All-News Journal boys tennis team: Remy, Etzel flash potential as co-POYs for Lex

LEXINGTON – Like the Cleveland Cavaliers, it sounds like Cooper Remy and Philip Etzel are ready to run it back next season in their quest for a title.

In their case, a Division II state tennis title in doubles.

Etzel said it would take something “drastic” for them not to join forces again next spring after all they accomplished in the recent postseason.

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They easily won sectional and district titles and locked up second team All-Ohio honors by reaching the quarterfinals in the state tournament, making them slam dunk choices – how’s that for another basketball reference? – as News Journal Co-Players of the Year.

“This year we knew we weren’t going to win the whole thing. We were just trying to get some experience for next year,” said Remy, who has one season to go after playing mostly No. 2 singles until the postseason. “Nerves definitely played a part, so hopefully we get that down and maybe (develop) a little more chemistry by playing a couple of (off-season) tournaments together.”

To truly appreciate their achievements as a tandem and understand why the best may be yet to come, it’s probably better to look at a couple of their losses instead of any of their eight wins in nine matches during the postseason.

The first sign that they might be something special as a duo came in the Lex Invite, maybe the toughest regular-season tournament in Ohio. They finished runners-up to New Albany’s Jackson Clement and Tyler Thomas, falling 8-5 in a tight battle. Clement and another teammate, Abu Dandu, went on to win the Division I state doubles title.

After breezing to a sectional crown, Remy and Etzel lost only seven games in four district matches and won their state tournament opener 6-2, 6-3 over a team from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy.

But where they really served notice as title contenders in 2026 was in their 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal loss to Columbus Academy’s Lucas Xue and Rowen Lo, two-time state semifinalists.

Remy and Etzel had leads of 4-2 in the first set and 3-1 in the second set over Xue and Lo, who went on to finish third and came within four lost match points of reaching the championship match.

“I thought Cooper and Philip played good enough to win (that match),” Schaub said. “It just didn’t happen.”

What very well may happen is that Etzel and Remy take the best elements of that match, use them as motivation, and turn their fortunes around next year on the same stage.

That was the magic formula for Remy’s older brother Ethan and partner Dylan Catanese. They lost in the first round of the 2023 state tournament to a team from Dayton Oakwood, letting a couple of golden opportunities get away. But that just fueled their fire in 2024, when they avenged that loss against that same pair from Oakwood en route to becoming the first state doubles champs in program history.

“If we make it again next year, it will be my third year of making it to state, so I should be good with (dealing with) the nerves,” Remy said, “and, hopefully, we can do our best.”

Their personalities mesh well.

“We’re definitely different,” Remy said. “When he’s fired up, he hits harder, and when he’s on, he’s on. I’m more about (ball) placement, and I’m more laid back. So I can bring him back if he’s struggling and get him in the right mindset.”

It doesn’t hurt that Schaub feels like, style-wise, Cooper and Philip are mirror images of Ethan and Dylan.

“Just like Ethan dominated with his (service) return and groundstrokes and Dylan was good at the net, Philip has some power and plays well at the net and Cooper is the same as his brother,” Schaub said. “He practices like crazy and next year his groundstrokes are going to be incredible.”

Something else that bodes well for this duo: The other five district doubles champions at state in Division II lose either one or both players to graduation. Academy is losing both Xue and Lo.

So why shouldn’t Etzel and Remy be fast-forwarding to next spring?

Etzel, who played mostly No. 3 singles during the regular season, has been winning News Journal Tennis Tournament titles since he was barely bigger than his racket and came within a match of making it to state in singles as a freshman in 2024.

But it took the near-miss in this year’s state quarters to convince him he can be a major player on high school’s biggest stage.

“Last year, not making it to state was frustrating,” he said. “I had some self-doubt, but because we played so good (this year) in doubles, I’ve got my confidence back. I have more motivation now, knowing I can actually win something, so I will be playing a lot more and have more drive, I guess.”

The All-News Journal first team includes four Lex players, with Remy and Etzel joined by the Ohio Northern-bound Catanese and sophomore Tony Palmer, both of whom made it to state in singles.

Junior Ben Wiltanger and freshman Jack Campbell, a district qualifying doubles team for Lex, lead the second team, and sophomore Preston Huynh, who won No 2 doubles with Campbell in the Ohio Cardinal Conference tournament, is among the honorable mention selections.

Despite losing four of last year’s top seven players and dealing with injury/illness adversity late in the season, it was another strong season for Schaub and Co. The Minutemen won their seventh straight OCC title, advancing six players to districts and four to state, before capping the season with their 17th appearance under Schaub in the Final Four of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team tournament.

Lex finished fourth in the state, losing only one of 20 courts in four OTCA matches leading up to the Final Four.

“I felt like we did great, especially when some people didn’t show up this season and we lost Ethan, Karl (Etzel) and Jake (Halfhill) to graduation,” Remy said “So, yeah, we definitely did the best with what we had. Hopefully, next year, some others will step up.”

Schaub is counting on it.

“I thought we had a great year,” he said. “We had seven kids vying for (the seventh) spot, and they’re practicing right now, so I think by next year, if they all keep playing, it will be good.”

All-News Journal Boys Tennis Team

First team

Dylan Catanese, Lexington: State singles qualifier, sectional champ; Ohio Cardinal Conference No. 1 doubles champ; won 2024 Division II state doubles championship with Ethan Remy

Cooper Remy, Lexington: Second team All-Ohio in doubles; reached state quarterfinals with Philip Etzel; sectional and district doubles champ; Ohio Cardinal Conference runner-up at No 1 singles

Philip Etzel, Lexington: Second team All-Ohio in doubles; reached state quarterfinals with Cooper Remy; sectional and district doubles champ; Ohio Cardinal Conference champ at No. 2 singles

Tony Palmer, Lexington: state qualifier in singles; sectional runner-up; Ohio Cardinal Conference champion at No. 3 singles

Matt Bayes, Ontario: three-time district qualifier; won No. 1 singles in this year’s Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference tournament; key part of back-to-back MOAC titles by the Warriors in 2023 and 2024

Second team

Ben Wiltanger, Lexington: won Ohio Cardinal Conference No 1 doubles with Dylan Catanese; district qualifier in doubles with Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell, Lexington: won Ohio Cardinal Conference No. 2 doubles with Preston Huynh; district qualifier in doubles in Ben Wiltanger

Oscar Haynes, Ashland: district qualifier in singles

Grant White, Ashland: district qualifier in singles; Ohio Cardinal Conference runner-up at No  2 singles

Grant Koleno, Ashland: district qualifier in doubles with Krish Patel

Krish Patel, Ashland: district qualifier in doubles with Grant Koleno

Levi Schag, Willard: district qualifier in singles

Honorable mention

Preston Huynh, Lexington; Cooper Brokaw, Clear Fork; Kade Beachy, Clear Fork; Henry Yugovich, Ontario; Ben Wilkins, Shelby, Dawson Grove, Shelby.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: All-NJ tennis team: Remy, Etzel flash potential as co-POYs for Lex