91st News Journal Tennis Tournament: Present and future of Lex’s storied program on full display

LEXINGTON – Cainan Palmer and Marco Catanese hope they’re as lucky as Cooper Remy.

Remy, who on Tuesday won his second title in as many days in the 91st News Journal Tennis Tournament, has made great strides in his two years under coach Ron Schaub with the Lexington High School varsity.

NJ Tennis Tourney: 91st News Journal Tennis Tournament: The C’s have it – Cainan, Cooper win singles titles

Palmer and Catanese hope they also have Schaub in their corner when they join Lex’s celebrated program in the spring of 2028.

Schaub, the teaching pro at Lakewood Racquet Club and long-time director of the News Journal tourney, already has that year and the rest of the decade circled on his calendar. He expects the future firepower on the squad to compete for multiple state championships.

“Whether I’m coaching or not,” he said, smiling.

“Not” isn’t an option if you ask sixth-graders like Palmer and Catanese, or the Galbraith brothers – Dean and his younger sibling Miles. They, along with 9-year-old Blake Crider, will anchor those teams that close out the decade.

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” said Palmer when asked if he expects the 67-year-old Schaub to still be coaching in 2028. “He’ll be around … but will probably retire after (us).”

Schaub, a member of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame, has led Lexington to a combined seven state team championships (boys and girls), to 16 Final Fours on the boys side alone and to 17 Ohio Cardinal Conference boys titles in 20 years, including the last six in a row.

He sees the same kind of potential in this group of middle-schoolers as he did in the 2023 team that finished as the Division II state runner-up and made it back to the Final Four this past spring.

“They play with each other every day,” Schaub said, “train with each other every day and they’re down at the club all the time.”

In a rematch of Monday’s 14-and-under singles final, Palmer made it two in a row with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Catanese for Tuesday’s boys 12 crown at Lexington High School.  Palmer finishes the tourney with three titles, including junior doubles with Dean Galbraith.

“I thought I played a lot better (in the rematch),” said Palmer, who needed to rally Monday for a 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 victory. “I put more balls on the court.”

Catanese was not able to upstage Palmer’s tournament trifecta or the high school state doubles title his brother, Dylan, won with partner Ethan Remy this past spring. But this was definitely a breakout tournament for him.

Not only did the younger Catanese make it to the finals in two singles divisions and junior doubles, he earned his rematch with Palmer on Tuesday with an improbable victory over Dean Galbraith in the boys 12 semis.

He rallied from a 6-1, 5-2 deficit for a stunning 1-6, 7-5, 10-7 triumph in what was easily the match of the tournament so far.

“I thought I had a chance to come back,” Catanese said. “My mental game changed. I was mad about the way I was playing (early) and then I stopped getting mad and he started getting mad (with himself).”

Catanese found out, almost the hard way, you can’t win playing angry.

“It was exciting, just to be able to come back like that,” Catanese said. “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better.”

Palmer was worried about the momentum Catanese carried into Tuesday’s finals after he had made such an inspiring comeback in the semis.

“I was definitely nervous,” Palmer said, “and I didn’t play too good against Miles (in the other semifinal). “

But Palmer took all of the suspense out of the rematch early. There would be no repeat third set tiebreaker.

“He’s just a good all-around player – backhand is good, forehead is good, volleys are good,” Catanese said. “You can’t really find a weakness in him.”

Catanese will be glad when they’re teammates and not on opposite sides of the court, even if it means waiting another four years.

“High school is going to really be fun,” he said. “I think we’ll be state-bound.”

Cooper Remy, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over high school teammate Tony Palmer (no relation to Cainan) in Tuesday’s boys 18 final, can attest to how fun it is to play for the Minutemen.

After playing mostly No. 2 doubles as a freshman on Lex’s state runner-up team in 2023, he made a huge leap this past season. He won a sectional singles title en route to a state berth in the OHSAA tournament, where his brother, Ethan, teammed with Dylan Catanese to become the first doubles team in program history to win a state title.

Cooper didn’t own a News Journal title until he beat Willard’s Levi Schag 6-3, 6-2 in Monday’s boys 16 final, and now he’s got two on consecutive days.

There were some anxious moments Tuesday for the younger Remy after Palmer warmed up for their title match by beating Schag, 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the afternoon. It was one of the biggest wins in Palmer’s young career, coming at the expense of a 2024 district qualifier.

“I was a little worried about catching (Palmer) at the wrong time,” said Remy, who was well-rested after playing his semi a day earlier. “I think (Tony) was tired, so I knew I had to move him around a little bit and keep it in.”

Palmer didn’t make any excuses.

“I didn’t miss as much against Levi, and got in some good volleys,” he said. “Cooper worked me a little bit more (side by side). I’m working to be more consistent.”

The action Monday and Tuesday kicked off a big week in the News Journal tourney, with the adults taking over now, There will be a round-robin pickleball competition on Thursday at Lakewood Racquet Club with the always popular round-robin mixed doubles on Friday.

Entries for men’s singles and doubles are still being accepted. Right now there are 28 players in the open draw along with 14 doubles teams. Those matches will be played Saturday and Sunday at Lexington High School, weather permitting, leading up to the championship match on Monday at 6.

Some other title results to report: The father-son team of Achilles and Joseph Litao won men’s 4.0 doubles and Lexington’s Ulo Ezeke won the 18-and-under girls singles division, which followed a round robin format.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: 91st News Journal Tennis Tournament: Present and future of Lex’s storied program on full display