CMAC takes gold, silver and bronze in K7 Cup
Costa Mesa Aquatics Club continued a successful season by claiming medals in three separate divisions in one of the year’s biggest tournaments, at the K7 Cup the weekend of April 23-24. The club entered teams in four divisions and was undefeated as a club after the first day of play on Saturday.
The CMAC 12-and-under team continued a successful season by going undefeated in its division and claiming the gold medal. After day one wins of 19-6 against Renegade and 14-7 against S&S Bruin, Coach Dustin Serrano summarized the day: “We played great team water polo today. It is always exciting to watch all the athletes come together as a team at the big tournaments. I am especially proud of the leadership provided by Gavin Fisher and Landon Akerstrom, who scored four and five goals respectively in game one alone and were instrumental in the team’s defense as well.” The winning streak continued with a 17-4 win against Elite and 10-3 against Newport. CMAC won the championship game with 12-8 against previously undefeated Shores Aquatics from Long Beach. Coach Serrano summarized the day as follows: “I couldn’t be more excited for the whole team for going undefeated through this tournament. I especially want to point out the efforts of Eric Duesund and goalies Madillyn Ambrose and Wyatt Juelfs, whose contributions today made this win possible.”
The 10-and-under-division, coached by Costa Mesa High alumnus Mitchell Grandia, beat MV Polo and LA Premier after a solid first-day effort from goalie Alexander Michalet, solid defense by Dutch Dale and six goals by Lucas Ramirez. Day two started with a tough 8-5 loss against Westside. Wes Brazda tied the game up with 7 seconds to go in the bronze medal game and Jake Fry scored the game winner for a final score of 11-9.
The club’s 14-and-under team, coached by Cody Serrano, beat LAWPC 14-7 in the first game after an outstanding effort by Thomas Classen at set, and hard work by Sean Angelovich. The second game was against Greenwich Aquatics. CMAC prevailed with a 7-6 win, in which Noah Gniffke and William Harrington fought the hardest for the home team. After a loss to San Miguel on Sunday morning, the team tied SoCal after regulation time but lost in the shootout despite an outstanding effort by goalie Joey Palmblade.
The 18-and-under team, led by Coach Eric Smith, played in a very tough division and went undefeated on day one. The day started against local rival Newport, where Caedmon Fisher led the team to a 9-6 win. The day’s second game against LA Premier ended up in a shootout where Ivan Shikhelman, who just committed to Chapman, made a game-winning save. The team came from behind to beat host club Kahuna in the semifinals, as Jacob Petersen was providing leadership in front of the opponents’ goal and Jacob Lee scored with a signature no-look shot from the left. The team once again came from behind to tie the championship game, but lost on a buzzer-beating shot, 14-13, to take silver against EAST.
Club Director Jose De La Jara summarized the weekend by saying “This is our most successful tournament as a club to date. We couldn’t be more excited about the growth of water polo in Costa Mesa. The club has risen to be a force to be reckoned with since its creation six years ago. We are especially proud of being able to attract talent not only from the whole city of Costa Mesa, but from neighboring cities who are seeing CMAC as a great place for everyone to learn, compete and succeed.”
— Reader submission