By Jaidev Pant ’21
The boys water polo teams had a strong season. The varsity team finished the season with a 14-12 record, including a 5-0 record in the Mission League and a league title. The JV team finished their season with a 8-10 record, including a 2-1 record in the Mission League.
The varsity team consisted of seniors, juniors and sophomores. They finished first in the Mission League with an undefeated record. Even though the varsity team went undefeated in league, they did not do as well as they projected, as the team expected a much better overall record. However, the team showed a lot of potential throughout the year. Many sophomores received key playing time such as Nolan Krutonog ‘20, Mot Stothart ‘20 and Nico Tierney ’20. As these young players develop, the team will continue to get better.  The seniors believe that the Wolverines water polo program will be competitive for many years to come.
“The water polo team in the next coming years will be very successful…. no matter how much pure athleticism the team has, Harvard-Westlake will always be in contention for a CIF championship every single year. We have by far the best head coach in the nation, and the best assistants in the nation. As long as this is true, the tradition of excellence in water polo will continue,” attacker Keller Maloney ’18 said.
Even though the team did not have as good of a season as they expected, they still managed to be the 7th best team in Southern California by the end of the regular season. However, the season did take a turn for the better, as the Wolverines upset second seeded Orange Lutheran in the first round of CIF playoffs. The Wolverines lost on Nov. 8 to the third seeded Oaks Christian seed in the semi-finals 8-7, ending their season.
The JV team was made up of freshmen and sophomores this year. The purpose of the JV team is to help develop players so that they are prepared to play at the varsity level. Although there are two different teams, players in both levels seem to bond together.
”We all practice together and hang out together. We just play at different times,” defender Spencer Mendelsohn ’21 said.
The JV team finished the season with only one loss in the Mission League. The JV team was very competitive in the tournaments they played this season including a second place finish in the Agoura JV tournament. The team also finished second in the Mission League. The JV players recognized their success and improvement throughout the season.
“We have all improved so much through the season due to our hard work,” said attacker Shay Gillearn ’21.