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It was more than a bit of irony for Viewmont's Jake Tullis on Saturday, on the day he won the Class 5A singles tennis championship, that his biggest supporter wasn't there to see it.

Or even in a position to hear the news immediately.

That's because Sam Tullis, who won the same state crown a year ago, is on an LDS Church mission in Costa Rica.

For Jake, who will himself head out on a mission in short order, his older brother was on his mind after beating Lone Peak's Brocton Andrus 6-1, 6-3 at the University of Utah's Eccles Tennis Center.

"My brother is such a great leader and he always pumped me up before matches. He would always look at me and say, 'Jake, you got this,'" Tullis said. "He had such confidence in me that I didn't have. This year, it had to come from my family, my friends, from me and my coaches — which was a lot harder."

Tullis said that his mother was sending text messages throughout the day to Sam, but that it would be a few days before his brother could read it all en masse.

"He's going to get it all at once," Jake Tullis said. "I think it's Tuesday that he's going to read it. That's his preparation day, where he can read mail and other stuff."

The 5A tourney started at Liberty Park before rain forced a change of venue to the indoor facility. Tullis went to three sets in the semifinals before outlasting Chase Stoner of Brighton 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.

Andrus, meanwhile, knocked off Alta's Thomas Mikulis 6-1, 6-4.

In the finals of the No. 1 singles draw, Tullis broke Andrus with a nice passing shot in the second game and never looked back in the opening set. Andrus, a junior at Lone Peak, also lost his serve in the first game of the second set and was never able to fully recover.

"Jake is just a tough competitor. I've known him for five years and I practice with him at least once a week," Andrus said. "Our team's goal next year is to win state. We fell a little short this year, but we're going to work hard."

The Bingham team of Adam Cox and Nathan Balls won the doubles draw by beating the top team from Pleasant Grove, Steven Sheffield and Josh Lee, by a 7-6, 6-2 count.

In the team category, Brighton ended a two-year run by Viewmont with wins in 2nd Singles from Anthony Panuzio as well as 2nd doubles by Mitchell Mansell and Jake Fisher.

The Bengals won seven straight titles until the Vikings supplanted them in 2013.

"We knew we had a chance, but we knew it was going to be really hard," Brighton coach Natalie Meyer said. "You've got great teams all over who are all out to get each other. We just put our heart and soul into it — this has been our goal the entire season." —

5A boys' tennis results

1st singles • Jake Tullis, Viewmont def. Brocton Andrus, Lone Peak 6-1, 6-3

2nd singles • Anthony Panuzio, Brighton def. Jack Taylor, Viewmont 6-4, 6-4

3rd singles • Jared Mansell, Brighton def. Micah Heimuli, Lone Peak 7-6, 7-6

1st doubles • Adam Cox/Nathan Balls, Bingham def. Steven Sheffield/Josh Lee, Pleasant Grove 7-6, 6-2

2nd doubles • Mitchell Mansell/Jake Fisher, Brighton def. Kenton Hartle/Adam Sanford, Lehi 6-3, 6-2

Team results

1. Brighton - 21

2. Viewmont - 15

3. Lone Peak - 13

4. Pleasant Grove - 9

T5. Lehi, Bingham - 7 —

5A boys' tennis

R Jake Tullis of Viewmont succeeds his older brother Sam as the Class 5A singles champ with a straight-sets finals win.

• The doubles championship is taken by the Bingham duo of Adam Cox and Nathan Balls.

• Brighton's titles in 2nd singles and 2nd doubles help it claim the team state trophy after a two-year absence.