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As a three-time Olympian and former captain of the USA Water Polo Men's National Team, Wolf Wigo is well-versed in the Olympic motto of Citus, Altus, Fortus: Faster, Higher, Stronger.
Now in his fifth year as the head coach of the UC Santa Barbara men's water polo program, Wigo will continue to instill these same principles in the Gauchos: faster in the pool, higher in the national rankings and stronger overall as UCSB takes on the best teams in the country as a member of the ultra-competitive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Last season, Wigo led the Gauchos to a winning record for the third consecutive season as UCSB went 17-11 overall in 2008. The 11 losses were the fewest by the program since the 1985 season. UCSB also posted its best conference mark since 1993, going 4-4 in MPSF play and finished fifth. The Gauchos ended the season ranked sixth nationally in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll for the third consecutive season.
Wigo helped guide two players to All-American honors: Miles Price and Milos Golic. Golic is Wigo's first protégé to earn First Team All-American honors and the first Gaucho to garner a first team nod in over twenty years.
In the classroom, the men's water polo team shined with six of Wigo's players earning Academic All-MPSF accolades.
In June of 2008, Wigo was named UCSB's Director of Water Polo and assumed the reigns of the women's water polo program in addition to his men's coaching duties. During the spring 2009 women's season, Wigo guided the Gauchos to a 17-12 record - an 11 win turnaround from the previous season and the program's best record since 2005. UCSB took second at the inaugural Big West Conference Championships and three players were named to the All-Big West teams.
During the 2007 men's season, Wigo led UCSB to a 19-14 record and a sixth-place finish in the MPSF regular season, conference tournament and a No. 6 final national ranking.
The season had several highlights, most notably the Gauchos' 9-7 win over Wigo's alma mater Stanford on October 27, the first victory over the Cardinal for UCSB since the 1985 season. Wigo also helped coach a pair of Gauchos to All-American honors: Ross Sinclair and Milos Golic. The latter of the two was also named MPSF Newcomer of the Year.
In 2006, his second year at the helm of the Gaucho program, Wigo took a team that had finished last in the MPSF in 2005 and led them to a fifth-place finish in both the regular season and the conference tournament. The 2006 Gauchos posted a 3-5 MPSF record and took two top-four teams - Stanford and UCLA - into overtime.
Overall, UCSB finished 2006 with a 21-14 record, marking the first 20-win season since 1990 when the Gauchos finished 23-9. UCSB was ranked sixth in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association Top-20 Coaches Poll, its best finish since 1994. All of these feats were accomplished without a single senior on the Gaucho roster.
Wigo also coached three players to All-MPSF Honors and Ross Sinclair became the first player he has coached to earn collegiate All-American honors.
In 2005, Wigo's first season as a collegiate head coach, the Gauchos finished the season with an overall record of 13-17 and tied for 13th in the CWPA Top-20 Coaches Poll.
Prior to coming to UCSB, Wigo spent two years as head coach and administrator of the Saddleback El Toro Water Polo Club in Orange County, Calif. Under his direction, the program grew from 20 members to over 160 in 10 different age groups ranging from five to 60 years old. Wigo oversaw all aspects of the organization including fundraising, scheduling and supervision of seven assistant coaches. Wigo also served many of the same functions as the director of Ultimate Water Polo's "Tools of Champions" clinics, a position he held since 1999.
Wigo also conceived, produced and appeared in numerous water polo instructional videos.
In addition, Wigo gained four years of experience outside the pool as an equity option trader with Cole Rossler Capital Management, working on the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange from 1997-2001.
While Wigo was working to further his coaching and business aspirations, he concurrently established himself as one of the world's premiere water polo players as an 11-year member of Team USA. In 1993, Wigo joined the nation's elite squad and in 1996 he became the first player hailing from east of the Rockies to make the US Olympic water polo team since 1956. Wigo competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
After scoring a team-leading 16 goals during the 2000 games in Sydney, Wigo was named to the five-player All-World First Team by NBC Sports and USA Water Polo, making him a finalist for World Water Polo Player of the Year. He completed his tenure with the national squad in 2004 by serving as Team USA's captain in Athens. Selected as USA Water Polo's Male Athlete of the Year in 1999, 2000 and 2003, Wigo also helped the Americans win gold at the 1997 FINA World Championships.
Wigo's collegiate career at Stanford University was nearly as distinguished. He earned All-American honors four straight years and led the Cardinal to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1993 and 1994. As a senior captain Wigo was named Stanford's Outstanding Male Senior Athlete and NCAA Player of the Year. In 2007, Wigo was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's 15th Anniversary First Team.
After earning his B.A. in political science from Stanford in 1995, Wigo spent the next two seasons as a graduate assistant coach on "The Farm" under the legendary Dante Dettamanti. He returned to help the Cardinal as a full-time assistant in 2001 when Stanford captured another NCAA championship.
In addition to his coaching duties at UC Santa Barbara, Wigo also coaches for the Santa Barbara Water Polo Foundation. Wigo is still active in USA Water Polo's Premier League. He has led the team in scoring in each of the past two years while playing for his hometown team, New York Athletic Club.
During the summer of 2008, Wigo served as NBC's men's and women's water polo color commentator during the broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics.
The New York City native resides in Santa Barbara with his wife Barbara and daughters Athena and Devereaux.
