The Newark Academy boys’ tennis team brought home their sixth-consecutive Essex County Tournament (ECT) title on Sunday afternoon. This was the Minutemen’s 25th ECT win in program history.

The Minutemen opened up the tournament on Tuesday, April 16 with a commanding 5-0 win over Belleville. They then blanked eighth-ranked West Orange later that day in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals on Sunday morning. Newark Academy bested Montclair in straight sets in the semifinal round. Andrew Kotzen ‘24 led the way at first singles (6-3, 6-1), with Josh Mandelbaum ‘24 following at second singles (6-0, 6-0). Andrew Zielinski ‘27 secured the win at third singles (6-0, 6-0), while Aryan Grover ‘26 and Evan Lai ‘26 topped their opponent at first doubles (6-3, 6-2) and Jean-Luc Marchand ‘24 and Aadit Shrivastava ‘26 sealed the deal at second doubles (6-2, 6-0). They then advanced to the final, overcoming the second-seeded traditional rival Millburn Millers for the title. Andrew Kotzen was the singles tournament champion. Last season, Millburn delivered Newark Academy their only three losses of the season, however, the Minutemen topped the Millers in the Essex County Tournament to clinch the title.

This is just the beginning for a strong Minutemen team, as they have their eyes set on the state title, which they have defended for the last 12 years. Newark Academy will also host the 51st annual Newark Academy Tennis Invitational on May 11 and 12. Here, the Minutemen look for redemption as they fell to Millburn in the tournament final last May. The team is back to their regular season programming on Tuesday when they face West Essex at home at 4 p.m.