Brooke Gruneisen
Water Polo Wilson

Wilson’s Brooke Gruneisen Commits To UCLA

It was a dream come true for Wilson senior Brooke Gruneisen a few weeks ago, as the stud girls’ water polo player committed to her dream school, UCLA.

“It’s been my dream school since I was a little kid growing up around the sport,” she said. “I just love everything there, the tradition of the program, Westwood. When I was in like eighth grade I just decided to put all my eggs in that basket, I’m so glad it’s worked out.”

A star player from a young age, Gruneisen was the Moore League’s Player of the Year as a freshman. Last year as a junior she helped lead the team to the Bruins’ first CIF-SS championship in history, earning CIF Player of the Year honors as well as every local accolade imaginable. Her recruitment was heating up this year, and after a lot of interest from Michigan, UCLA came on strong and closed the deal.

“Brooke has been a great high school player and she’s got a chance to go up there and compete really hard and become a great college player,” said Wilson coach Barry O’Dea.

Gruneisen is part of a Long Beach family with deep aquatic roots. Her father, Matt, played at Wilson and Long Beach State.

The Bruins just beat Poly to take a firm hold on first place in the Moore League and will try to complete that title run as well as make a move in the CIF-SS Division ½ bracket after the holiday break.

 

Mike Guardabascio
An LBC native, Mike Guardabascio has been covering Long Beach sports professionally for 13 years, with his work published in dozens of Southern California magazines and newspapers. He's won numerous awards for his writing as well as the CIF Southern Section’s Champion For Character Award, and is the author of three books about Long Beach history.
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