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American Fork's Braeden Johnson is greeted by friends and family following his thrilling 1st singles championship win. May 9, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Daily Herald

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American Fork's Braeden Johnson volleys a forehand back during his 1st singles championship match. May 9, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Daily Herald

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American Fork's Camden Johnson dominated his 2nd singles match, winning in straight sets over Skyridge's Crew Mandelaris. May 9, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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American Fork's Braeden Johnson lunges to volley a ball back during his single's championship match on Saturday. May 9, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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American Fork's Braeden Johnson battled through cramps to win a thrilling 6A first singles championship. May 9, 2026

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

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Stubborn, and maybe even a bit high-maintenance, but also resilient, dedicated and completely dominant.

That’s how American Fork boys tennis coach Jason Herrud described his top player, Braeden Johnson, as he finished out his stellar high school career with his second-straight No. 1 singles 6A title on Saturday. With the win over his good friend and fierce competitor, Bingham’s Davis Aubrey, Johnson finished out his Utah prep career with nary a loss on his resume and certainly as one of the top prep players the Utah prep ranks have ever produced.

But getting that second-straight championship win was an absolute grind and tested Johnson to his limits.

After dropping the first set 6-0, and then finding himself down 4-2 in the second, Johnson dug deep, overcame his cramping issues, which forced a pause in action on several occasions, he stormed back.

“I think he may have been a bit tentative coming out because he had a lot to lose,” Herrud said. “He’s yet to lose in this state, and dealing with that pressure against a great player like Davis is a tough thing. But Braeden is such a grinder, and he’s almost obstinate to the point where we joke that he’s high-maintenance. He’s always finding something he has to overcome, and it works for him. He’s so stubborn and high-maintenance in that was that he makes it so he can’t lose, and that’s what you saw today.”

The issue Johnson found on Saturday at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City was absolutely a real one, however. As mentioned, play was stopped on at least two occasions as he received medical attention for a persistent cramping issue that at times limited his mobility and ability to usher forth his top form.

“I had to dig deep and it was truly the hardest I’ve ever fought,” Johnson said. “I got down big early, and then the cramps started, but I knew I had to battle through all of it. I’ve had to deal with cramps before, but never as bad as it was today. Davis was playing awesome, too, so I had to give it everything I had, and fortunately it was enough.”

Johnson eventually won out in three sets 0-6, 7-5 and 7-5 as hundred squeezed in around the court to watch all of the thrilling action unfold. After the match Johnson was mobbed by the students and then spent more than several minutes receiving hugs and posing for multiple pictures with Herrud shouting out, “Thank you, Idaho!”

Why Idaho, you may ask?

“Both Braeden and Camden (Johnson) transferred in two years ago from Idaho, and they’ve both been such a great addition to our program and what we do,” Herrud explained. “So they had a lot of support here today from people who came down from Idaho, and we’re so blessed to have both of them here in our community and certainly blessed to have them both on our team.”

As for Camden, he’s the younger brother of Braeden and made relatively quick work of Skyridge’s Crew Mandelaris in the No. 2 singles championship match, taking it in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.

“They’re both the epitome of what a tennis player should be with their work ethic, mindset and everything else,” Herrud said. “They both love tennis so much that they’re willing to sacrifice whatever they have to in order to succeed. Moving away to a brand new place isn’t an easy thing, but they’ve kept at it and you saw the results today. They’ve both earned everything they have. Wherever they go people are going to love them.”

As for Braeden, his next destination is Denmark, where he’ll embark on a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shortly after he graduates. He’ll then take his talents to BYU where he’ll work to raise the level of that program while attending school.

Lone Peak wins team title

No one was quite certain how the point total was stacking up throughout the final day of the 6A championships, although most knew it was as tight as possible between American Fork and Lone Peak. Turns out it wound up as tight as anyone could imagine, with the Knights just edging out the Cavemen in total team points 57-56.

The Knights got over on the defending champion Cavemen by virtue of Luke Miller and Cache Garner winning a narrow and extremely hard-fought match over American Fork’s Sam Fairbanks and Sam Karras in the No. 1 doubles championship match 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4. Also contributing big at the very end was Levi Johnson, who took the No. 3 singles championship with a three-set win over American Fork’s Matthew Davis 7-5, 4-6 and 6-2.