photo by: Photo courtesy Lawrence High School Athletics

Lawrence senior Jun Brewer, left, and coach Chris Marshall pose ahead of the 6A boys state tennis tournament in Junction City on Friday, May 16, 2025.

Lawrence scored six points, while Free State scored five in the 6A boys state tennis tournament in Junction City over the weekend.

Jun Brewer was the only Lion at the tournament, but he made the school’s presence felt with a ninth-place finish.

Brewer started with the ninth seed and lost a close match in the first round that went deep into three sets. He bounced back with an 8-2 win over Free State’s Drew Harrison. In the next round, he faced off against Lawrence Dao — Free State’s other singles player and someone whom Brewer faced in the regional tournament last weekend –and got an 8-4 win. Brewer’s third consolation match ended in an 8-2 loss, which put him in the ninth-place bracket.

There, Brewer started with an 8-4 win to play for ninth. He defeated another familiar opponent, Shawnee Mission East’s Aidan Lashley, 8-3 to take ninth in the tournament.

For the Firebirds, Dao started as the 12th seed and won his first-round match. His next match was a loss, moving him to the consolation bracket. There, Dao picked up his first win, an 8-5 win to set up his match with Brewer. The loss to Brewer ended his tournament.

Harrison also started with a win before losing in the second round. His first consolation match came against Brewer, whom Harrison lost to, which concluded his season.

Free State’s doubles team of Jacob Wang and Connor Coons won their first match in three sets but lost in the second round. They rebounded with an 8-2 win in their first consolation match, but the Firebirds lost 8-6 in the next round, which ended their season.

Brewer is departing from the Lions, along with most of the team’s varsity players. Only Jack Bauch and Julian Bricker are returning.

On the other hand, Free State returns five of its six varsity players and will only need to shake up its No. 2 doubles team. The state tournament was good for the young Free State team to see what it takes to reach the final tournament and what it takes to succeed in it.