6 minute read
Player Pro les: Griggs/Gruwell
swimming … lettered his freshman season in both sports at Santa Cruz High School in 2015 … lettered his nal three years in water polo and his last two years in swimming at Bellarmine College Preparatory … was a three-time rst team All-CIF Central Coast Section honoree (2016-18) and was also named rst team All-West Catholic Athletic League in 2017 and 2018 as co-captain … named second team All-WCAL in 2016 as Bellarmine won the CIF CCS D1 Championship … named Freshman of the Year and to the rst team All-Monterey Bay League, Gabilan Division in 2015 at Santa Cruz HS … Bellarmine nished third in the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division in 2017 with Discipulo scoring 55 goals, adding a team-high 72 exclusions drawn and adding seven steals … in 2018, the Bells’ CCS Championship game was canceled with Sacred Heart Prep due to bad air quality and both teams were named Co-Champions … he scored 78 goals and also tallied 88 exclusions drawn, 14 steals and two assists … for his career, he registered 222 goals in 96 games played, drawing 247 exclusions … played his club ball for Stanford Water Polo Club and is a three-time Junior Olympic champion (2015, 2016, 2017) … his team won a silver medal at the 2018 Junior Olympics … was a rst team Junior Olympic All-American in 2015 and 2017 … participated in USA Water Polo National Pipeline teams from 2015-18 (Development in 2015, Cadet in 2016 and Youth in 201718) … won a gold medal in Lima, Peru at the 2017 UANA Youth Pan-American Games and placed 9th at the 2018 FINA Youth World Championships in Szombathely, Hungary. Personal Full name: Gabriel Alakai Discipulo, prefers Gabe … born in Santa Cruz, Calif. … his parents are Mykell and Jeffrey Discipulo … has one older brother, Isaiah … says he chose UCLA because, “I was attracted to the work ethic and team culture. I think that I can improve and learn a lot in my time at UCLA.” … describes his greatest athletic thrill when, “I was playing Hungary in the Youth World Championships in front of a sold out Hungarian crowd. The atmosphere and excitement about water polo was something I had not experienced on that level before.” … lists Serbian water polo player Dusko Pijetlovic and former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis as the athletes he most admires … lists painting, sur ng and body sur ng as his favorite hobbies … has yet to declare a major. Career Statistics Year GP/GS G ATT PCT AST STL BLK EE 2019 22/3 15 39 .385 1 8 5 44 Totals 22/3 15 39 .385 1 8 5 44 GARRET GRIGGS 6-8 / Freshman Goalkeepere Riverside, Calif. Riverside Poly HS Team USA Competed on U.S. Cadet and Youth National Teams … was a member of the Cadet Men’s National Team that won gold at the Darko Cukic Memorial Tournament in 2017 … was a member of the Youth National Team which took home silver at the 2018 Pan American Games in Clearwater, Florida … was a three-time USA Water Polo Academic All-American. High School/Club Was a four-year varsity letterwinner in water polo and swimming at Riverside Poly High School … served as team captain for the Bears’ boys’ water polo team his junior and senior seasons … was named All-Ivy League most valuable player and rst-team CIF in both 2018 and 2019 … logged 25 saves to help Riverside Poly upset No. 1-seeded Woodbridge in overtime in the rst round of the 2018 CIF playoffs … held the Bears’ single-season record for most saves (338), and most assists (62), and also in career saves (754) … earned Press Enterprise’s All-Area Player of the Year Honors in 2018 and 2019 … competed at the CIF Southern Section Championships in 2017 and 2019 for swimming … helped Riverside Poly to win league for swimming in 2017, 2018 and 2019 … was a member of the SoCal Water Polo Club which won gold at the 2018 Junior Olympics for 16Us. Personal Full name: Garret Wesley Griggs … born in Loma Linda, Calif. … his parents are Bear and Heather Griggs … has an older sister, Jordyn, who played indoor volleyball at Fresno State and now plays indoor and beach volleyball at Hope International University … says he chose UCLA because of the team, coaching, and training, along with it being one of the best academic colleges in the nation … lists his greatest athletic thrill as “winning Junior Olympics in 2018 with my SoCal club team” … lists the late Kobe Bryant as the athlete he admires most … lists spending time with friends and family, boating, body sur ng, scuba diving and off-roading as his hobbies … was nationally ranked in bike racing before picking up water polo … has yet to declare a major.
TOMMY GRUWELL
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6-4 / Sophomore Attacker San Diego, Calif.
Cathedral Catholic HS
24
2019 Played in 22 matches, making 19 starts … earned third-team All-American and Honorable Mention All-MPSF honors … earned ACWPC All-Academic “excellent” honors … made the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in fall and spring quarters … kicked off his collegiate career with a hat trick in a 15-3 win over Fordham on Sept. 7, including a power-play goal to give UCLA its rst goal of the season … registered his second hat trick of the season to go along with a steal in an 11-7 victory over No. 8 Long Beach State on Oct. 4 … logged two goals, two assists, two steals and one eld block in a 15-11 win over No. 5 UCSB on Oct. 11 and was named MPSF/KAP7 Newcomer of the Week (Oct. 14) … tallied three goals, three steals, two assists, two eld blocks and two drawn exclusions over three games and was named MPSF/KAP7 Newcomer of the Week (Oct. 21) for the second week in a row, which included a 14-10 win over No. 3 Paci c (Oct. 18) … nished fth on the team in scoring with 26 goals on 52 shots, converting at a 50 percent rate … scored in 16 of the 22 contests he played, including nine in a row and six multiple-goal games … scored a career-high four goals in a 16-15 overtime loss to No. 1 Stanford in the MPSF Tournament (Nov. 23) … nished second on the team in assists (22), which was tied for seventh in the MPSF … nished tied for third on the team in steals (21), which was tied for 10th in the MPSF … was also tied for second on the team in steals (21), third on the team in exclusions drawn (17), and tied for rst in eld blocks (10). Team USA 2019: Helped the USA Men’s National Team earn silver at the 2019 World University Games following an 18-7 loss to Italy in the championship match … the loss halted Team USA’s undefeated run in Italy after going 6-0 in previous action … is Team USA’s best nish since winning gold in 1993 … also marked a return to the podium for the rst time since 2015 when UCLA (playing as Team USA) earned bronze … Team USA opened the tournament with a 30-3 win over the Republic of Korea with Gruwell netting one goal … The Americans then posted a 17-3 win over the United Kingdom with Gruwell adding one score … Team USA then narrowly defeated France, 10-8, with Gruwell netting one goal … The Americans concluded pool play with a 13-8 victory over Russia … after posting a 12-11 win over Croatia in the quarter nals, Team USA defeated Hungary, 12-9, in the semi nals … Gruwell nished the tournament with four total goals.