Brookfield East, Catholic Memorial win WIAA boys tennis doubles championships

MADISON – The road to a state championship in boys tennis doubles ran through the Milwaukee area in 2026.

Brookfield East’s Jake Zheng and Ryker Koch and Catholic Memorial’s Finn Milleman and Brady Latus claimed the WIAA Division 1 and 2 doubles championships, respectively, on June 6 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

Milleman and Latus won their second consecutive title together, and it was Milleman’s third consecutive doubles title.

The Milwaukee area did not have that same level of success in singles competition. Catholic Memorial’s Oliver Milleman, Finn’s younger brother, fell to East Troy’s Teddy Busateri in the Division 2 finals.

Green Bay Notre Dame’s Alex Thomas bested Badger’s Reid Hirn for the Division 1 singles title, 6-0, 6-2, in a match that snapped a streak of three consecutive years with Milwaukee area players reaching each final.

Here is how the Milwaukee area’s doubles championships happened:

Catholic Memorial’s Finn Milleman, Brady Latus repeat as champions

Finn Milleman’s third consecutive championship has put the Catholic Memorial senior in rare company as he finishes his high school tennis career. He is the first three-time Division 2 doubles champion since Greendale’s Erich Palacek and Kelvin Caiati in 2003-05.

“There’s no better feeling,” Milleman said. “You go out, win a state title with your best friend in front of all your family and friends, the people you love. … This is a moment that I’ll always remember.”

Milleman and Latus’ history-making win did not come easy, as they eventually outlasted Plymouth’s Gianni Frausto and Cavin Baltus, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 10-8.

The Catholic Memorial duo – the top seed in the bracket – came back from a 5-1 deficit in the second set before second-seeded Plymouth eventually did enough to force a third set.

While Finn Milleman’s high school career is over, Latus has more planned as he and Oliver Milleman approach their senior years.

“I’m hoping to play some doubles with Oliver next year, maybe go for a CMH four-in-a-row doubles champions,” Latus said. “We’ll see.”

That possibility, Finn said, would be “even better than me winning it.”

“I’d much rather have him win it than me,” Finn said. “He means everything to me.”

Brookfield East’s Jake Zheng, Ryker Koch bounce back in big way

Zheng and Koch’s victory in the Division 1 championship over Menomonee Falls’ Miles Seder and Chase Larson was extra sweet for Brookfield East considering what happened a week earlier.

They lost to Seder and Larson, 6-0, 6-0, in the Nicolet Sectional.

“It was not our best match, but it definitely inspired us to come back a little more motivated,” Koch said. “I know I was looking forward to this match from this first round, and I’m happy we got it.”

The rematch in Madison immediately started on a different note as Brookfield East took the first set, 6-2, and maintained the edge with a 6-3 second set.

“We came out swinging,” Zheng said. “This is my senior year. Getting the chance to play with Ryker, we had to make it count. So we started guns blazing and were able to keep that energy up the whole time, so that was really the big difference for us.”

Zheng and Koch spoiled what would have been Seder and Larson’s perfect record and Menomonee Falls’ first doubles title.

“It’s an incredible doubles team that we had the chance to play in the finals,” Zheng said. “It was our ability to work together and stay tough, play with our heart and have great energy the whole time – that’s really what got us over the finish line against this great doubles team.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Which Milwaukee-area athletes won WIAA state boys tennis championships