Sweet Sixteen

Pali High Boys Tennis Beats Granada Hills to Extend City Title Streak 

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor      

As his opponent’s ball landed out to end a dramatic tiebreaker in last Thursday’s City Section Open Division boys tennis final, William Selna was congratulated by his teammates as if he had just clinched the championship. In actuality, the Dolphins had settled the issue a full hour before, yet they lined up along the fence outside the court to cheer their  last player to victory— a testament to the pride and passion permeating the most successful program in all of Los Angeles.   

Palisades dominated in singles and doubles to win its 16th straight City title, the longest active streak by any team in any sport in the section, and 41st overall with a 23-6.5 triumph over Granada Hills.

“I felt some pressure, but I was excited to be out there for that last set,” said Selna, who rallied from a 4-2 deficit to force a tiebreaker, then won it 7-5. “I had a knee injury most of the year and didn’t get a chance to play much. Today I played hard and came back after being down.”     

The schools were facing off in the finals for the 10th straight time, the last seven in the Open Division, and the Dolphins dominated from  the get-go, sweeping all seven matches (four singles and three doubles) in the first rotation. In fact, No. 1 Palisades reached the 15-point threshold needed to win before the third-seeded Highlanders got their first.

“To win 16 in a row is hard to believe,” said coach Bud Kling, who was doused with water while raising the trophy after collecting his record 53rd City title (32 with the boys, 21 with the girls) since taking over the program in 1979. “Granada Hills has been a formidable opponent over the last decade or more but every team has a down year here and there. We’ve been the underdog three or four times during this run and managed to find a way to win.” Kling lost his home in the Palisades Fire but for the winningest high school tennis coach in California history every championship is unique.

“We graduate 10 players, including seven starters, so next spring’s going to be a rebuilding year,” Kling said. “We’ll need four or five guys to step up over the summer and see if we can keep [the streak] going.”

UC Santa Barbara-bound Lorenzo Brunkow won his first three sets, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, before being subbed out for Tucker Salser-Meyers in the last rotation. Six days before, Brunkow advanced to the semifinal round of the CIF singles division at Ojai.

“It’s the last time we seniors will do it,” said Brunkow, who swept his four sets at love in the semifinals against Sherman Oaks CES. “We all knew what it meant for Coach Kling to cement his legacy so weren’t going to let him down.”      

No. 2 player Neel Joshi also won his first three sets, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, before he was replaced by Rocco Weinberg and the No. 1 doubles team of Caleb Scott and Max May took their first two sets easily, including the crown-clincher, then watched freshmen Bennett Murphy and Josh Glaser prevail in a tiebreaker in round three. The No. 3 duo of Tristan Kiperman and birthday boy Zach Stuffman picked up an unexpected one and a half points in the second rotation by upsetting Granada Hills’ No. 1 tandem of William Stanfield and Ashton Park, 6-3.

“This is my last year at Pali so it’s great to get the Sweet 16,” said senior  Owen Chin Rust, who won two of his three sets at No. 3 singles  before being replaced by Sam Salser-Meyers for the final round.

Dash Hansford beat Granada Hills’ Leo Duvison 6-2 at the No. 4 singles spot but lost to the No. 1 and No. 2 players before getting subbed  out for Selna against the Highlanders’ No. 3 player Ceferino Dolatre.

“This is my second time playing [Granada Hills] in the finals,” Hansford said. “Last year I was subbing but this year I’m starting and it feels better knowing I contributed. The pressure’s on me next year.”     

Zach Cohen and Ben Babikian, Palisades’ No. 2 duo, beat Granada Hills’ No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams before being subbed out for freshmen Shane Fox and Cameron Vahidi.    

Christian Camarillo, winner of the last two City Individual doubles tiles with different partners, lost to Brunkow (the defending City singles champion) but swept his last three singles sets, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. He was in the No. 1 position because Granada Hills’ best player, junior Kristian Sharma, was ineligible.

“All credit to Palisades … they were the better team today,” Highlanders coach Troy Aiken said during the medal ceremony. “We always enjoy playing them because you know it’s going to be good tennis.”

Palisades’ current dynasty started back in 2009 with a 26.5-3 rout of Granada Hills but the teams did not meet in the finals again until 2015.  The Highlanders have never won a City boys tennis title.

“Our school’s won it every since year I was 2 years old,” Selna said. “It’s generational at this point.”

Much of Kling’s time and energy in the near future will be devoted to rebuilding his house, but he hopes a few more City titles before he is finally done coaching. He is aided by two of his former players, Robert and Joe Silvers.    

“To get through a year like this I’ve had to do more delegating than usual but it was all worth it,” he said.     

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