Kauai pickleball players picked up their share of medals, including gold, during the Sixth annual Pickle Barrell Classic, which wrapped up play Sunday in Vancouver, Washington. Brothers Kyle Maligro of the Kalaheo Pickleball ‘Ohana and Matt Wellman of Portland, Oregon,
Kauai pickleball players picked up their share of medals, including gold, during the Sixth annual Pickle Barrell Classic, which wrapped up play Sunday in Vancouver, Washington.
Brothers Kyle Maligro of the Kalaheo Pickleball ‘Ohana and Matt Wellman of Portland, Oregon, teamed to win the gold medal in the 3.5 class over a field of 13 teams in men’s doubles bracket play Saturday.
In women’s doubles in the 3.5 class Saturday, Kauaians Tiffany Rae and Theresa Della Lana found gold.
“This means that Kalaheo players won gold in the 3.5 women’s, men’s, and mixed doubles by capturing the silver in mixed,” said Jack Hodges, the USA Pickleball ambassador from Kauai. “There were 190 players from around the country entered in the tournament, and for brothers Kyle and Matt, this was their first time playing in a pickleball tournament. Theresa and Tiffany won the Huntington Beach Surf Pickleball Tournament 3.5 women’s doubles in August.”
Hodges said Della Lane teamed with Wellman to beat the team of Rae and Maligro on the last day of the tournament to get gold in the 16-team, 3.5 mixed doubles class.
“Theresa and Matt had lost to Kyle and Tiffany in a third-round match, 11-8, 12-10, and had to come back through the losers’ bracket to face Kyle and Tiffany in the gold-medal game,” Hodges said. “In the finals, Theresa and Matt defeated Tiffany and Kyle, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10, to force a final game to 15 because each of the teams had lost one match apiece in the double-elimination tournament.”
During the final match, which spanned two and a half hours, both teams exhanged leads before Della Lana and Wellman locked up the gold medal with a 15-13 final.
