Clay Target Nation

Hamburg Open

September 9, 2019 By

The weather was amazing with sunny, blue skies and warm temperatures for the 2019 Hamburg Open on July 12-14 at Hamburg (New York) Rod and Gun Club. The first event of the weekend was doubles. Peter Bogdon was the champion, and runner-up was Mathew Kelley. Class winners were Ricky Laurito (AA), Dana Driscoll (A), Mike Smith (B), Gregory McChesney Jr. (D) and Junior Champion, Ryan Meger.

Saturday came, and the weather conditions were wonderful again. In the 12-gauge event, we had two 100s. After shoot-offs, the results were Dave Sobiegray as champ, Mathew Kelley runner-up, Peter Bogdon (AA1), Scott Van Etten (A1), Samuel Heusler (B1), Victor Stirpe (C1), Arnold Smart (D1), Jerry Reeves (E1) and Junior Champion, Ryan Meger.

We broke for lunch (thank you to Guy and Sharon Otis and Paul Barnas Jr.). In the 20-gauge event, Colin Smingler had the only 100 for the championship. Peter Bogdon was runner-up. Class winners were Mathew Kelley (AA), Matthew Lenehan (A), Ricky Laurito (B), Cynthia Johnson (C), Gregory McChesney (D) and Junior Champion, Ryan Meger.

Everyone enjoyed dinner that night with pork chops and chicken cordon bleu provided by ZJ’s Restaurant. A nice cocktail party was put on by our club’s past president, Jim McAndrews.

On Sunday, the weather cooperated again with a great start for the 28-gauge event. Event champion Ryan Meger had the only 100. Other finishers include runner-up Peter Bogdon, Dana Driscoll (AA1), Dave Sobiegray (A1), Douglas Paddock (B1), Jerry Reeves (C1), Ricky Laurito Jr. (D1) and Junior Champion, Ryan Meger.

After the lunch break, the weather conditions were perfect for the .410 event. Mathew Kelley came out as champ, runner-up was Bernard Lenehan, and class champs were Ryan Meger (AA), Ricky Laurito (A), Matthew Lenehan (B), Cynthia Johnson (C), John Cicora (D) and Junior Champion, Ryan Meger.

HOA was won by Mathew Kelley with a 396, and runner-up was Ryan Meger (394). Class winners were Bernard Lenehan (AA, 387), Peter Bogdon (A, 391), Matthew Lenehan (B, 384), Ricky Laurito (C, 369), Arnold Smart (D, 326) and Junior Champion, Ryan Meger (394).

Thanks to all the sponsors and patrons of the 2019 Hamburg Open for your support that helped make this a great shoot. We look forward to seeing everyone next year at the 2020 Hamburg Open. I would like to thank the following sponsors for sponsoring events: Doubles, Ventry’s Heating and Air Conditioning; 12-gauge, Manth Manufacturing Inc.; 20-gauge, Artisan Stock and Gunworks; 28-gauge, Hamburg Brewing Company; Red Hot, Maxwell Murphy Attorneys At Law; .410, J. Mills Distributing Company; HOA, Russell’s Steaks, Chops and More Restaurant; and Last Dash for Cash, Fiocchi Ammunition.

– Contributed by Paul Barnas

Boyd Memorial Cancer Shoot

September 9, 2019 By

The 7th annual Boyd Memorial Cancer Shoot was held the weekend of July 13 at the Cooperstown Sportsmen’s Club in Cooperstown, New York. On this exceptionally warm day, 15 registered skeet shooters shot in both 12-gauge and 20-gauge events. Shooter Kerry Richardson of Mexico, New York, shot a 100 straight in the 12-gauge, and Robert Mosca of Wynantskill, New York, achieved his first 25 straight in the 20-gauge event. At the end of the day, the High Over All trophy, for the combined two guns, was presented to shooter Kerry Henderson on his first time at the fundraising event. We are glad he had such a good day.

The Cancer Memorial Shoot is a fundraiser for cancer research, with funds donated to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Otsego County, New York. It is a two-day event with the second day being open shooting for both skeet and trap. Attendees enjoyed warm weather, good company, lunch, raffles and a bake sale. It is always a fun time. This year, one registered shooter, Alan Clark, Sr., traveled from Houston, Texas, to participate.

