Stefan Menichella, a member of CIF tennis powerhouse University High in Irvine, won the boys 18 singles championship at the 40th annual Knowlwood Junior Tournament over the weekend.
The second-seeded Menichella, who helped University win the CIF Division1 title in June, defeated Oaks Christian standout Wyatt Houghton in the final, 6-3, 6-4.
In the girls 18s final, third-seeded Kristina Eisenbrand of Moorpark defeated Samantha Stalder of Costa Mesa, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
The Knowlwood tournament traditionally draws many highly ranked junior players from throughout Southern California.
The local players didn’t go away empty handed. In boys 18 doubles, Santa Barbarans Sammer Aziz (Santa Barbara High) and Blake Mackall (Cate) battled back and beat Menichella and Kevin Pham, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0.
Petar Jivkov (San Marcos) and Graham Maassen (SBHS) won the boys 16s doubles title, topping Jack Damen (SBHS) and Sean Hollister of Arroyo Grande, 7-5, 6-3.
Carpinteria’s Kevin and Ethan Ha won singles titles. Kevin, the top seed in the boys 12s, beat No. 5 Bobby Young 6-1, 7-5, while Ethan, No. 1 in the boys 10s, knocked off Hayden Gura 6-1, 6-0. Ethan also won the 10s doubles title with partner Wally Thayne.
