2026 NSAA Boys Tennis Championships Preview
New for debuts as Lincoln East tries to extend historic run; Class B boys team race will yield drama
A new format and new location await the fields at the NSAA State Boys Tennis Championships, which begin Wednesday at the Sid & Hazel Dillon Tennis Center and Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln.
Instead of a split championship with Classes A and B playing in separate two-day blocks at Woods, this year’s event will be a combined championship played over three days.
On Wednesday, Class A will play its opening matches at Dillon while Class B competes at Woods. Thursday, both classes will play their round of 16 and quarterfinal matches at Dillon.
Dillon will also be the site for Friday’s seventh-place, fifth-place, semifinal, third-place, and championship matches in both classes.
Matches begin at noon on Wednesday at both sites, with 9 a.m. starts both Thursday and Friday. Semifinals and championship matches are traditional best-of-3 sets. All matches prior to the semifinals and finals will be best-of-3 sets, with the third set played as a 10-point match tiebreak, if needed.
Matches at No. 1 singles and doubles are awarded four points per win, excluding play-in matches, and matches at No. 2 singles and doubles are awarded two-points per win to determine the team championships. Point values adjust down in the third through eighth-place match tree.
While there is no district qualifying in tennis, the participants are seeded by a committee of coaches in each class. In Class A and B, 16 players/teams are seeded in each bracket.
Class A: Lincoln East tries to extend run as rest of field closes in
Lincoln East’s historic run has reached five consecutive state championships, but do the Spartans have enough in the tank to make it six in a row
At the very least, there figures to be an extra bit of intrigue in the Class A team race as East tries to make it a half-dozen.
It’s not as if the Spartans are without contenders. Senior Daniel Ji at No. 2 Singles and the No. 2 Doubles team of Joshua Ng and James Yu are the top seeds in their division, while Brad Bobaru won a title at No. 2 doubles last season and is the No. 5 seed with Aarav Sharma at No. 1 doubles this year.
But it would take a tremendous effort for East to match its scoring output from the previous four state meets. After scoring the maximum 60 points to win state in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the Spartans scored 58 at last year’s championships.
This fall, Lincoln Southeast provided hope to the rest of the field after edging East by one point to win the Heartland Athletic Conference title. That win is believed to be Southeast’s first HAC title since 2011.
Knights junior Owen Brown comes to state 25-0 and in search of his third consecutive final — he lost in the title match to East’s Hunter Nelson each of the last two seasons.Southeast also has the No. 2 seed at No. 2 singles and the No. 5 seed at No. 2 doubles.
Creighton Prep, with 27 state titles but none since 2016, has the top seed at No. 1 doubles, the No. 2 seed at No. 2 doubles, and the No. 3 seed at No. 1 singles after finishing second to Lincoln East at four out of the last five state championships. Millard North, the last non-Lincoln team to win state (2018), has both its doubles teams seeded in the top three.
BRACKETS: No. 1 Singles | No. 2 Singles | No. 1 Doubles | No. 2 Doubles
Class B: Potential for plenty of drama as Mount Michael seeks third straight championship
There’s a scenario in play that sees the Class B team championship come down to how the No. 1 singles bracket shakes out.
The No. 1 seed in No. 1 singles? Lincoln Christian senior Ace Calfee. The No. 2 seed? Mount Michael Benedictine’s Andrew Pentel.
The (two-time) defending team champion? Mount Michael. The team that beat Mount Michael at last week’s state duals tournament? Lincoln Christian.
Come Friday afternoon, it could well be down to Calfee vs. Pentel, Christian vs. Mount Michael, for a whole bunch of hardware.
Can’t ask for much more than that.
While Lincoln Christian is chasing multiple firsts — the Crusaders have never won a team tennis championship nor had a singles championship winner — Mount Michael has won the last two state championships and four of the last six.
“It can be tough. With the success comes the fact that sometimes if you don’t get first, it feels like a loss, and you’ve got to remind your players that second place, third place is great,” said Mount Michael coach Chase Petersen. “I always try to say you can’t be perfect every day, but just be your best when you can, and things will happen when they happen, and enjoy the success when it comes.”
Mount Michael’s success at state figures to get a push this season. Lincoln Christian has the top seed at No. 2 singles, Joshua Heeren, to go with Calfee at No. 1 singles. Meanwhile Mount Michael’s only No. 1 seed is at No. 1 doubles, where senior Patrick Killeen will try to finish off a record-setting career.
Already the first three-time No. 1 doubles champion in Class B history, Killen will try to become just the second player in either class at No. 1 or No. 2 doubles to win four championships. Lincoln East’s Kayden Le wrapped up a run of four straight Class A No. 2 doubles titles last year.
After winning his first three championships with Noah Stricklett, Killeen teamed up with younger brother Liam to earn the No. 1 seed again this season. Patrick is Mount Michael’s only senior this season after the Knights had four seniors in their six-player lineup while winning last year’s championship.
“He’s always been a good leader. It’s definitely been a different year this year for him, but he’s doing a great job leading the team,” Petersen said. “But he’s lucky he’s got his little brother this year, so it’s definitely a cool experience being able to do that.”
Pentel is also looking for another state title after winning No. 2 singles as a freshman in 2025.
He and Calfee, a senior who lost in last year’s No. 1 singles semifinals, are about as closely matched as you can get. Both players have records of 29-2. Each player has an 8-4 win over the other, with Calfee’s victory in the state duals tournament earning him the top seed.
“He’s a smart player,” Petersen said of Pentel. “He’s fun to watch, and he’s got a lot of potential. I think he has a well-rounded game.”
Lexington owns the tournament’s other top seed, at No. 2 doubles (Jaxon Neff and David Diaz-Arriaga), while McCook has a pair of top-four seeds in singles. Lincoln Pius X, which finished second to Mount Michael last season, has top 10 seeds in all four divisions.
BRACKETS: No. 1 Singles | No. 2 Singles | No. 1 Doubles | No. 2 Doubles