LEXINGTON – Cainan Palmer and Marco Catanese had never met in singles on a tennis court, let alone in a championship match. So they made sure the first time was memorable.
It came down to a third set tiebreaker as Palmer rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 victory Monday to win the boys 14-and-under crown in the 91st News Journal Tennis Tournament at Lexington High School.
It was Palmer’s second title of the two-week tournament. The 11-year-old Woodland sixth grader already owned the junior doubles division, pairing with Dean Galbraith to beat Catanese and Miles Galbraith 6-0, 6-3.
In Monday’s other title match, Lexington’s Cooper Remy beat Willard’s Levi Schag 6-3, 6-2 in a battle of two of the top high school juniors in the area for the boys’ 16 championship.
“I’ve lost a lot of first sets in matches,” Palmer said, when asked if he’s had to mount comebacks in the past. “The first set was more of a warmup for me. In the second set and tiebreaker I was more aggressive, trying to go for more shots.”
Palmer is a point guard in basketball and a quarterback in football, so he’s used to running the show. He was definitely in control after that first set against Catanese.
“I was making him make mistakes, but after the first set he just wasn’t making as many,” said Catanese, a 12-year-old sixth grader at Eastern Elementary in Lexington.
Even though this match didn’t go his way, Catanese said he’s benefitted from being around his brother Dylan, a senior-to-be at Lexington and a reigning Division II state champion in doubles with partner Ethan Remy.
“He’s given me a lot of good advice,” the younger Catanese said. “My volley has gotten a lot better.”
Palmer also takes a lot of pride in his all-around game. During one sequence Monday, he executed a perfect drop shot to draw Catanese in toward the net and then lobbed over his head for the game-clincher, making it 4-1 in a second set he would win easily to force the tiebreaker.
Don’t let that Lex Youth Football shirt Palmer was wearing fool you. When asked if he’s a football player dabbling in tennis on the side, Palmer replied, “It’s the opposite.”
Cooper Remy, like his older brother Ethan, is all tennis, all the time, and it has shown, especially since last year’s News Journal Tournament. In that time he won an Ohio Cardinal Conference doubles title with Dylan Catanese and a sectional singles title en route to the state tournament as a sophomore.
He’s ramped up his workload since then, making three trips a week to Columbus to play at his grandparent’s club, Scarborough East, while getting constant mentoring from his high school coach Ron Schaub, who also happens to be the teaching pro at Lakewood Racquet Club and director of the NJ tourney.
Any advice from his state champion brother?
“Mostly negative,” Remy joked.
In all seriousness, he’s indebted to his brother for wanting to hit with him every day.
“My forehand has gotten a lot stronger,” he said, “and it’s coming off my racket a lot faster now.”
It’s in the DNA, but there’s another part of Ethan’s game he would like to mimic.
“His touch,” he said. “It’s good because he works on it a lot … drop shots, volleys.”
Schag had never met Cooper Remy in an official match, but he knew from drilling with Lex players at Lakewood what he was up against.
“It’s his consistency and he’s very good at placing the ball.” Schag said. “He can put his forehand and backhand on the line. When he does that it’s hard for me to get it back with pace and hit a winner.”
Willard is a basketball school, not a tennis school, but Schag is trying to make it both. With the basketball team hit hard by graduation, he’s hoping to be the starting point guard this coming winter.
He gave up baseball his freshman year and picked up a racket for the first time. He was immediately plugged into the No. 2 singles slot and then played No. 1 singles this past season, becoming the first singles player from Willard to reach districts since 2009.
“It was hard (giving up baseball) for my dad because he was my travel coach my entire life,” Schag said. “When I told him, he was a little disappointed, but he’s happy now because he knows I love it and it is something I want to do every day.”
Schag tries to make it to Lakewood as many as three times a week despite the nearly two hour round trip.
“I’m working on attacking weaknesses,” Schag said. “It’s definitely a work in progress. My strength is my speed. I catch people off-guard because I get to a lot. They hit a shot they think is a winner, but I’m able to get it back. It keeps me in the point.”
All the action in the first week of the NJ tournament focused on the juniors, with a few divisions being settled. Elixa Friederman beat Tessa Galbraith 6-4 in the girls’ 8–under singles, while the boys’ 8 crown went to Joey Galuzny thanks to his 6-1, 1-6, 10-6 win over Emmett Alexander.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: 91st News Journal Tennis Tournament: The C’s have it – Cainan, Cooper win singles titles
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