The Burroughs boys tennis team fulfilled the promise of its season by capturing the first state title since 2004 behind veteran Ben Remis ’18 and a cadre of freshman talent. Remis, who earned medals as an individual three times in his high school career, told the Post Dispatch that “this is really special to finish my high school career like this. You place tennis for yourself all the time, but it is special to be a part of a team title with all these guys. It’s awesome and a long time coming.”

While Remis did not qualify for the individual state tournament this year after suffering a surprising defeat to MICDS freshman Evan Erb, he was an integral part of the team’s success over the course of the season and at the state tournament. Playing No. 1 singles, Remis also served as captain, and his leadership helped to guide the young team. As the only senior of the Bomber starting six, Remis provided the steadying hand for the talented freshman group.

Following the state title victory, coach Scott Sutter said: “I am glad to give [Remis] a championship before he graduates. He has been such a good leader, and it’s great to send him off with a title.”

The Bombers advanced to the state title match after beating defending champion Pembroke Hill in a 5-1 win in the semifinals. They won two of three doubles matches, before freshmen Rory Sutter (No. 3), Samuel Wang ’21 (No. 5), and Dev Nayak ’21 (No. 6) clinched the Burroughs victory in singles.

Burroughs proceeded to sweep Springfield Catholic in the championship match, winning all three doubles matches before Akash Rajan ’21 (No. 2) and Sutter won their singles matches in dominating fashion.

Coach Scott Sutter told the Post Dispatch, “From the beginning of the season I thought that the freshman were the difference makers for this team. They really rose to the occasion and performed great.”

While the team will certainly miss Remis and fellow senior William Howlett ’18, the Bombers seemed poised to succeed for the years to come. The team will return nearly the entire starting six, including Sutter, who finished as the runner-up in the singles state tournament, and the state runner-up doubles pairing of Rajan and Matthew Fan ’19.