Thanks to members of the Cooperstown Sportsmen’s Association, led by president Bob Navratil, for their commitment to the success of this important event. Thanks as well to the New York State Skeet Association for providing continued support. Our hope is that a cure will be found for this devastating disease so no more families go through the pain and heartbreak of losing a loved one.

This year’s shoot raised over $7000, bringing the total to over $38,000 that has been donated to the American Cancer Society since 2013. The success of this fundraising event could not have been possible if not for the efforts and leadership of our chairperson, Joyce Boyd. We thank Joyce for her dedication and hard work that she has put into this event.

– Contributed by Ted Kantorowski

3F Summer Classic

September 9, 2019 By

The 3F Club in Lewiston, New York, hosted the 3F Summer Classic on July 19-21. The top-100 shoot was sold out, with 50 shooters attending from New York and Canada. The 3F continues to host one of the top money shoots in New York, with over $3000 added money and complimentary breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails for all shooters.

Friday’s doubles event saw bright, sunny skies and light winds. Congratulations to Don Lewandoski on his first 100 in doubles and winning the championship outright. Dess Ivanov, Peter Bogdon and Rick Laurito, with 99s, shot off for runner-up. After a box and a half, Laurito bested Ivanov. Class winners were Dess Ivanov (AA), Mike Ferchaw (A), Victoria Ferchaw (B), Al Morris (C) and John Cicora (D).

Saturday brought on the heat wave with temperatures in the mid-90s and a heat index of 105 – that’s hot for us northerners. The 12-gauge event was also hot, with five 100s posted by Aaron Benton, Peter Bogdon, Dess Ivanov, Scott Janowski and Ed Smith. After five stations, Bogdon bested Ivanov for the championship. Class winners were Aaron Benton (AA), Mike Ferchaw (A), Bryan Jensen (B), Mark Jesske (C), Al Morris (D) and Steve Dickerman (E).

Following the lunch break, the shooters took to the field for the 28-gauge event, with Aaron Benton posting the lone 100 to win the championship. Dale Patterson, Hunter Dickerman and Colin Smingler with 99s battled it out for runner-up, with Patterson taking the second spot on the podium. Class winners were Hunter Dickerman (AA), Colin Smingler (A), Matt Lenehan (B), Scott Macintosh (C) and Todd Abbey (D).

On Saturday night, shooters were treated to a top-notch dinner, with hors d’oeuvres, shrimp, fruit trays, dessert table, cocktail hour and a traditional roast pig stuffed with chicken halves and all the fixings. It was a meal fit for a king.

Sunday morning’s first flight had challenging lighting conditions, light rain, then partly cloudy and bright sun with the big, white puffy clouds we all like. Rick Laurito’s, Dess Ivanov’s and Aaron Benton’s 99s were high for the 20-gauge. After a lengthy shoot-off, Laurito closed the door on Ivanov for the championship. Class winners were Aaron Benton (AA), Bruce Raymond (A), Aaron Burnett (B), Daniel Lourenco (C) and Todd Abbey (D).

For the .410, the final event of the day, the winds were moderate and the bright sun sweltering hot. A lone 100 was enough for Dess Ivanov to capture the gun championship, and Benton’s 98 took runner-up. Class winners were Steve Wood (AA), Dale Patterson (A), Colin Smingler (B), Scott Macintosh (C) and Steve Dickerman (D).

Aaron Benton captured the HOA crown with a fine 397, withstanding the pressure from Ivanov with a 396 for runner-up. Class winners were Ed Smith (AA), Dale Patterson (A), Mark Jesske (B), Scott Macintosh (C), Steve Dickerman (D) and Jim Hunter (E).

A special thank you to all of our dedicated sponsors, and thanks to Duane Manth and Manth Mfg., without whom we would not be able to offer the added money. Thanks to the venue that has enabled us to grow the shoot year after year. Thanks to Randy Cook for his generous donation for the 20-gauge B-C-D event. Thanks also to our referees and all our volunteers who made this shoot possible: Mike Clarke, Jeff Ventry, Fredo Vanoni, John Lucas, Dave Sobiegray, Rich Falcone, Tim Baldwin, Jackie Ventry and Lisa Kelly. Thank you to all the shooters for making our event a growing success. Please join us again next year and bring along new shooting friends. The 3F will also be a host club for the U.S. Open iShoot. Make it a family vacation, as there are lots of things to do in Niagara Falls, Lewiston and Youngstown, New York.

