The562’s coverage of aquatic sports in Long Beach in 2025-26 is sponsored by Watersafe Swim School.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The Wilson boys’ water polo program looked every bit the part of an Open Division team on Tuesday afternoon.
After being ranked No. 8 in the latest CIF-SS power rankings, the Bruins brought their deep roster to Millikan on Tuesday, scoring early and often with a remarkable 13 different goal scorers in an 18-5 victory.
“I have to give it up to Millikan and coach Garrison. They’re doing a great job with their program and they made us earn it in the first half,” said Wilson coach Zac Polmanteer. “Nothing was easy and so we really did have to work and put in the effort. I think we met our threshold and did exactly what we needed to do.”
Polmanteer’s expectations are high for the Bruins, who have already faced five of the top 10 ranked teams in the Southern Section. Even after Tuesday’s win and despite being down three starters to injury, he emphasized the need to be cleaner with the ball and communicate better.
“We have to play the same brand of water polo regardless of who’s in the pool,” he said. “This team knows what they want and with where we are in the season there’s no turning back. The success that we’ve had so far has led us to a position where we’re looking like we’re going to be Open, so we have to be ready to play the best teams in the country.”
Senior Samson Casem led the Bruins with a game-high three goals while Vaughan Baker, Jesse Knight and Nicholas Tramontano each had a pair. Eight other players had a goal, including five of the six players who came off the bench.
“All of us have been playing together for like 5-6 years, so that’s been good for us and it’s different compared to other teams since we can be familiar with each other in different lineups,” said Casem. “It’s cool to be diverse in that way, and our training and camaraderie have improved because of it over the last year.”
Defensively, Andrew Demboski held it down in the cage for Wilson with 10 total blocks.
“He had a lot of great saves today and he kept us honest in the goal,” Polmanteer said of Demboski. “He kept our defense in a position to be able to do the things that we wanted to do, which is a lot of knock downs, moving around and forcing these timed shots and he was at the core of that.”
Casem had two goals in the first quarter, while fellow seniors Keegan Abing and Knight both had their pair of goals in the opening frame. Fernando Rejon and Tramontano each had a goal in the period, while Baker, Casem, Nolan Kerry and Wyatt Sprenger each added to Wilson’s lead with a goal in the second quarter.
Chase Carson, Ace Dufault, Owen Grabow and Gabriel Robles each found goals in the third quarter for Wilson. Baker and Tramontano capped off the scoring with a pair of goals in the fourth.
Millikan found a pair of goals from Josh Lindner, including a goal in just the first two minutes of the game. Luc Poissant had a score in the second quarter while Linder and Alden Fletcher each had a goal in the fourth quarter.
The Rams now move to an even 1-1 in Moore League play after a dominant 19-7 win over Lakewood last week. They’ll continue league play at Long Beach Poly next Tuesday.
Wilson will debut its brand new pool in a tough local matchup against Los Al on Thursday before returning to league play at Lakewood next Tuesday.
