During its pre-game huddle, the Cabrillo High School varsity boys’ water polo team doesn’t shout their team name. Instead, they simply say, “work.”
The team’s motto showed when the Conquistadors overtook Santa Maria High School in Saints’ waters on Oct. 8.
The Conquistadors’ team captain, Ben Wulfestieg, scored four goals to help conquer the Saints, 9-6.
His first point came after picking up the garbage from a shot across the cage. He scored two points from foul shots and another one on a man-up, when the Saints played with one less person for 20 seconds after getting a penalty for holding.
“If he’s not in the game, we don’t win,” Cabrillo’s head coach Jeff Dacus said.
Wulfestieg leads the Conquistadors with the most goals and steals. In their match-up against the Saints, the 17-year-old senior nabbed eight steals.
Wulfestieg plays the primary set guard and point positions with great ball awareness and pool awareness, his coach said. He is in his third year on the Cabrillo varsity water polo team and brings needed experience to a young team.
The Conquistadors lost 13 seniors after the last season, so this year, the team definitely has its work cut out.
“As a captain, I’m trying to be a motivator,” Wulfestieg said. “It’s a rebuilding year.”
The team has played in two tournaments, and Wulfestieg said he was a bit surprised by how well they did. The team went 2-2 in the Thousand Oaks Tournament on Sept. 13, and more recently came out 2-2 again in the Pioneer Valley Tournament.
Wulfestieg started playing water polo his freshman year on junior varsity. He was swimming, which is something he’s done since he was six, and Dacus was his swim coach. Dacus also coached the junior varsity water polo team and encouraged Wulfestieg to try water polo.
“He’s been my main motivation,” Wulfestieg said about Dacus.
Dacus has been coaching Wulfestieg all four years. When Wulfestieg moved up to varsity his sophomore year, Dacus also moved up to assistant varsity coach.
Over the years Dacus has helped Wulfestieg work on his water polo game, especially his swimming, which is sometimes lazy, Wulfestieg said.
Dacus has also helped Wulfestieg fix his shot selection. Wulfestieg likes to shoot low on the near side, when he should be shooting high on the far side.
Now that he’s the captain, Wulfestieg tries to help his younger teammates improve their skills.
“If you ever need help during practice, he will help you and take time out of his schedule,” co-captain Jack Rhodes said about Wulfestieg. “He treats everyone with respect.”
The Conquistadors practice in the pool every day after school for three hours. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, they lift weights in the morning and do 10 minutes of passing drills.
The team’s three captains try to help their teammates individually, said co-captain Ryan Marin. Marin is also a senior and said the team does pretty well on defense but is having some passing issues and also struggling to handle being under pressure.
Since it’s the first time on varsity for many of the players, they haven’t had a lot of game experience together, Marin said.
Trevor Whitham is a 15-year-old junior who is playing varsity for the first time this year.
“It’s a lot more serious,” he said. “You have to put in a lot more work.”
This article appears in Oct 23-30, 2014.