MWPA Week 4 Boys Rankings

The Michigan Water Polo Association has announced their Week 4 Boys Top Ten Rankings. A breakdown of the week that was is below.

#1 Hudsonville Eagles

Not a lot to say - they're 12-0 overall, 9-0 against West Side teams, they are tied for state-lead in win percentage vs. top ten teams (hint, they haven't lost any games, so you do the math!), and lead the state in wins vs. top ten teams with six. This week alone, Josh Ahrendt's Eagles knocked off #4 Rockford, #6 Jenison, #7 Grand Haven, #10 ELHL, and a Dexter squad that is back in the top ten. A lot of question marks may have loomed in the line up at season's start on who would replace such an exceptional senior class. Anyone have any questions for them?

#2 Ann Arbor Skyline Eagles

Not a bad time to be an Eagle it seems - birds of a feather in one case, flock together. Like their #1 counterpart, Skyline is unbeaten against top ten teams and recently upset the team occupying this spot (Formerly Ann Arbor Pioneer). That said, that's a district foe...plenty more polo between those two to play. Ashley Hower's Eagles weren't overly busy this week, but what they did, they did emphatically - to the tune of a 36-3 score differential and a 2-0 week against now #10 Dexter, and a Walled Lake team that had been causing some teams problems of late.

#3 Ann Arbor Pioneer Pioneers

The Pioneer Pioneers (THAT'S SO FUN TO SAY) took to the pool three times in three days including a road trip to Birmingham sandwiched in the middle and came out with some fine showings. The two home games were district seed games, and Don Packard's group made quick work of Chelsea and Saline on Tuesday and Thursday. On the middle day, they chalked up a very nice 12-8 road win at #5 Birmingham Groves. They lead the state in games played, and have only lost to ONE in state opponent....the team directly ahead of them.

#4 Rockford Rams

The Rams lost just once on the week, and it came to #1 Hudsonville. Then, they did Michigan well, went West and crashed the party to go 3-0 against Illinois teams, something no MWPA girls or boys team has done yet this year. Craig P-E-T-E-R-M-A-N's (Did I get it right CRAIG?!) Rams lead the state in wins vs. out of state opponents (that might not actually mean anything, but seems like a fun state) are tied for second in the State in total wins, and are 4-2 against top ten teams. All said, a good start to the campaign for the Rams.

#5 Jenison Wildcats

Everybody Wants to Be a Cat! (If anyone gets this reference, your parents exposed you to really obscure, old Disney movies as a kid. I'm talking like on VHS Tapes.) But seriously they do! The J-Cats are on a heck of a run, as they managed to return from beak with a pair of nice wins over East Kentwood before shutting out then #7 Grand Haven and sneaking past Dexter (back in the polls this week) to close out a 4-1 week. Forgive Jason Sweedyk's bunch, their lone loss came to #1 Hudsonville. This is a group with some serious upside.

#6 Birmingham Groves Gators

While the Gators are back one spot, they did fall earlier this year to Jenison and did take a home loss this week, albeit it to a very good #3 Ann Arbor Pioneer. The Gators took a bit of a scare on the road in the shallow-deep funhouse that is Walled Lake, but walked out with a 13-10 win. They regrouped after their loss to Pioneer by downing Lake Orion on the road. Steve Curry and Bob Sala's group have a fairly quiet week of games ahead before they roll into their District Seed week.

#7 East Grand Rapids Pioneers

Up a spot are Raheem Brown's Pioneers after a light week of games, but one that included a win they haven't pulled off in awhile. The Pio's topped then #7 Grand Haven for a big home win in OK Conference action early in the week and thus earned their spot here. While they still haven't seen a ton of action, all signs appear positive for a group that graduated some dynamic pieces last season, and a win over a team that opened the year in the top five gives the Pioneers plenty of credibility. It's a bit of a "prove it" week though, they draw a good Jenison squad on the road before returning home to take on West Ottawa.

#8 ELHL Co-Op

Dear ELHL, what is your mascot? We just wanna know. Can we offer some ideas? The Thunderwolves? The Jackalopes? The Moose? We can keep going. If you have any ideas, leave them in the comments. At least pick something unique! Now that we've helped them with that, we can talk about something we DO know about them, and it's that they are good at Water Polo. And red hot right now. While they took a loss to #1 Hudsonville and suffered a very narrow loss to the team directly in front of them over a week ago, and rebounded by upsetting #9 Zeeland, followed by wins over Ann Arbor Huron and East Kentwood. Good work to Madi Zink's....we need a mascot here!

#9 Grand Haven Buccaneers

Poll logic holds up for the 9 spot for Bill Hamm's Bucco's here. While they lost to Hudsonville to open their home tournament, they duked it out with Dexter who is now directly behind them in the poll and swung a one-goal victory. They fell to now #5 Jenison in a low-scoring affair, but managed to keep it close on the day. Their record is more a product of their extreme strength of schedule - seven of their eight losses have come to ranked teams. That said, it's a good test to help this squad grow up fast.

#10 Dexter Dreadnaughts

The Dreads have returned to the rankings after a bit of an up-and-down week, but one that saw them unseat the formerly ninth ranked Zeeland squad, standing reason Kait McMurray's Dreads have worked their way back it. Dexter drew then #7 Grand Haven (one-goal loss), #1 Hudsonville, #2 Ann Arbor Skyline, and then #6 Jenison (one-goal loss) as well on what was a frankly, outrageously hard week. But the Dreadnaughts have made clear some improvements playing a ton of close games in that time.

On the Line: Zeeland (84), Okemos (81), Ann Arbor Huron (26)

Understanding the Poll: The poll, open to all MWPA Head Coaches, is ranked via a point-percentage scoring model. The points column is percentage of points scored by voters against the maximum total, which is based on number of voters. The period that would signify percentage has been dropped off the beginning of each number. Unanimous first place ranking nets a score of 1,000 points. Polls will be updated Monday's at 11 am (Girls) and noon (Boys) ET. Inquiries on the poll can be directed to the chat feature on the MWPA website. Answering times may vary.

What is On the Line?: On the Line is the first three teams outside of the MWPA Poll. Coaches vote weekly during the season.