Aug. 9—OTTUMWA — It was a fitting conclusion to the fifth-annual Dan Staggs Tennis Tournament.
Logan Storto and Toby Schmidt on one side of the net. Quintin and Trey Hull on the other side.
Four young Ottumwa tennis players that have been right at the heart of what is quickly becoming a summertime tradition for tennis players in and out of the city coming together to share there passions for the sport. From the outside of Jon Kneen Courts, tournament organizer and former OHS head boys tennis coach Mark Hanson watched on with a smile on his face.
“In a way, it’s kind of like all of my sons are coming back to play,” Hanson said. “The guys really enjoy coming back for this. I feel really happy about it and proud to be a part of it.”
The final match of the week-long Ottumwa tennis tournament named in honor of Ottumwa’s Hall-of-Fame teacher and tennis coach went right down to the final set. Storto and Schmidt nearly took their battle in the doubles championship all they way to a 10-point super-tiebreaker in that third and decisive set.
In the end, however, Storto and Schmidt were able to win the final three points of the match to clinch a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 victory over the Hull brothers. Throughout the 90 minutes on the court, all four Ottumwa tennis products displayed passion and skill with a few fortunate breaks mixed into the drama.
“We were confident coming in, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We knew nothing was going to be given to us,” Schmidt said. “We left a lot out there. The Hulls really played hard. They played hard enough to deserve it, but Logan and I were the ones that came away with it.”
Schmidt in particular found himself winning points in the final set on shots with unintended consequences. Midway through the third set, Schmidt went for an overhead slam at the net that barely ricocheted off his raquet.
As a result, however, the ball dropped just on the Hulls’ side of the net for a winning point. Schmidt would later have another mishit that found open court, leaving the three-time Dan Staggs champion staring at his raquet in wonder even as he was picking up points for his team in a pivotal set.
“I had a lot of lucky shots in there,” Schmidt said.
“That overhead shot really scared me,” Storto added.
Luck of not, Schmidt and Storto were able to erase an early two-game deficit in the final set taking a 5-4 lead before the Hull brothers responded by holding serve with some impressive returns. Schmidt and Storto were able to hold their serve, going up 6-5 in the final set, before the Hulls moved within a point of forcing a decisive tiebreaker going up 40-30 on serve in the 12th game of the set and 27th game of the match.
“If we played them last year in doubles, we would have gotten smoked,” Quintin Hull said. “Being able to compete like that was a huge improvement for us.
“It was a really good, competitive match,” Trey Hull added. “Everyone played well.”
Schmidt was able to secure a championship in this year’s Dan Staggs Tournament after falling a tough battle for the men’s championship one night earlier. Davis County head boys tennis coach Tucker Henderson used a powerful serve and powerful returns to earn a 7-5, 6-3 win over Ottumwa High School’s top player last Thursday night.
“I was looking forward to the challenge. Tucker definitely pushed me a lot,” Schmidt said. “It was definitely physical, but I had a lot of fun. I didn’t come out with the win, but I came out of it a better player. I can’t be mad about that.”
The doubles championship ended the longest of the five editions of the Dan Staggs Tournament, which featured 36 matches played over seven days crowning champions in four different divisions. Clayton Ferguson won the men’s consolation championship, sweeping Fernando Guerrero 6-1 and 6-3 to earn his first trophy from the tournament.
“I faced a lot of good opponents. It was absolutely a great time,” Ferguson said. “I hope this tournament continues for a long time. It’s a blast.”
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
