90-year old athlete wins gold medals in two different sports

WESLEY CHAPEL – After winning a pair of Florida Senior Games racquetball gold medals at Richey Racquet, in Port Richey, Don Husmann made a stop in Gainesville, on his way home to Atlantic Beach. He ended up winning another gold medal in the table tennis as a competitor in the 90-94 age group.

Last Tuesday, Husmann followed up on his weekend racquetball win by taking the men’s singles title for the gold medal in the 90-94 age group. Husmann scored wins against Deane Chickering of The Villages and Robert Johnson of Sun City Center, two opponents who registered in the 85-89 age group. He later paired with Johnson to form an 85-89 age group team to face Chickering and John Shultz.

Two weekend ago, he played a men’s singles match against Jimmy Petrandis, an 85-89 age group player from Tallahassee. Following their match, he teamed with Petrandis to play three matches in a combined pool with younger men’s doubles age groups.

Husmann began playing racquetball when he retired in 1992 and later picked up table tennis. He played in the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Senior Games before relocating to Florida in 2013.  He has competed in the National Senior Games since 1995 and represented Florida in the 2015 Games in Minneapolis and he 2017 Games in Birmingham, Ala.

At the 2017 National Senior Games, Husmann and his partner, William Burg, won a men’s doubles bronze medal in the 85-89 age group. But it came at a cost. While diving for a ball, he tore his rotator cuff.

“I got to the ball and it hit the front wall and then it hit one of my opponents,” Husmann said.  “We got the point to tie the score 8-8, but after that we lost the match 11-8.”

Husmann is one of seven athletes competing in the 90-94 and 95-99 age groups at the 2020 Florida Senior Games.

Meanwhile, John Shultz of Lakeland made some history by extending his consecutive-years medal-winning streak to 28. Shultz won the men’s singles 80-84 age group gold medal. He was undefeated in five pool play matches agaianst a very competitive field, according to table tennis sport director Brad Woodington.

“He was seeded third in the group of six by his ranking and is at the high end of the age group,” Woodington said of the 84-year old Shultz.  “He played very well today.”

Shultz’s first medal winning performance was in the 1993 Florida Senior Games when he competed in the 55-59 age group. Since that time, he has won medals in six different age groups.

In other results, Deb Harrison and Michael Rusaw of The Villages won their fourth consecutive mixed doubles gold medal and the eighth since 2011. They took the 70-74 age group. It was their third gold medal in the division and they paired to win four in the 65-69 age group and one in the 60-64 age group.

On a chilly and windy day at the Duran Golf Course in Viera, Mark Guttenberg of Port St. Lucie recorded the low score of the day with a 78.  With that score, Guttenberg carries a two-stroke lead into the second day of the 65-69 age group, 36-round competition, over David Hodges of Jacksonville who shot an 80.

The 2019 Florida Senior Games Male Athlete of the Year, Ed Scheid of Bradenton returned to receive his award and won the 18-hole gold medal in the 75-79 age group with a score of 84, defeating the silver medalist Tony Webb, also of Bradenton,  by seven strokes. Scheid appeared in his 20th Florida Senior Games since 1999 and posted the lowest score of all 18-hole competitors.

The lowest women’s total (84) was shot by Melanie Clegg of Merritt Island in the first of two days in the 36-hole women’s field. She competed in the 50-54 age group.

A total of 56 men’s doubles pickleball teams, in five age groups, were on the courts at the Sarah Vandeberg Tennis and Wellness Center in Zephyrhills, in the second of five days of action.

Greg Goodson of Tampa won his second gold medal in two days, teaming with Jim Rogers of LaGrange, Ga., to win the 55-59 age group.  Goodson won the men’s singles 55-59 age group gold medal on last Monday.  

Goodson and Rogers battled through the consolation bracket after losing to Mike Bernaldo and Jason Young in the second round. They won three matches in the consolation bracket to advance to a championship match against Bernaldo and Young.  They won the first matchup in straight sets and then won a final match 15-11 for the gold.  With the game tied 11-11, Goodson and Rogers scored the final four points of the match for the victory. 

In winning both medals, Goodson played 10 matches in two days, taking nine.

Also winning his second gold medal in as many days was Gabriel Wong of Ponte Vedra Beach, as he won the men’s singles for the 70-74 age group gold medal. He earned another gold in the men’s doubles. Wong also won a men’s singles tennis gold medal.

Long-time stalwarts of Florida Senior Games tennis, Jonathan Bortner and Barry Schollenberger, won their sixth men’s doubles gold medal since 2010, winning the 75-79 age group.  The duo defeated Eugene Bengstrom and Michael Rafferty, 6-3, 6-2, in the finals. Bortner also won a silver medal in the Men’s Singles 75-79 age group.

The 2020 Florida Senior Games are presented annually by the Florida Sports Foundation, the official sports promotion and development organization of the State of Florida.