OTTUMWA — Toby Schmidt had three days to prepare for Sunday's championship match with Tucker Henderson.
In reality, Schmidt had an entire year to get motivated for the rematch with Henderson after losing in the finals to the former Davis County standout and current Mustang head coach in last year's men's final.Henderson used a powerful serve and powerful returns to earn a 7-5, 6-3 win over Ottumwa High School's top player last summer.
"I didn't want to lose to him twice in a row," Schmidt said. "That would have been a little embarrassing."
Instead, Schmidt showcased his maturity as a tennis player against Henderson, winning several key points to turn the tables in Sunday afternoon's championship rematch at Dan Staggs Family Courts. Schmidt secured his first adult division singles' title in the Staggs Tournament, winning 6-3 and 6-3 to close out another busy week of tennis in Ottumwa with championships in every division being claimed by like Schmidt that are current or recent Ottumwa High School tennis standouts.
"It's always a good time playing Tucker. I'm glad he decided to come back out for the tournament this year," Schmidt said. "I know Tucker's a little out of whack dealing with some shoulder issues. That might have helped. I also played pretty well. I was able to battle back in a lot of service games. I think that, mentally, I was able to stay tough and didn't beat myself up as much."
Henderson could see the improvement in Schmidt from the player he faced in a tough championship match last August to the player that stepped on the court for Sunday's final. Schmidt was able to grind through the heat and humidity of the early afternoon start, putting away the opening set as Henderson had already gone through three rackets midway through the second set.
"He was just much more consistent. He wasn't making mistakes," Henderson said of Schmidt. "Some of that might have been on me not forcing those mistakes, but that was ultimately the difference. My ability to hold on to my serve hasn't been there for the past few months. I was a little let down trying to get some of those first serves in."
Schmidt appeared well on his way to completing the championship sweep, getting an early break in the second set to build what seemed like a commanding 6-3, 3-0 lead. Henderson, however, made one last run at extending the match in his bid to defend his singles' title breaking Schmidt's serve at 3-1 before putting away a pair of quick winners during a quick service hold to tie the second set at 3-3.
"That's where the mental aspect of the game really helped me," Schmidt said. "I couldn't afford to get too nervous at that point. I had to put those three games behind me."
That mental toughness came through as Henderson earned a second break chance in the seventh game of the second set, needing one more point to take a 4-3 lead in the set with an opportunity to force a decisive third set simply by holding serve twice. Schmidt responded by winning a rally at the net, putting away Henderson's last break point opportunity with a kill off a Henderson return that clipped the net before winning the next two points to hold serve before taking advantage of a pair of double faults by Henderson in the eighth game, receiving the break that would set up Schmidt to serve out the match.
"I blame most of my losses, especially when I was younger, on my mental game," Schmidt said. "It's fun to see how far I've come, especially as I get ready to got off and play in college. It's also a great way to leave these courts as an Ottumwa (Bulldog) tennis player for the last time on a good note."
The future of Ottumwa tennis was on full display throughout the week as Schmidt was joined in collecting championship hardware by several former Bulldog teammates. Logan Storto, who teamed with Schmidt to win the doubles title in last year's Staggs Tournament, won championships in three divisions including the 18-and-under doubles title with current OHS teammate Dominick Rath and the adult division doubles championship with former OHS teammate Quintin Hull.
Soon-to-be Ottumwa junior Jordan Lee also won the 18-and-under girls division title with fellow OHS teammates Ava Barnes and Emerson Keith also participating for the first time in the Dan Staggs Tournament. Both the tournament and the facility that are named after the longtime Ottumwa tennis coach will hopefully continue to grow with several additions to the Dan Staggs Family Courts including new stands and lights scheduled being added later this year with more players also being invited to join the seventh edition of the tournament next summer.
"One of our goals for next year is to get more girls involved," Tournament director Mark Hanson said. "We'd love to have players from neighboring schools, be it Davis County or Fairfield or Oskaloosa, to help fill out the field. I'd like to see this be a really big tournament, especially with these great facilities that we now have available."
