Dolphins Keep City Streak Alive

By STEVE GALLUZZO  | Sports Editor

When Lorenzo Brunkow decided to join the Palisades High boys tennis team this season he wanted nothing more than to help the Dolphins keep their record City title streak intact.

Thanks in large part to Brunkow’s four points at the No. 1 singles spot, Palisades defeated Granada Hills 20 to 9.5 in the Open Division final last Wednesday at Balboa Sports Center in Encino to claim its 40th section title and 15th in a row—the longest active championship reign by any team in any sport in the City.

“The trips with the team were fun and it helps to see a little of what the college environment will be like,” Brunkow said after sweeping his four sets, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. “It was important to continue our coach’s legacy and keep the streak going. That was the goal when the season began.”

An early commit to UCSB, where his brother Gianluca is a junior on the Gauchos’ men’s squad, Brunkow reached the finals of the CIF singles division at Ojai four days prior. The 11th-grader also established himself as the favorite to win the City Individual tournament after defeating Granada Hills sophomore Kristian Sharma 6-2 in the first rotation. Reigning City singles champ Neel Joshi won his three sets, 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, but was subbed out before facing Sharma. Playing No. 3 singles, Luc Jesuele beat the Highlanders’ No. 4 player Advait Kamal 6-0 and Owen Chin Rust also beat Kamal, 6-1, before reserves Tristan Kiperman and Rocco Weinberg each won a set to give the top-seeded Dolphins 10 out of a possible 16 points in singles.

“He played the exact same lineup I would’ve if I were him,” Pali High coach Bud Kling said of his counterpart Troy Aiken. “Unfortunately, his singles players didn’t come through the way he hoped they would.”

Already the winningest coach in section history, Kling added his 31st boys title to his collection. Add to that the 21 he has won with the girls and he has a total of 52 since taking over the boys program in 1979 and the girls in 1985.

“It’s always a pleasure you—it’s exciting tennis and we look forward to it every year,” Kling said to the Highlanders before handing out first-place medals to his players. “I’m sure we’ll see you guys again in 12 months.”

Palisades and Granada Hills have met in nine straight finals—three in Division I and the last six in the Open Division—and 10 times total in the Dolphins’ current dynasty, which started with a 26.5 to 3 over the Highlanders in 2009.

Granada Hills has yet to won a City boys title.

The Dolphins ensured that the Highlanders’ drought would continue by taking six of the nine doubles sets (each worth one and half points). Palisades’ No. 1 tandem of Caleb Scott and Max May lost head-to-head to the Highlanders’ top pair of Aydan Fatu and Aiden Moufarrege but rebounded to win their last two sets, 6-2, 6-1. Zach Cohen and Teddy Brainard beat Granada Hills’ No. 3 pair 6-0 and the No. 3 team of Liam Findley and Eli Konecke won two sets, including a tiebreak victory over Fatu and Moufarrege.

Once his team surpassed the 15 points needed for victory, Kling began replacing his starters. Dash Hansford and Jeff Ren secured the last doubles point with a 6-0 victory.