Donnal Leisher and Kent Brueggemann pose in front of the ‘Hot Springs Village Center’ sign during the tournament. Photo by Mary Brueggemann.
Story by Jessica Belle Kramer
For the Call

Two local men won the 80-year-old Doubles Division in the United States Tennis Association Multi States 70s and 80s Championships last month in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Donnal Leisher and Kent Brueggemann of St. Louis County took the top position in the championship, which was held May 1 through May 6.

Leisher and Brueggemann have won the tournament four out of five years, placing second in 2017.

The two men met when they joined the Concord Tennis Club after they retired.

Eventually, they started playing for the USTA together.

“There were some fellas interested in competitive tennis, and one day, we put together a team,” Leisher said.

The athletes originally traveled to Tampa, Florida, to compete. They won three out of the five years they competed in that tournament. Once that tournament folded, they became involved with the one in Hot Springs.

The Multi-State 70s and 80s Championship had “representatives from eight or nine states and 135 sign-ups,” Brueggemann said.

The local team competed against “eight or nine” doubles teams in the 80s age range.