Cuesta College men's water polo coach John Marsh racks up 400th career win

SAN LUIS OBISPO - Coach John Marsh has led Cuesta Men's Water Polo to a 7-0 start to open the 2022 season as the program chases its 43rd straight playoff berth.  He entered his 19th season on the bench with 396 career wins and entered last weekend's Mt San Antonio Tournament one-win shy of 400.  The Cougars continued their winning ways in Walnut by taking the Mt SAC Tournament title, including four wins, to vault their mentor past the quad-century mark.  Marsh's team overshot the milestone by winning the title and he came home with 403 wins to his credit.  

Marsh's 400th win came in a lopsided victory over Southwestern, 21-5, in the tournament opener, but the Cougars were never really challenged last weekend.  The Cougars earned their four wins by outscoring their opponents, 72-17.  Before Marsh coached the Cougars, he played for Cuesta in 1980 and 1981, earning all-American honors both seasons, before finishing his playing career at UCLA. He returned to Cuesta in 2001 to join his old Coach Terry Bowen's staff.  He, eventually, took over the program lead when Bowen retired after the 2003 campaign with a school (all sports) record 556 wins.  Marsh is now in his 19th season and just six years and 143 wins behind Bowen's record, although his pace lags slightly behind.  Bowen averaged 22.24 wins over his quarter-century at the helm, while Marsh entered this season averaging an even 22 over his first 18 years.

Marsh, a seven-time Western State Conference Coach of the Year and the 2019 CCCAA State Men's Water Polo Coach of the Year, still has 24 regular season contests on the docket for 2022, plus the taken for granted expectation of playoffs.  He currently ranks third all time for wins among Cuesta Water Polo Coaches and seventh all time among all sports at Cuesta.  The Cougars host the 43rd Arena Tournament this weekend, with four games scheduled, so Marsh should pass his old deck-mate Pete Schuler's 405 wins with women's water polo and set his sights on former CCCAA State Women's Basketball Coach of the Year Ed Musolff. "Easy Ed" collected 427 victories over his 30 years leading the women cagers.  Current Baseball Coach Bob Miller and his predecessor Larry Lee sit tied for third all-time with 460 wins, but Miller is expected to make a big push for 500 this spring.  Men's Basketball Coach Rusty Blair, who has more wins than any adjunct faculty coach in Cuesta (and maybe State) history, leads all active coaches with 533 victories.  He enters his 31st season just 23 wins, a total his teams have surpassed six times, short of Bowen's record.  Blair will take his first shot at Bowen's mark this year, but everyone expects him to be on the bench for several more seasons and provide a moving target for both Miller and Marsh.   

CUESTA COLLEGE ALL-TIMES WINS LIST
1. Terry Bowen, Men's Water Polo (1979-2003)- 556
2. Rusty Blair, Men's Basketball (1993-Present)- 533
3. Larry Lee, Baseball (1987-2002)- 460
4. Bob Miller, Baseball (2003-Present)- 460
5. Ed Musolff, Women's Basketball (1981-2010)- 427
6. Pete Schuler, Women's Water Polo (1999-2020)- 405
7. JOHN MARSH, MEN'S WATER POLO (2004-PRESENT)- 403

(Pete Schuler, Cuesta College Athletics)