Minnich, Ralph

Ralph Minnich – (1976)

 

RALPH MINNICH

Ralph Minnich is regarded as the finest tennis player the city of Lorain has ever produced.

As a youngster he won the Cleveland Press junior tournament three years in-a-row.

As a boy of 15 he entered the men’s senior division of the 1929 Lorain Journal Tennis Tournament and played his way into the finals where he got beat in four sets by Harry Houff.

The following two years, 1930 and 1931, he captured the championship.

Minnich played tennis at Lorain High for three years and in his junior year he played in the state tournament. He reached the finals before being defeated in singles. Teaming up with Jim Cowie, in his senior year, Minnich and Cowie finished as runner-up for the state doubles title.

After graduation from Lorain High, Minnich entered Princeton University, where he played tennis for three years. He was captain of the Princeton team in his senior year.

Ralph Minnich died prematurely, at age 38, of Cancer.