South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Lindbergh High boys’ tennis squad eyes 2004 District 1 Championsips

Rather than rebuilding like most teams each season, it appears that the boys’ tennis team at Lindbergh High School is re-loading.

The Flyers won the District 1 Championship last season before dropping a 5-4 decision to Marquette in the state sectional. It appears that the Flyers not only are poised to win districts again this season, but possibly advance even further into the state championships.

“Things are looking pretty good this year,” Flyers head coach Colby Schmid told the Call. “We have a lot of players returning and one of our goals is to get to state as a team.”

Sophomore Kyle O’Leary assumes the No. 1 singles position after qualifying for the state tournament and dropping out in the second round due to a pulled quadricep.

“Last year Kyle made it to state and won his first-round match, but lost in the second round due to a quad pull,” Schmid explained. “I see him getting back to state and I think that he expects to do better this year.”

At the No. 2 singles slot will be sophomore Kyle Tosie, who also qualified for the state tournament last year.

“Kyle’s a consistent player, who also went to state,” Schmid said. “He’ll have some tough competition at his spot, but I don’t expect him to have any problems in districts again this year.”

Another sophomore who will play singles this season is Josh Nezam at No. 3 singles. Nezam competed at doubles last season at districts and most likely will see himself in the same position once the post-season tournament begins.

“Right now, Josh just needs to work on his speed and consistency,” Schmid said.

“I would imagine that Josh will play doubles again this year in districts and possibly make state in doubles. But that all depends on what the competition in the district is going to be like.”

Junior Adam Boehmer should see a considerable amount of time at No. 4 singles this season after playing at No. 3 doubles last season. His move from doubles to singles was a direct result of a considerable amount of dedication in the off-season.

“Adam played at No. 3 doubles for us last year and did a lot of work in the off-season,” Schmid said.

“He’s going to be a good player at No. 4 for us. His all-around game is better now than it was at the end of last year.”

Competing at No. 1 doubles for the Flyers will be seniors Brian Campbell and David Steffel.

“Brian and David played No. 1 doubles through the season and ended up playing No. 2 doubles last year at districts,” Schmid said. “I think that both are improved over last year.”

Senior Matt Burns and junior Mike Haupt will be at No. 2 doubles while junior Eric Suda and sophomore Sam Wesselschmidt will be the Flyers’ No. 3 doubles team.

“Both Matt and Mike are consistent players that have made some improvement since last year,” Schmid said. “They (Eric and Sam) are also a pretty consistent team that will make everyone work extremely hard in order to win a match against them.”

The Flyers were scheduled to compete against Hazelwood West at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 23 — after the Call went to press — at Lindbergh High School, 4900 Lindbergh Blvd.

The tennis team’s next competition is set for 4 p.m. April 6 in Kirkwood.

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