Mater Dei's Matteo Huarte captures singles title at Ojai tennis tournament

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Mater Dei’s Matteo Huarte stepped onto the court at the 124th Ojai Tennis Tournament on Saturday with a second chance to hoist the historic Farnam Cup as the tournament champion.

The junior seized his opportunity.

Huarte defeated Woodbridge senior Brady Tallakson 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the CIF boys final at Libbey Park to capture the title one year after falling in the championship match.

Huarte became the first singles player from Mater Dei to claim the Farnam Cup, the oldest perpetual trophy at the tournament.

He is the grandson of Heisman Trophy quarterback John Huarte of Notre Dame, who attended Mater Dei.

Last year, Huarte lost in the Ojai finals to University’s Rishvanth Krishna 6-4, 6-4.

“I feel great and super excited to get some redemption,” Huarte said of the title. “I felt I have worked hard enough to earn this moment.”

Seeded first in the tournament this year, Huarte edged No. 2 Tallakson 7-3 in a tiebreaker in the first set before rolling to the title.

Huarte also won a tiebreaker in the first set in the semifinals. The USC commit defeated University junior JiHyuk Im 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Huarte captured the tournament without dropping a set and improved his record to 22-0.

He called his forehand and serve his “biggest weapons” this week.

Huarte’s victory extends Orange County’s streak of champions at Ojai to seven.

The run began in 2018 with Woodbridge’s Stefan Dostanic. The run continued with University’s Aditya Gupta (2019), Conrad Brown (2022) and James MacDonald (2023), Corona del Mar’s Niels Hoffmann (2024) and Krishna.

The streak is the best in county history at the Ojai high school tournament, which dates back to 1899.

In the other semifinal, the Boise State-bound Tallakson defeated Kensho Ford of Palisades 6-2, 6-1.

Orange County’s streak of doubles champions ended at four years.

Tustin’s DJ Buchfeller and Everett Somerville and Marina’s Alejandro Hill and David Tran both lost in the semifinals.

Buchfeller and Somerville fell to 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 to Aaron Chung and Chase Klugo of Harvard-Westlake. Hill and Tran lost to eventual champion and top-seeded Colin Bringas and Eddie Feuer of Peninsula 6-1, 6-1. The Peninsula duo won the final 6-4, 6-2.

University, Woodbridge and Harvard-Westlake tied for the team title. University claimed its second straight Griggs Cup and 11th overall. Woodbridge won its third crown and first since 2018.

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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 7:55 PM.