Happycikleball New Year tournament attracts 192 players

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The Fallbrook Tennis and Pickleball Club hosted the Happycikleball New Year doubles tournament Jan. 28 and attracted 192 players.

“That’s about as much as we could do. We have 16 courts,” said tournament organizer Rex Neilson.

That allowed for 64 players in each of three sessions without having to utilize the lights. The tournament had men’s, women’s, and mixed competition at the 4.5/4.0, 3.5, and 3.0 levels.

“There were people from all over,” Neilson said. “We had one from Santa Barbara.”

Jimmy Margoles lives in Frisco, Colorado, but was in Southern California for other reasons and participated in the nearby tournament.

Other participants didn’t leave town to travel. “Quite a few of them were from Fallbrook, which is good,” Neilson said.

The tournament also drew between 30 and 50 spectators for each session. “There were so many people there,” Neilson said. “A lot of people bring their spouses and kids.”

Since many spectators arrived early, they joined those watching the session in progress. “At one time we had maybe 60 people,” Neilson said.

The Fallbrook tandem of Stephen Vasquez and Nathan Vasquez won the 3.0 Men’s Doubles championship. Audrey Greenwood of Fallbrook and Danielle Kinley Ryland of Vista were the 3.0 Women’s Doubles champions, and the Fallbrook duo of Kat Kluis and Lisa Ratnavira placed fourth in that division.

Tony Brambila of Fallbrook and Pepe Iturralde of Canyon Lake were the 4.5/4.0 Men’s Doubles champions. Lacy White and Megan Phillips, who attended Fallbrook High School and now live in Menifee, won the 4.5/4.0 Women’s Doubles division.

The 3.5 Men’s Doubles, 3.5 Women’s Doubles, 3.5 Mixed Doubles, and 3.0 Mixed Doubles had two brackets apiece and thus two champion tandems in each class. Andrew Espinoza and Tanner McCoy of Vista won one 3.5 Men’s Doubles championship with Steven Vasquez and Ian Bartletson of Fallbrook taking second while Koby Tran and Kory Tran of Fallbrook were the third-place tandem. Cameron White and Dale Miller of Temecula won the other 3.5 Men’s Doubles division.

Temecula partners Linda Arneson and Nancy Batten won one 3.5 Women’s Doubles division with Fallbrook players Debi Amos and Lori Hughes obtaining third place. The other 3.5 Women’s Doubles championship was won by Dara Shuler and Sarah Imfeld of Corona. Shuler and Derek Unger of Corona won a 3.5 Mixed Doubles championship with Rob Yowell and Jill Delevega of Fallbrook placing third, and Margoles and Leslie Hawks of Long Beach took first place in the other 3.5 Mixed Doubles competition.

In one 3.0 Mixed Doubles division, Farzad Adib and Chelle Hass of Canyon Lake comprised the first-place duo while Aldo Alvidres and Kay Kluis of Fallbrook were the second-place partners; the other 3.0 Mixed Doubles championship was won by Edmond Zaide of San Marcos and Nicole Manuguid of Chula Vista. The Vista tandem of John Morley and Nicole Clark won the 4.5/4.0 Mixed Doubles championship; Phillips teamed with Jon Meuzs of Murrieta and took fourth place.