Photo by Ross Turteltaub, UCLA Athletics
There’s no city in the country with the water polo history that Long Beach has. The nation’s Olympic wheelhouse has once again produced champions, as last week UCLA claimed the NCAA men’s water polo title in an instant classic thriller with USC, in a win powered by several Long Beach natives.
Wilson alum Gray Carson was a part of the back-to-back NCAA titles for the Bruins as were Long Beach natives Ryder and Chase Dodd (the Dodds attended high school in Orange County). The Bruins’ head coach, Adam Wright, claimed his sixth NCAA title as head coach of the UCLA men’s and women’s programs. Wright is a Wilson alum and Long Beach native, and assistant coaches Jason Falitz and Matt Kubeck both played at Long Beach State.
The Bruins wrapped up a 27-2 season and won their second consecutive NCAA title as the two-seed in the tournament, which was hosted at Stanford. They defeated top-seeded USC, their rival, 12-11 after a thrilling game.
The title is UCLA’s 125th in school history, with 14 of those belonging to the men’s water polo team. In addition to Wright’s six titles as men’s head coach (all against USC) he won two as a player and another as the head coach of the women’s team.
Long Beach native Ryder Dodd had a team-high three goals in the game, with his brother Chase scoring two. Federico Jucá Carsalade scored the game-winner, which came off of an assist by Ryder Dodd, and found the net as the buzzer expired on the game.
