After winning the state championship last year in a sudden death round against SLU High School, the Parkway West Water Polo team is ready to start a new season with have high goals, despite losing as many as eight players due to graduation.

“Coming back as state champions,” senior and team captain Sam Luethy said,  “we definitely have targets on our backs. Our goal is to prove again that even with the loss of big players that we can still play at the level needed to be just as good as last year.”

More than anything, last year’s state championship game was historic. Parkway West became the first public high school to be named State Water Polo Champions since Parkway South in 1999.

“Last year was proof that the private school’s domination of state titles over the last couple of years is ending,” Luethy said.

While the team recognizes that a repeat will be tough and will not come without challenges this season, Head Coach Charlie Cutelli is preparing his team to face this obstacle.

“We are a lot smaller in physique and we lack the depth we had last year,” Cutelli said. “But if the players continue to be competitive in practice, we will do just fine.”

So while other teams are ready to defeat the returning state champions, West’s Water Polo team is ready to prove that they are a force to be reckoned with.

“We have a lot of skilled and talented players returning this season,” sophomore Romney Morgan said. “Many people think that with all the players we lost, we won’t be as good as we were last year. But I think people are going to be surprised.”