jacob Lazaruk and Kian Lotfi and former Pali High player Alex Feizbakhsh. Rounding out the team were John Kimrey, Zane Splelmane, Matt Holt, Evan Blaney, Jackson Kennedy, Jacob Guyette and Kyle Schwartz.
After opening pool play with a 9-6 loss to C Cal, Westside routed Moose Water Polo 17-2, lost a shootout to Redlands Renegades, beat San Diego Shores 12-9, beat Viper Pigeon South 14-3 and beat CA Republic SCB 10-4.
Westside beat La Mirada Splash in the semifinals, setting up a championship showdown versus SC Tritons Red. Westside won 12-7 to take first place.
Westside’s 14U squad, coached by Adam Blakis (also the Pali High boys coach) and Greg Outcalt, consisted of Palisadians Maximo Speiser, Oliver Grant, Andrew Outcalt, Zeke Ramirez, Theo Trask, Zach Wunder, Stuart Brien, Earl Brien and Mike Melnik, along with Daniel Escajeda, Avery OckoMichalak and Jack Nilsen.
Westside finished runner-up in the bronze division after falling in a shootout to Silicon Valley Outlaws in the Classic Division final. The team dropped its opening pool play game to Elite 14-5, beat C Cal 10-5, lost to Gold Coast Aquatics 13-9, beat Academy 15-9, beat West Coast Aquatics 18-11, beat Pacific Polo 10-9 and won a rematch with West Coast Aquatics 10-6 in the semifinals.
The Classic (bronze) division championship match pitted the Westside squad against the Silicon Valley Outlaws. Westside rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter but lost in a shootout.
Westside’s 16U squad, coached by Bart Gawboy, consisted of Pali High players Will Schwerdtfeger, Sammy Speiser, Orson Spence, Matt Affeld, Quinn Godfredsen and Isai Elias, along with Nathan Venavides, Reaph Whitebloom, Levi Kohl, Ryan Bub, Musashi Saito, Max Melka, Carlos Edwards and Luda Olesinki.
Westside opened with a 14-12 victory over San Diego Shores, lost to Foothill Black 13-7, edged Trojan Gold in a shootout, lost to FLO 15-6, then beat South Bay United (10-3), Del Mar (9-1) and CC Sharks (8-5) before a setback to Elite 14-5 in the quarterfinals.
Westside fell to CHAWP Blue 12-7 in the fifth-place game of the Invitational division.
— Steve Galluzzo
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