Mendham sends longtime tennis coach Jeff Tukel into retirement with rare championships
Jeff Tukel knew his final boys tennis team had potential. But even the longtime coach had no idea how his career would end.
Amidst the yellow haze on June 7, Tukel was able to lift the NJSIAA Group 2 team trophy with the Mendham boys, the first for the school since winning back to back in 1981 and 1982. Two weeks later, he helped guide senior first singles Liam Kilmer to the first NJSIAA individual tennis title in school history.
Mendham finished the season 22-4, but was only third in the challenging NJAC-American behind Delbarton and Chatham. The Minutemen also finished third to the same teams at the Morris County Tournament, as Kilmer won first singles. His younger brother, junior Owen Kilmer, reached the second singles final. They were the only two finalists who were not from Delbarton or Chatham.
Mendham beat the Green Wave in their first division match on April 11.
After that victory, "I said, 'Hey, we really do have something here,'" Tukel recalled. "When you know, you know? ... They play their match and they're still looking to support the other people on the court. Off the court, they're going out to dinner. It's a great bunch of kids this year. I'm sure the success had something to do with that."
More: Delbarton holds off Chatham, Mendham to defend Morris County Tournament tennis title
Tukel had retired from teaching health and physical education at Black River Middle School in Chester in 2010, after 39 years, but continued to coach. But now he will step away from the tennis court as well.
He had begun coaching Mendham girls tennis in 1981, staying for about 12 years. He shifted over to the Mendham boys tennis team in 2006, adding the Morristown girls in 2010.
The Minutemen lost the North 2, Group 3 final in 2021, then returned and won a year later. Adding Liam Kilmer, who has signed a National Letter of Intent with Bucknell, only strengthened the lineup.
It was Kilmer's only season of high school tennis. He had planned to try out as a freshman, but the season was cancelled by COVID. After signing his NLI and securing his future, Liam Kilmer decided to join his brother on the high school team.
Both Kilmer brothers won their singles matches in straight sets in the Group 2 final. Senior Vincenzo Tarsi and sophomore Anthony Levine outlasted Rumson-Fair Haven, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1) in a three-set tiebreaker to claim second doubles.
"When we were losing in the third set, I was like, 'I'm not going to lose this where I have to say sorry to Coach.' That was the biggest thing on my mind," said Tarsi, who graduated from Mendham the day after the Group final.
"Everyone was close-knit on the team. Along with this being our coach's swan song, parent involvement, everyone's chemistry just working out together, it was the perfect storm."
A 5-8 singles seed, Liam Kilmer had to endure back-to-back three-set tiebreakers against Aayush Kishore of South Brunswick in the fourth round and Braden Chavez of Ranney in a quarterfinal. He beat defending champion and 3-4 seed Jonathan Gu of Princeton, 7-5, 6-1, to win the championship.
The top two seeds – Delbarton senior James Lian and Arden Kotzen of Newark Academy – both withdrew. Lian had also been forced to withdraw due to injury in the middle of the second set against Kilmer in the MCT final.
"Now that I won, I realize it's bigger than I thought it was," Kilmer said. "It feels great. I'm glad I could do this for the school. When you're playing by yourself, you just play for yourself. It's really different. I'm glad I could share this victory."
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ tennis: Mendham coach Jeff Tukel wins NJSIAA title, retires
