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Locals choose dream college on signing day

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National signing day arrived just a week ahead of Valentine’s Day.

Even if they have yet to line up a date, 33 local high school seniors can rest assured of one thing. They will all be going to a college of their choice.

The signing period began on Wednesday and was limited to the sports of football, boys’ water polo, and boys’ and girls’ soccer.

Corona del Mar long snapper Kyle Petrucci will be headed to Stanford. Petrucci had been a starter for the Sea Kings’ football team for the past three seasons, helping CdM reach the CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship game as a junior in 2016.

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“He is arguably the best snapper in California to come out of this high school class,” West Coast Kicking Academy’s Brad Bohn said. “He’s been consistent over a three-year period. He gets great velocity on his snaps, and he’s really consistent in the placement.”

The total package of excellence in academics and athletics helped the Cardinal reel in top-end talent. Jackson Seybold, the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Player of the Year in boys’ water polo, also signed with Stanford.

Seybold, a Newport Beach resident who helped Mater Dei win the Division 1 championship this year, lauded the area as a premier developer of water polo talent.

“Newport and CdM were two of our biggest competitors this year,” Seybold said. “Not only are they two of the best programs in high school water polo, but a lot of the players that come to play at Mater Dei and alumni are from Newport and CdM.

“It’s one of the biggest, if not the biggest, cities in the nation for water polo.”

Sunset League girls’ soccer has also been a source of pride. Five of the six teams in the league finished with a record above .500. There were 14 girls’ soccer players from the league that made a decision on their future on Wednesday.

Given the opportunity, family stayed together. Marina’s Madison and Payton Woolbert will attend Southern Wesleyan University and play women’s soccer. CdM’s Alex and Julian Pourdanesh will play football for the University of Nevada at Reno, where their father, Shar, played in college before moving on to play in the NFL.

After initially committing to UNLV, Edison quarterback Griffin O’Connor is headed to Yale.

Others to join Ivy League schools were Edison’s Michael Guptill (Dartmouth women’s soccer) and Mater Dei’s Wyatt Benson, a Huntington Beach resident who plans to play men’s water polo at Princeton.

CdM’s Henry Wilde, Huntington Beach’s Jake Cavano and Newport Harbor’s Jackson Westerman will play men’s water polo at UCLA.

Sage Hill’s Taylor Magliarditi also joins the Bruins for women’s soccer.

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Corona del Mar

Kyle Mabwa, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men’s soccer

Ava McKenzie, UC San Diego women’s soccer

Kyle Petrucci, Stanford football

Alex Pourdanesh, University of Nevada, Reno football

Julian Pourdanesh, University of Nevada, Reno football

Connor Reid, University of San Diego football

Joseph Rosensitto, University of Toronto men’s water polo

Henry Wilde, UCLA men’s water polo

Edison

Amanda Chadwick, Pace women’s soccer

Michael Guptill, Dartmouth women’s soccer

Griffin O’Connor, Yale football

Teagan Wasserman, Wagner women’s soccer

Mitchell Wilson, Loyola Marymount University men’s soccer

Fountain Valley

Marissa Lynch, UC San Diego women’s soccer

Kylena Wilson, Westminster College women’s soccer

Huntington Beach

Jake Cavano, UCLA men’s water polo

Taylor Jackson, University of San Francisco women’s soccer

Curtis Jarvis, Pepperdine men’s water polo

Alijah Oliver, Tulsa women’s soccer

Marina

Amanda Dunton, Wheaton College (MA) women’s soccer

Autumn Opperud, Jamestown University (ND) women’s soccer

Erika Sosa, Sacramento State women’s soccer

Madison Woolbert, Southern Wesleyan University women’s soccer

Payton Woolbert, Southern Wesleyan University women’s soccer

Mater Dei

Mark Balcarcel, Chapman men’s water polo (Newport Beach resident)

Wyatt Benson, Princeton men’s water polo (Huntington Beach resident)

Jack Seybold, Stanford men’s water polo (Newport Beach resident)

Newport Harbor

Ryan Brosnan, UC Santa Barbara men’s water polo

Scout Farmer, Concordia University women’s soccer

Jason Grew, UC Irvine men’s water polo

Eva Nadeau, UC San Diego women’s soccer

Jackson Westerman, UCLA men’s water polo

Sage Hill

Taylor Magliarditi, UCLA women’s soccer

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner

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