Belen Jesuit’s boys’ water polo team plays on in honor of fallen teammate
Belen Jesuit boys’ water polo coach Jimmy Aguilera hasn’t been able to sleep well since the night of March 28.
Earlier that day, Aguilera, and the Belen Jesuit community as a whole, suffered an unthinkable loss.
Sophomore Lucas Osuna collapsed suddenly during a break between matches while the Wolverines participated in a regular-season tournament at Ransom Everglades in Coconut Grove.
Osuna, 15, died that morning from what Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — a friend of the Osuna family — said was a spontaneous rupture of the aorta potentially linked to an undiagnosed genetic condition.
“I close my eyes and I still can’t get that image out of my head,” Aguilera said. “I used to be a lifeguard and I saw situations where people’s lives were in danger before. But nothing can ever prepare you for something like this.”
For the team, there was still a decision to make.
Should they proceed with their season?
The choice, Aguilera said, was up to the kids. And the answer was to play on.
“We got together with the kids and asked them what they wanted to do,” Aguilera said. “Did they want to honor [Osuna] by playing or some other way? We were going to proceed the way they felt was right. They decided to keep going as far as we can make it.
“Right now, it’s not about the results of the games. It’s about being there for each other.”
Belen did so on Tuesday, resuming its season in its district semifinal match against Coral Gables in a game held at nearby Gulliver Prep School in Pinecrest.
The Wolverines kept Osuna’s presence very close every step of the way.
The players wore his name and No. 19 on their competition swim caps during the match.
The reserves held a picture of Osuna with them as they cheered their teammates in the pool. Coaches and parents wore yellow T-shirts with Osuna’s name and swim cap painted on the back as well as caps with the No. 19 on them.
A moment of silence was held just prior to the match starting. Osuna’s name was displayed on the scoreboard on the far side of the pool.
Then, fittingly, another tribute emerged after the Wolverines played the match.
Belen won, 19-0.
“What a beautiful detail,” said a smiling Aguilera after the match.
Belen school officials declined requests to interview the Wolverines players.
Aguilera said the school has stepped up to offer them support throughout this difficult time, offering grief counseling if needed.
Aguilera, himself, said he has noticed a team that was already close-knit become even closer.
“It’s hard to tell how kids will react because there’s different ways of grieving,” Aguilera said. “There was always good communication between this group, but I’ve seen them show even more care for each other. Something like this really makes you look at everything differently.”
But each of them gathered after the game to show their support to Osuna’s family.
The team posed for a picture in front of the scoreboard with a sign filled with written tributes and the number 19 written large in the middle.
They presented Osuna’s parents, Mike and Jeanette, with a pair of framed collages with pictures of their son and his swim caps.
“Thank you so much guys, this means a lot,” Mike said loudly to the players and coaches gathered around the pool deck.
Osuna’s parents also declined to be interviewed by the Miami Herald, but sat and watched the entirety of Tuesday’s match.
It saw the Wolverines, a three-time state champion, move a little closer to a fourth by advancing to the district championship round against Ransom Everglades on Thursday.
That match, just as Tuesday’s semifinal round, will be held at Gulliver, which volunteered to host the tournament after last month’s tragic events.
The original site was to be at Ransom Everglades.
But both sides agreed it would potentially be too traumatic for the Belen players to return so soon to the site where Osuna passed away.
“It was a no-brainer for us,” Gulliver athletic director Andre Torres said. “Speaking with them, we just wanted to create somewhere safe for them. In the water polo community, that’s what we do for each other.”
Belen Jesuit has received an outpouring of support from those inside the school community and abroad in the days that followed Osuna’s passing.
Last week, more than 1,500 people attended a ceremony and prayed a rosary at Miami Belen’s campus in Osuna’s memory. On Wednesday, a mass was to be held at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Doral.
Osuna’s swim cap was placed atop a large cross in front of the school’s aquatic center on campus as well.
Aguilera said the team has received a lot of supportive messages even from people from different countries on social media.
“This whole situation for us puts life into perspective. You have to hand it to the family and the Belen community just coming together for Lucas speaks volumes about our community,” Belen athletic director Laz Fernandez said. “The community in South Florida is small and it’s been great to see how people care beyond just jersey colors.”
Osuna was a player on the rise, according to Aguilera, and his presence was always felt not just because of his roughly 6-foot, 4-inch frame, but thanks to a fun-loving personality that made him beloved on the team.
Aguilera said Osuna, who had been on the team since middle school, even had a breakout performance in the Gulliver Invitational, scoring six goals in a match a week before his death.
“Lucas was such a funny kid. He was witty and talented, always having a good time with his teammates,” Aguilera said. “He was a great student too, a credit to his parents.
“And he was really developing into a good player. He loved to joke around with his teammates. And he was physically impressive, the tallest player on our team, and had a great shot. He was really coming into his own.”
Belen is guaranteed to advance to next week’s regional playoffs, which will also be held Tuesday through Thursday at Gulliver. The Wolverines are in a tough bracket which includes Ransom, Gulliver, Mater Lakes and Columbus.
Should they make it through to the state tournament, that will be held as it has been in recent years at Belen Jesuit on April 25-26.
And so, as the Wolverines mourn Osuna’s passing, they hope to honor him as long as they can by continuing to play hard for as long as they last in this year’s postseason.
“These kids’ willingness to keep playing demonstrates their desire to fight for Lucas and that’s very resilient and very admirable,” Fernandez said.
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM.
