Hunter’s History: Nelson caps perfect career, East claims fifth straight title
By Chris Basnett – For the Nebraska School Activities Association
Hunter Nelson’s historic finish to a historic career capped another historic season for the Lincoln East boys tennis team at the Class A boys tennis championships.
Nelson became just the second player in Nebraska history to go unbeaten and win four No. 1 singles state titles in his high school career, downing Lincoln Southeast’s Owen Brown 6-0, 6-1 in the championship match Friday at Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln.
In front of a standing room-only crowd, Nelson was in control from the start. He punctuated his final high school match with an ace on match point to finish his career a remarkable 139-0. The only other four-time undefeated champion in Nebraska history is Creighton Prep’s Bill Brown who did so from 1960-63.
“This whole week, the pressure of going undefeated and winning four titles in a row, I was just taking it one match at a time, just trying to get better day in and day out,” Nelson said minutes after his win. “And I felt like that took the pressure off me, and I just played much better than I was earlier in the season.”
It seemed appropriate that Nelson faced Brown, a sophomore, in the finals. Nelson beat Brown in last year’s championship match. And this year, Brown pushed Nelson hard — it was a 9-8 Nelson win in the first match of the year between the two. Nelson won 8-6 over Brown in late September, and led Brown 2-1 in early October before Brown was forced to retire because of injury.
But Nelson had Brown on the run from the start, adding some fireworks with a between-the-legs shot midway through the match as he won another point.
“I played really well the whole match,” Nelson said. “And I felt like (Brown) was playing pretty solid. I just won all the big points.”
After first picking up a racket when he was four years old, Nelson was picked up by his teammates in celebration Friday. His was the last match of the day to finish, well after the Spartans had secured the team championship.
“It means everything, Nelson said. “I just took it match by match, and now I’m speechless, I guess.”
Nelson’s win helped East finish with 58 of a possible 60 points as the Spartans finished 12.5 points ahead of second-place Creighton Prep. The Junior Jays have finished second to East in four out of the last five state championships.
Lincoln Southeast, Lincoln Southwest, and Millard North rounded out the top five.
East won its fifth consecutive championship, becoming the first Class A boys program to win five in a row since Creighton Prep won six straight from 2001-06.
“It’s a tribute to all these guys and their hard work over the years,” East coach Chris Stock said. “And to me, it was about the seniors this year. We had seven seniors, and it was about these guys coming together and going out with a bang. And that’s what they did.
“I’m super, super proud of them, and it’s a testament to all their hard work all season, and their love for tennis and love for each other.
Lincoln East had finalists in each of the four divisions, winning three.
Simon Johnson and Samarth Sajeesh, both seniors, teamed up to win No. 1 doubles with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Creighton Prep to cap a 33-0 season. Johnson was the Class A No. 2 singles champion in 2024, while Sajeesh won his third consecutive No. 1 doubles championship.
It was more dominance from East at No. 2 doubles, where Brad Bobaru and Kayden Le finished off a 26-0 season with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Lincoln Southwest . Bobaru and Le lost just three games at state.
Creighton Prep’s Blake Gocken downed East’s Daniel Ji 7-5, 6-0 at No. 2 singles to finish 35-0.
“What (East’s players) did is really — you can’t think about it, really, without just being amazed,” Stock said. “I’m in awe of what they did. I’m just super proud to be a part of it and to work with these guys every day.”
FINAL RESULTS: No. 1 Singles | No. 2 Singles | No. 1 Doubles | No. 2 Doubles | Team Scores
🎾 The Lincoln East Spartans are the 2025 Nebraska Class A Boys State Tennis Champions! 🏆 #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/UAr6VsZo8B
— NSAA (@nsaahome) October 17, 2025
Chris Basnett is a freelance writer based in Lincoln. He has covered prep and college sports for more than 20 years and most recently was the assistant sports editor at the Lincoln Journal Star. He currently provides content for the Harvest Sports Newsletter.