The 2022-23 school year marks the eighth season that Dreason Barry has served as the head coach of the CUI men's water polo team. He also served as the head coach of the women's team from 2015 to 2022.
Barry originally joined the Concordia water polo staff as an assistant in 2014. During his tenure, the Eagles completed the transition from NAIA to NCAA DII and established themselves as a competitive program that routinely gets the opportunity to face off against NCAA Division I schools in the pool.
Two of the highest-scoring men's water polo players in CUI history were recruited to Concordia by Coach Barry. Jeff Runyan burst on to the scene with an impressive 2021 campaign where he led the Eagles with 80 goals and was named an ACWPC All-American. This included a thrilling double-overtime shootout victory on Senior Day when Runyan scored the game-winning goal in the final seconds.
Under Barry’s leadership, Marius Jakimcikas scored a school-record and conference-best 102 goals during the 2019 season, was named a
First Team ACWPC All-American and made First Team All-WWPA. The Green and Gold were also well-represented by Patrik Zsiros, who
earned Honorable Mention from both the WWPA and ACWPC. Austin Barton was also named
CUI Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the annual awards ceremony.
Four different Eagles have made the WWPA All-Freshman team under Barry's leadership in the last five years, including Jacob Stuart who was a key contributor in 2021.
After the 2018 men’s season, Zsiros was named an ACWPC First Team Division II All-American joining freshman Christian Bowley and goalie Alfredo De La Mora as recipients of WWPA All-Conference honors. In the 2017 season, Barry led the men's squad to a 12-11 overall record and 4-3 conference mark that included victories over the Air Force Academy, Santa Clara and LMU. Barry coached four All-Conference selections, including Angel Rojas who was named a First Team All-American. Barry earned the Monte Nitzkowski Distinguished Coaching Award for the Southern Pacific Zone in 2017.
On the women’s side,
four CUI student-athletes in 2020 were honored as ACWPC All-Americans, including leading scorer Madison Ravelo who was named to the First Team. An impressive senior class that included Hanna Jordan (top three in school history in goals, assists and recorded steals) led the Eagles to a 6-4 record before the season was shortened due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The women’s water polo team soared to new heights in 2019 when Coach Barry directed the Eagles to an upset win over Division I rival Brown University from the Ivy League. CUI also pushed No. 14 Princeton to the brink and won all four games at the Convergence Tournament, propelling the Eagles to a 7-2 start.
Barry came to Concordia from the University of California Irvine, where he was an assistant coach from 2009-2014. During that same time period, he also served as an assistant coach with the Newport Water Polo Foundation. From 2009-2014, he was the senior coach of the Anteater Water Polo Club, a youth program in Irvine.
Additionally, in 2007, Barry was the head coach of the Sage Hill School girls water polo team in Newport Coast, Calif. and an assistant coach with the Corona Del Mar Youth Water Polo Club.
Before getting into coaching, Barry enjoyed an impressive playing career at UCI. He was a three-time All-American for the Anteaters from 2001-2005, a Peter J. Cutino Award finalist, and a Big West Scholar-Athlete. In addition, he was a three-time Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Conference selection, and his teams finished in the top four of the NCAA rankings twice. He also competed on the swim team from 2004-2006.
Barry was a member of the USA Men’s National Team from 2002-2009, and won the ASUA Cup in Brazil in 2006. He played professionally in Italy from 2007-2009, and in Australia in 2014.
Barry received his BA in sociology from UCI in 2006, and is originally from Eugene, Ore. He has two sisters, Marlo and Lynnea.
