The Michigan high school boys tennis state tournament got underway earlier this week with regional meets taking place across the state.
Several programs from Downriver area schools competed in hopes of qualifying for the state finals meet later this month. By week’s end, only two — Trenton and Grosse Ile — survived in their respective regionals to advance through.
In order to qualify for the state championships next weekend, teams must place within the top three of the final standings. Additionally, teams that tally at least 18 points in a bracket draw of 16 (or 10 points if in a draw of eight teams), will also qualify for states.
Team qualifiers aside, those that place first or second in either the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles flights and are not already part of a state-qualifying team will also earn a chance to compete at states.
For both Trenton and Grosse Ile, it is the fifth consecutive school year that each will end their respective seasons at the state finals for boys tennis.
Trenton on Wednesday competed in a Division 3 regional meet hosted by Adrian. It is the second straight season that the Trojans have been assigned to D3 after spending several years prior up in D2.
The regional was largely dominated by eventual team champion and current top-ranked Detroit Country Day (31 points) and runner-up and current No. 4-ranked Ann Arbor Greenhills (24). Trenton, however, was able to lock in that third team qualifying spot with 15 points ahead of fourth-place Ypsilanti (9).
Trenton saw an eerily similar outcome for all eight of its flight representatives on Wednesday. With the exception of its No. 1 singles player Lucas Wright, the Trojans in the other seven brackets had a first-round bye before winning its second-round match and eventually losing in straight sets the semifinals.
Wright, meanwhile, won his first-round matchup in straight sets before falling in three sets in the second round.
Trenton’s day ended almost completely at the hands of Greenhills as six of the team’s eight flights were halted by counterparts from the Gryphons. By meet’s end, it marked the third straight third-place finish at regionals for the program.
As for Grosse Ile, they co-hosted a D4 region locally also on Wednesday and, like Trenton, found itself in a similar finish when the dust settled.
Looking up at only eventual team champion and current top-ranked Jackson Lumen Christi (31 points), the Red Devils comfortably settled for second-place honors (24).
It’s the third straight year and fourth in the last five that Grosse Ile has qualified for the D4 state finals. The outlier in that stretch was in 2023 when the team sent both its No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles to states.
The islanders on Wednesday found themselves matched up with Lumen in the finals across all eight flights, and ultimately ended the Titans’ bid for a meet sweep of champions. Perhaps fittingly, the hosts’ lone regional title by day’s end came in the form of their No. 1 singles player in Jack Johnson.
With a trio of straight-set victories, Johnson upped his season record to 23-4 overall. The junior’s third and final on Wednesday came against Lumen’s Zack Tropea in the finals (6-2, 6-1).
Junior Jack Johnson improved to 12-3 on the season with a win in the No. 1 singles match for Grosse Ile during a dual meet at Carlson on Sep 23, 2026. (ALEXANDER MULLER — MediaNews Group)
That championship match at No. 1 singles was the second head-to-head battle between Johnson and Tropea this season. The former won the first go-round as well (7-6, 6-2) in an early-season quad meet back on Sep 12.
Johnson now owns a 71-24 record in his three years of high school tennis, including a sterling 55-10 mark over the last two seasons. A year ago as a sophomore at the 2025 state finals, he made it to the semifinals of the No. 2 singles flight before losing to the eventual state champion, Phil Seo of Berrien Springs.
UP NEXT
The Michigan high school boys tennis state championships will take place over the next two weeks at the Midland Tennis Center.
Trenton will compete in the D3 finals on Oct 14-15, while Grosse Ile will partake in the D4 finals on Oct 21-22.