Wilson Makes It Four Straight

You knew it would be a long night for El Toro when Long Beach Wilson fans began passing out stickers that read “Wilson Polo: CIF 4-Peat” before the start of the Southern Section Division I championship game.

And while the Chargers had a brief moment of glory, scoring two goals in the first two minutes to take the lead, Wilson quickly settled down and went on to defend its title with a 14-9 victory Wednesday night at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

“This is incredible,” said Wilson’s Tony Azevedo, who scored seven goals, four of them in the second half. “To win four straight [Division I] titles is something I and my teammates will always remember.”

Newport Harbor, which won in 1977, ‘78, ’79 and ‘80, is the only other team to win four consecutive Division I titles.

Azevedo is a member of the U.S. national water polo team. He returns to the team in February, when it will begin training for the Olympics.

“High school water polo is over and it’s time to rock ‘n’ roll and get ready for the Olympics,” Azevedo said, noting that he will be graduating in January.

Azevedo demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the best high school players in the nation as he scored from all over the pool, including a shot from the half-tank mark.

“He’s a hell of a player,” El Toro Coach Don Stoll said. “We talked about how we’re going to have to stop him if we’re going to have any chance to win. But I don’t see how you can.”

Only two other players scored for Wilson (25-2). Albert Garcia had five goals and James Shin two.

“Tony and I are good friends. We wanted this game so bad,” Garcia said. “I don’t think there was any doubt in our mind that we wouldn’t win this.”

El Toro’s Trevor McMunn, who scored the winning goal in sudden death Saturday in the semifinals against Newport Harbor, had the task of trying to stop Azevedo. But despite his physical and aggressive play, he simply couldn’t contain Azevedo the entire game.

McMunn did have some moments, however, scoring three goals to lead El Toro and making two steals.

“We didn’t play defense in the first half,” Stoll said. “We played solid defense in the second half, and we did much better.”

Andy Terpstra and Brad Burnett scored two goals for El Toro (26-5), and Rich Schwanbeck and Brett McCleave, the Chargers’ leading scorer, had one.

Wednesday’s victory gave Wilson Coach Tony Martinho his first Division I title. He took over this year from Rick Azevedo, who now coaches Long Beach State. Martinho’s 1997 Los Alamitos team won the Division II title.