Tournament, Pro Exhibition Set to Share Spotlight

The U.S. Water Polo National Junior Olympic tournament finals in the boys’ divisions will share the spotlight with an exhibition professional game between the San Francisco Bay Sharks and the Newport Waves today at El Toro High.

Some of the nation’s top players will participate in the 12:30 p.m. exhibition game, hosted by U.S. Water Polo, and features a $5,000 purse to be awarded to the winning team.

Among those scheduled to compete are Gavin Arroyo (California and Villa Park High), Chris Duplanty (UC Irvine), Dan Hackett (UCLA and Irvine High), Jeremy Laster (Stanford and San Clemente High) and Chris Oeding (California and Corona del Mar High).

After the pro exhibition, the 17-and-under bronze-medal game is at 2 p.m. and play concludes with 17-and-under gold-medal game at 3 p.m. between Villa Park Orca and Tustin SoCal.

SoCal defeated Orca, 6-5, during preliminary competition this week but Orca defeated SoCal in the 1995 Junior Olympics 15-and-under gold-medal game.

The medal games for the 13-and-under (8 and 9 a.m.) and 15-and-under (10 and 11 a.m.) precede the pro exhibition.