TRAVIESO CAPTURES FALL PLATES TITLE AT GRAND CHAMPIONS PC

Travieso, one of the club’s winningest teams, added the Fall Plates to its resume with an impressive 7-3 victory over Palm Beach Polo Sunday at windswept Grand Champions Polo Club.

Buoyed by talent and chemistry, the foursome of Teo Calle, Tony Calle, Jared Sheldon and Carlucho Arellano broke open a close game to outscore Palm Beach Polo (Glenn Straub, JJ Celis, Nacho Lezica, Guille Aguero), 3-1, in the second half.

Winning Travieso team of Carlucho Arellano, Jared Sheldon, Tony Calle, Teo Calle and awards presenter Wendy Calle.  Photo by ChukkerTV

It was Travieso’s final medium goal tournament appearance of the fall season.

“With Teo and Tony all you have to do is open the game up and hit the ball,” 5-goaler Arellano said. “They both know how to go straight to goal and that’s the pleasure of playing with them. They go to the man hard.”

It was the first time Arellano played with Sheldon, a Team USPA member, who led Travieso scoring with a game-high four goals.

MVP Teo Calle of Travieso hitting the ball out of the air.  Photo by ChukkerTV

“I knew we would click, he’s great,” Arellano said. “We got a couple bounces that went our way and got a couple of goals that way and then momentum just helped us continue.”

Teo Calle, one of the club’s top amateurs and patron of the Ecuador-based team, was named Most Valuable Player.

“He is very deserving of MVP,” Sheldon said. “He made our jobs easier. I scored more goals today but it was because of what Teo and Tony were doing that allowed us to do what we can do.”

Nacho Lezica of Palm Beach Polo goes for the big hit downfield. Photo by ChukkerTV

Calle was reunited on the field with his son and Arellano.

“We loved playing together,” Calle said. “Playing again with Carlucho and my son, it’s been a while. We had a lot of fun out there.

“We know each other and we trust each other which is important. We ran and made plays. We tried to make the play. If we missed, we missed but luckily the majority we hit.”

Father and son Teo and Tony Calle working the ball downfield.  Photo by ChukkerTV

Maserati, a 12-year-old chestnut mare owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm and ridden by Sheldon, was named Best Playing Pony.

Sheldon said he was thrilled to play with Arellano and Travieso.

“I grew up watching Carlucho play so for me to play with him was awesome,” Sheldon said. “He played with my dad on the FIP team so it’s cool for me to be able to come play with him. I really like the way he plays, very classic and he’s a team player.

Guille Aguero of Palm Beach Polo with the under the belly shot. Photo by ChukkerTV

“Tony and Teo are warriors, they fight for everything. It’s a great team to be on. We were disciplined and kept things simple. Now I see why they are a winning team. When you have Teo and Tony working for you, it’s not fair to everyone else. It makes our job easier. I am not complaining. I’ll play with them every week if I can.”

In the Fall Plates Handicap Final, Riverview (Riley Ganzi, Martin Estrada, Wes Finlayson, Kris Kampsen) defeated Newport (Gene Goldstein, Grant Ganzi, Jesse Bray, Carlitos Gracida), 10-8.

Travieso’s Teo Calle, Tony Calle, Jared Sheldon, Carlucho Arellano. Photo by ChukkerTV

Ganzi, 16, a junior at St. Andrew’s School, earned Most Valuable Player honors. Ganzi scored two goals and played well defensively.

Kampsen, led Riverview scoring with a game-high four goals. It was the first tournament the 6-goaler won as a father. Earlier in the week, Ali Solomine Kampsen gave birth to their first child, Rowan Alexander.

Finlayson added three goals for Riverview. Grant Ganzi led Newport with three goals and Goldstein added two goals.

Teo Calle of Travieso receives his MVP award from wife Wendy. Photo by ChukkerTV

Marco Polo, a 7-year-old dark bay stallion ridden by Grant Ganzi and owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm, was named Best Playing Pony.