Mater Deis Matteo Huarte wins singles title at | College News
At a college with the wealthy athletic custom of Santa Ana Mater Dei, it’s uncommon to be the first to obtain something, but Matteo Huarte made historical past Saturday by changing into the Monarchs’ only CIF singles champion at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
After dropping in straight units to Rishvanth Krishna from Irvine University in last yr’s remaining, Huarte was not about to squander his second probability. He raced to an early lead in the first-set tiebreaker, then broke to open the second set on his manner to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Woodbridge’s Brayden Tallakson in entrance of a packed grandstand at Libbey Park.
Huarte had 4 service breaks — the last being a cross-court passing shot on match level. The remaining resembled Huarte’s semifinal win versus Irvine University’s JiHyuk Im in which he took the first-set tiebreaker 7-4 then cruised 6-2 in the second set.
“I’m happy I was able to do it for my school,” said Huarte, a junior who has dedicated to USC. “We’ve played each other a couple times and the key was to manage his serve and get into the rally. Once I got ahead of him in the tiebreak and then won the first game of the second set I was able to run away with it.”
Mater Dei’s only other title in the Ojai match’s long and storied historical past got here in doubles in 2008 when Charlie Alvarado and Chris Freeman upset top-seeded Tyler Bowman and Jon Kazarian of Peninsula in three units.
“It’s kind of hard to believe I’m the first to do it,” said Huarte about his singles title.
Last yr, Huarte fell in the Southern Section semifinals to Palos Verdes ninth-grader Andrew Johnson, who went on to beat Tallakson 6-4, 6-3 in the ultimate.
Tallakson was attempting to make historical past of his own Saturday at a venue close to and expensive to his coronary heart.
Woodbridge’s Brayden Tallakson celebrates after his quarterfinal victory over Beckman’s Rohan Grewal at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I started playing tennis down in lower Libbey, my dad Steve grew up here and won the men’s tournament, so this place is like home for my family,” said Tallakson, who rapidly downed Palisades freshman Kensho Ford 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals. “Matteo came out real aggressive, I made a couple errors on big points and he was just the better player today.”
Tallakson received the boys’ 14s division at Ojai in 2022 and had he prevailed Saturday, he would have been the first participant to seize CIF singles and doubles titles at Ojai since Santa Barbara’s Nathan Jackmon received the doubles in 1993 and the singles in 1994. Tallakson received the doubles crown in 2023 with older brother Avery, with whom he’ll reunite next yr at Boise State.
Peninsula seniors Colin Bringas and Edward Feuer accomplished one of the most dominant runs through the doubles draw ever seen at Ojai by beating Harvard-Westlake’s Aaron Chung and Chase Klugo 6-4, 6-2 in the finals. The Panthers’ duo didn’t drop a set in six matches and didn’t give up more than three video games in a set until the first set Saturday when they broke in the ninth sport to go up 5-4 and then served it out.
Bringas and Feuer are the first Peninsula pair to attain the CIF remaining at Ojai since 2011 and the third tandem in historical past to win it, becoming a member of Rylan Rizza and Jeff Kazarian in 2001, and Kazarian and Tiege Sullivan the next yr.
Peninsula seniors Colin Bringas, left, and Edward Feuer have fun after profitable the CIF boys’ doubles title at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“We’ve been playing together since second or third grade and we’ve been best friends since middle school at Ridgecrest Intermediate [in Palos Verdes],” Bringas said. “I always play the ad side, he’s always played the deuce court. I think the key was big serves … they make it easy for the net person to put balls away.”
Bringas and Feuer have partnered at Ojai the last three years, dropping in the quarterfinal spherical as sophomores and juniors but steamrolling this yr. They made a measly three unforced errors in a 6-1, 6-1 semifinal wipeout of Marina’s David Tran and Alejandro Hill. Tran was enjoying in his second straight remaining, having taken the runner-up prize with Trevor Nguyen in 2025.
“We were confident we’d win, but we felt the pressure and knew there are a lot of good teams here,” said Feuer, who performs No. 1 singles for twin matches while Bringas performs the No. 1 doubles spot with another teammate. “It’ll be really strange playing against each other next year.”
Bringas is certain for Westmont College and Feuer is headed to Point Loma Nazarene — rival NCAA Division II applications in the Pacific West Conference.
Harvard-Westlake, Woodbridge and University shared the Griggs Cup trophy, offered to the varsity with the most mixed wins in singles and doubles. All three notched seven victories to power a three-way tie for only the fifth time since the award debuted in 1955 and the first since Santa Barbara, Palisades and Fresno Bullard have been tri-champions in 1997. University has received it 13 instances.
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