Despite quite the impressive resume on the year, the Huron Varsity Water Polo team was unable to come out with the result they wanted. They knew they could have done better, and made it further than the first round of states. But for now, there is nothing they can do about it except wait one more year to get another shot. The River Rats overall had a really good year by making it to states with a lot of confidence, and coming into this game, they had a record of 16-12.
“I felt confident,” sophomore Max Greineder said. “I thought our team had prepared really well for the two weeks between regionals and states. We watched a lot of film, worked on new plays. So I felt pretty confident but we also knew that this was a team that was really good.”
They had to face the fifth state ranked school in Hudsonville High School, who were a tough opponent. Hudsonville were the defending state champions in water polo and have historically been quite good at the sport. The game resulted in a 13-10 win for Hudsonville. The Rats were off to a slow start in the game but started to pick it up in the third quarter. Even though they had a boost of morale, things turned around again and the River Rats had no options to win the game.
“There was a decision that the referees made that led to some frustration on our team,” Greineder said. It was really interesting to see how that one moment really shifted the rest of the game.”
Although things had gone wrong in the game, the Huron team still came out with a lot of positives and could say it was a positive season. They felt very thrilled to have the opportunity to play in the state playoffs and ended up placing fifth in the whole state.
“I think that it was definitely a really sad moment, but it was kind of cool because we got a moment of reflection, we could reflect on the whole season,” Greineder said. “It was upsetting, but it did feel like we got at least a little bit of closure.”
The positives of the season were not the only things to look at. There is a lot of excitement in their future with a lot of their team not being seniors and still having some time with the personnel they have on the water polo team.
“I think we’ve got some really good young players,” Greineder said. “We’ve had people that are not necessarily seniors step up a lot this year, so I’m pretty confident for next year.”
For the seniors, it was their last game on the team, since they are set to graduate next year. The seniors in the program have been really good leaders and played a large role in their success. Senior Graham Baker was the all state MVP as well as a member of the first team and Kal Bunnel also made the All State first team. These two as well as other upperclassmen were able to change the program and make it better than when they joined it.
“Graham Baker and I have kind of made a powerhouse for our class. So it was fun to see it all come together this last senior year. And I think the whole team in the program is better as a whole.” Bunnel said.
The season for the Huron water polo team went really well, as they finished with a 18-13 record, and they can only look forward to more success in the future with all the new talent coming in and the great leaders they have.
