Bettendorf back on top; Warriors claim runner-up finish

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Class 2A state doubles tournament was for the ‘Dogs.

That would be the Bettendorf Bulldogs.

The Bettendorf team of Kyle Johnson and David DeSimone capped an undefeated season against Iowa competition by capturing the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 2A state doubles championship Saturday at veterans Memorial Tennis Center. The Bulldogs won a hard-fought finals match, 6-4, 7-5, over Cedar Rapids Washington's Charlie Hammond and Mitch Blades.

“This is what we've been working for all year. Finally got there,” Johnson said of the championship. “A tough, tough match against C.R. Washington. They played great tennis. They made us work extra hard for that one.”

The top-seeded Bulldogs had cruised into the finals, losing only five games in six previous sets. Three of those sets were 6-0.

“There were a ton of good teams this year,” DeSimone said. “We knew we'd have to play our best.”

The biggest challenge came against the Warriors. Hammond and Blades won the first points in both sets. Both teams were successful holding their serves but the Bulldogs were able to score a couple important service breaks, especially in the second set. The Bulldogs knew they had to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Charlie and Mitch had great serving days today,” Johnson said. “Finally, we got a break there at the end, which cliinched it for us. That was a big key.”

Johnson and DeSimone couldn't afford to let up even when they had one set in their favor. They expected a battle until the end.

“After we got that first set, we knew they weren't going down without a fight,” DeSimone said. “We both kept holding serve and just kept going back and forth.”

The Bettendorf duo closed it out, improving one last year's runner-up finish, which is their only loss an Iowa team the last two seasons. The championship helped make up for the previous showing.

“It felt like we had some unfinished business,” Johnson said. “We kind of wanted to redeem our performance from last year, because we didn't play our best in that final.”

DeSimone finds himself back on top of the state's doubles field, adding to the championship he won as a freshman with his older brother, Adam. He has reached the state doubles finals in each of his three prep seasons.

“It's old in a good way,” DeSimone said with a laugh. “It's not a bad thing to be here in this position.”

The Warriors finished the season in an admirable position as well. They posted an 18-2 record this season with both losses to Johnson and DeSimone. The performance was better than the last match against the Bulldogs with Hammond noting that a couple points swings could have changed the complexion of the match.

“We knew we were capable of winning,” Hammond said. We played tougher this time.”

Hammond and Blades entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed and had expectations of a top four finish. They surpassed their seed and even their initial goal.

“I'm pretty happy with our results,” Hammond said. “That's the only team we've lost to all season.

“We would have liked to have won, obviously, but they were pretty tough.”

The Warriors survived a tough test in the semifinals against West Des Moines Dowling's second-seeded Elliot Baker and Anthony Forcucci. Hammond and Blades won the first set 7-6, winning a tiebreaker, 7-4. The Maroons grabbed momentum and the second set, 6-4.

Holding your serve is key in tennis and the Warriors proved that by winning a key game off the Maroons' serve and then serving out to win the third, 6-4.

“We realized we had to get that break and it would be huge,” Blades said. “We could go from there and win the rest with our serves. That's what we did.”

Johnson and DeSimone had an easier time reaching the finals. In one of the more dominating performances, the Bulldogs blanked Dustin Rhoads and Alex Qin of Ames, 6-0, 6-0, in the semifinals.

“We were just playing so well together,” DeSimone said. “It seemed like neither of us could miss a shot.”

Fort Dodge's David Knight matched Johnson and DeSimone's championship performance by winning the state singles tournament. Knight beat West Des Moines Valley's Matt Sturgeon, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. He was greeted at the gate of the courts by a long line of people offering congratulations.

“I've wanted this ever since I started playing tennis when I was eight,” said Knight, who has beaten Sturgeon twice this year. “It feels really good.”

Knight improved his third-place finish in 2009. All the hard work the last year paid off. The excitement grew as he closed in on the crown.

“I was counting down the points from seven points away from it,” said Knight, who was one of four singles semifinalists from the CIML conference. “I got the last one. It was a big relief.”

Iowa City West freshman Kyle Appel was the top area finisher in singles, winning three straight matches to place sixth. Appel battled back through the consolation bracket after losing his first round match Friday. He even topped second-seed Neel Nath of Des Moines Roosevelt, 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (6), in the consolation semifinals.

“I've been impressed and proud of how he's played,” West Coach Mitch Gross said. “It's a testament to the kind of player Kyle is and especially at this tournament, playing for fifth and sixth is impressive, and is something we can build on in the future.”

Parity in the singles tournament provided an opportunity to do well. Gross said his goal was to have Kyle in the top eight.

“I knew he could play with most of the kids here,” Gross said. “My expectations were definitely met, if not exceeded.”

Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Jeff Damisch concluded his career with a fourth state meet finish and third in singles. An elbow injury forced him to default his final match, putting him in eighth place.

Linn-Mar's doubles team of Tyler McCann and Mitch Anderson placed sixth and Iowa City High's Nathaniel Gier and Philip Riley were eighth.