Moore League set for high school boys water polo season

Long Beach Wilson High School water polo is synonymous with Moore League dynasty. Over the last 29 years, the Bruins have captured 27 league titles and have been crowned Long Beach’s kings of the pool the last nine consecutive seasons.

“It’s a big thing for us,” said Wilson senior two-meter man Jack Berg about the program’s success. “It’s about commitment to the team and to this program. We play together and we play for each other.”

“The guys are excited to try and bring another title to Wilson,” coach Jeff Nesmith said. “We have a lot of senior leadership and a lot of guys that have built great chemistry together.”

However, the senior leaders at Wilson will be in a bit of a different spot heading into the postseason. The CIF Southern Section’s new playoff equity dropped the Bruins from Division 1 to Division 2. They had won a playoff game in each of the last four seasons. Instead of lamenting the move, Nesmith wants his team to be excited for a new opportunity to bring home another CIF-SS championship.

“It’s been a daily discussion for us,” Berg said. “Being moved to Division 2 hasn’t been a downer; it’s motivated us. We’re looking for nothing less than the semis.”

The Bruins return multiple senior drivers Kobe Jackson, Maxwell Vandevert. Alan Peoples will lead the up-tempo counterattacking style that Nesmith has brought to the program.

“We have some strong swimmers,” Nesmith said. “Our goal is to create turnovers on defense and use our speed in transition.”

Wilson opens its season Thursday at 4 p.m. against Newport Harbor at the Belmont Outdoor Pool.

The chase pack is led by the Long Beach Poly and new coach Ishmael Pluton, who served as a Wilson assistant last year, but returns to his alma mater.

“Knowing their tendencies and knowing who they have over there will definitely be huge for us,” Pluton said. “We’ll be competitive and we’re working really hard as a group.”

Pluton brings a defensive style to Poly and he’s excited about the team’s toughness. Senior goalies Matt Parker and Andrew Moskovitz will be the anchors of the defense and senior attackers Patrick Murray and Mathias Pettersson will lead the offense.

“We have to play as a team and get our team defense down,” Moskovitz said. “If we lock down on defense and play together, this could be our best team yet.”

Advertisement

The Jackrabbits will compete in Division 4, and their biggest game of the year will be at home against Wilson on Oct. 19.

The youth movement will be the story at always-competitive and gritty Millikan. Coach Dane Smith graduated 14 seniors from last year’s squad, but is excited about his team moving forward.

“The boys have worked hard and have played well together,” he said. “We had a good summer and are looking forward to improving as we build more experience through the season.”

Millikan, competing in Division 4, returns two seniors in Michael Baker and Sean Denison.

“It’s been a struggle, but I believe we’ll be ready to be very competitive this season,” center defender Baker said. “We’ve been training hard and working together more. We’ll be a strong team.”

Millikan edged St. John Bosco, 7-6, last week in its home opener. Both teams are on the Division 4 preseason watch list.

At Lakewood, first-year coach Phil Geiger has senior drivers Joseph Banda and Gaberiel Cinco to pace the offense. Junior Konrad Hernandez is expected to be Lakewood’s multifaceted utility guy. Joseph’s brother, Michael, will anchor the high-pressure defense in goal.

“We’ve been stepping up our game a little bit and coach has been great this summer,” senior Tyler Manguia said. “Our practices always have a purpose and we’ve improved a lot. We’re a lot faster this year and we’ll be ready.”

The Lancers are competing in Division 5, Jordan is in Division 6 and Cabrillo is in Division 7.

Others

Los Alamitos, Cerritos and Warren are a few of the teams to watch in greater Long Beach. The Griffins are led by junior goalkeeper Vince Arizpe and junior Luca Costa, and they’ll visit Wilson at the Belmont Outdoor Pool on Tuesday. Both teams are on the Division 2 preseason watch list, but Los Alamitos has the tougher Sunset League. The same goes for St. John Bosco in the incredibly talented and highly ranked Trinity League.

Last season, a forfeit caused Cerritos to drop its first San Gabriel Valley League game in 11 years and gave Downey its first SGVL title since 2003. The Dons will be looking to reassert themselves in the league and Division 4 with a trio of seniors leading the way in Alex Alcala, Dylan Sun and new goalkeeper Anthony Touzani. Warren is the only other local team on the preseason watch list in Division 6.

JJ Fiddler contributed to this story.