Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

The highlight of Osceola County’s water polo season is today when Osceola meets Gateway at the Osceola County YMCA.

The Kowboys and the Panthers are the only teams in the county to compete in the sport, so the winners of today’s girls (5 p.m.) and boys (6 p.m.) matches will become the county champions.

The Lady Kowboys are, according to Coach Debra “Rennie” Adams, “a very young and talented team.”

No seniors are among the six returning starters from last year’s district tournament qualifier, but Adams saw her team win its first two matches of the season, 30-13 over Ocoee and 14-3 against Colonial and has won two recent matches to raise their record to 5-7.

The juniors include captains Jenna Adams and Amber Hammock, along with Samantha Manguiat and Manuela Gutierrez.

Returning sophomores are Caitlyn Phelps and Logan Spurlock.

Newcomers include juniors Brooke Basho and Heather Kieser, sophomore Kristina Wendland and freshmen Courtney Ausherman, Kendall Castillow, Meg Clancy, Rose Donaldson and Heather Hammock.

Kristen Miller, one of the team’s top players last season, is the assistant coach.

The Osceola boys advanced to the district tournament championship game last year under coaches Trish and Jaime Abell.

Returning are Caleb Ferguson, Daniel Wade, Michael Pierson, Alex Adames and Casey Raines.

Newcomers include Adam Lentz, Tim Elstermann, Austin Richards and Spencer Hart.

The Lady Panthers, 7-4, reached the district tournament last season under Coach Vonnie Kochensparger, who has led the program from its inception nearly a decade ago.

The team, all underclassmen, owns district wins against University, Freedom, Cypress Creek and Colonial.

Captains are Jodi Hennen, Chrissy Mazzotta and Melissa Morgan.

Also playing are Janie Lowe, Sam Arbonida, Johanna Weiss, Ashley Brent and Emily Julson. Newcomers include Ali Klar, Joannly Torres and Suanny Zamora.

Morgan and Lowe each had four goals in a 13-4 win over Wekiva. In a 14-2 win over Cypress Creek, Mazzotta and Lowe each had five goals, Hennen had two goals and Arbonida and Morgan each scored once. Weiss had 10 saves in goal.

The boys team, 2-9, includes returnees Josh Gomez, Braden Robinson, Justin Tirado, John Hopps, Jake Atkins, Adam Fortier and Noel Fernandez.

New to the squad are Dillan Buescher, Robert Billingslea, Billy Hook and Noah Hendricks.

Gomez scored seven goals against Wekiva. During the team’s 9-7 win over Cypress Creek, Hopps scored four goals and Billingslea added three. Frankie Correa had 16 saves.

Also in District 3 are Boone, Dr. Phillips, Lake Nona and Timber Creek.

The top four teams in the district during the regular season advance to the district tournament April 20 at the I-Drive YMCA. The winner advances to the play-in game April 26 for an opportunity to qualify for the state tournament April 29 in Orlando.