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Tessa Mittag and Wyatt Henkenius, two area seniors who will represent southwest Iowa in Saturday’s IBCA high school all-star basketball games, have a unique history.
That history started at Mercy Hospital in Corning on a cold winter morning in 1993 when their mothers Anita Mittag and Lisa Henkenius, both eight months pregnant, waddled through the front doors of the old hospital Dec. 20.
“I didn’t want to have a Christmas baby,” Anita said. “I didn’t want to be at a hospital on Christmas. I wanted to be home with Tucker and Tessa opening gifts from the comfort of our own home. I even tried to get the doctor to start me the Friday before during my regular doctor’s appointment, but he said I had to wait because their wasn’t enough staff.”
Dr. Steven Gruba induced both mothers shortly after 7 a.m Monday, Dec. 20 and about noon, Anita began having strong contractions in one of the patient rooms of the old hospital. Meanwhile, Lisa started having strong contractions at about the same time.
“We walked the halls together and walked through the contractions a lot that day,” Lisa said. “We had a lot in common
and our husbands (John and Craig), both farmers, had a lot in common. I remember telling her during one of our walks, ‘I’m going to beat you. I’m going to beat you.’ But, I never beat anyone with any of my three kids.”
Anita had Tessa Kaye Mittag at 5:43 p.m. Dec. 20, after almost six hours of labor. Tessa weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Lisa had Wyatt Mitchell Henkenius at 8:49 p.m. and he also weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, but was 21 inches long.
Growing up
Tessa was raised on a 160-acre farm in Prescott and went to school at Orient-Macksburg School District. Tessa was successful in the classroom, athletic field and 4-H. She was inducted into the National Honor Society in 2010, was named homecoming queen in 2011 and recently named president of the O-M 4-H chapter.
She broke four school records at O-M including two in basketball for most 3-pointers in one game (7) and most 3-pointers in one season (64) and helped break the sprint medley and distance medley track and field records at O-M. She had a strong senior basketball season at O-M averaging 15.5 points per game and led the team in steals (48). She was named first-team all-conference and all-district her senior season.
And, while Mittag was racking up honors on and off the court at O-M, so was her birthday sibling. Wyatt, who lives in Bridgewater, attended Cumberland-Massena Elementary until third grade. He then open enrolled at Corning School District as his mother was already employed as an elementary teacher at Corning.
Wyatt currently has a grade-point average above a 4.0, is president of the National Honor Society at Corning and is involved in speech contests and quiz bowls. In basketball, he was named third-team all-state his junior season and is a two-time all-conference player. Wyatt averaged 17.3 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game his senior season at Corning.
The two will complete their high school basketball careers together Saturday with Tessa playing for the southwest girls all-star team. Their first-round game is slated to tip-off at 10:30 a.m. in Dallas Center Grimes. Wyatt’s first-round game with the southwest boys all-start team will tip-off at noon.
“Honestly, we were born in the same place and on the same day, but we haven’t really had the chance to speak to one another in elementary or high school,” Wyatt said. “I saw her play last year during regional (basketball) play, and she’s a really solid player. It’s kind of cool we were brought back together and will play one of our final high school games together.”