– Contributed by Dave Sobiegray

Photo ID, left to right – Champions

Peter Bogdon 12-gauge

Aaron Benton 28-gauge & HOA

Dess Ivanov .410 and & HOA runner-up

Don Lewandoski Doubles champion

Rick Laurito 20-gauge

11th Annual Skyline Open

September 9, 2019 By

The Skyline Skeet and Trap Club in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania hosted its 11th annual Skyline Open on July 12-14. Skyline is a privately owned, two-field skeet club. For the second consecutive year, the Mankanzana Challenge was held in conjunction with this shoot. The weather was nice for the entire weekend.

The Skyline Open is a typical five-gun shoot that began with doubles on Friday and ended with the .410 on Sunday. Hunter Dickerman’s HOA score of 384 and HAA score of 480 were high for the weekend.

Six shooters shot doubles. William Kalwas, from New York, ran them and was AA1. Other class winners were Hunter Dickerman (A), Ed Call (B) and John Quealy Jr. (C). The 12-gauge (21 entries) was also shot on Friday. Hunter Dickerman and Kalwas shot 100 straights, and Dickerman took A1. Debra Meade was AA1 with her 99. David Cook, Robert Nichols, Scott Cooper and Robert Saam, respectively, took B, C, D and E class first places.

Seventeen shooters participated in the 20-gauge event on Saturday morning. Tim Holtz was high gun and took A1 with his 99. Other class first places included Cook (AA), Meade (B), Cooper (C) and John Hoffner (D). The 28 was shot on Saturday afternoon, and 16 shooters participated. Hunter Dickerman’s 97 was good for AA1 (after he bested Ed Call in a shoot-off); Tim Holtz took A1, Ethan Call B1 (after winning a shoot-off with Joe Dickerman), Stephen Lucas C1 and Anthony Johnson D1.

The .410 bore was shot on Sunday with 14 entries. Hunter Dickerman was AA1 with his 92. Ethan Call, Dancho, Nichols and Quealy Jr., respectively, took A, B, C and D first places.

The Mankanzana Challenge is a four-gun handicap event with the grand prize being a seven-day hunt in South Africa or $1,000 cash. The hunt includes four trophy animals (impala, blesbuck, springbuck and warthog). Fran Bussiahn, professional hunter and owner of Mankanzana Safaris, and Kevin Kayn, booking agent out of NY, put this grand prize together for Skyline’s shoot. Last year, Hunter Dickerman won the prize. Hunter went to Africa with Ed and Ethan Call and Kevin Kayn in this April and had a great time. This year there were 13 entrants in this event. Final scores were based on their four-gun (HOA) totals, plus a class-based handicap in each gun. The results were very close, with Tim Holtz winning with his total HOA, including handicap, of 393; right behind were Joe Dancho (392) and Bob Nichols and Hunter Dickerman (390). Tim chose the $1,000 option for his prize.

Theresa Call, with help from Hunter Dickerman and Debra Meade, handled office duties (registration, score posting, etc.). Ed and Ethan Call helped keep things humming outside (filling houses, mechanic’s duties, etc). Special thanks to Kalan Knickerbocker, Trever Lupp and Dominic Picarazzi for pulling and scoring.

As usual, the food at Skyline was abundant and delicious and included steaks and lasagna on Saturday night and Theresa’s famous pies all weekend.

– Contributed by George Gleich

California State Skeet Championship

September 9, 2019 By

Last year the California Skeet Shooting Association elected to move the annual state championship from May to July 5-7, a period when it was previously held. The 2019 championship was slated to be contested in Los Angeles, a gorgeous part of the country during the summer. Triple B Clays in South El Monte was the venue. It was a busy month for the club, having held the California State Sporting Clays Championship just two weeks prior, but we were welcomed by owner Billie Barsotti, her son Billy England, and range manager Jun Vergara.

A Southern California vibe was present the entire weekend. For those who have experienced the area during this season, you know what to expect. A marine layer will be present in the early hours, burning off late morning to midday. Little or no wind until about noon when the ocean breeze appears from the southwest. Mild conditions indeed. The weather left little doubt as to why SoCal is a legendary destination for vacationers.

The range was open on Independence Day for abbreviated hours. A fair number of shooters took advantage of the time to practice, tune up or register. Here’s a So Cal vibe: Lola Fitzgerald sponsored the PA system, putting her father to work early each morning. The result was background music being piped in until shooting began each morning. Most responded positively, especially the younger shooters. Melissa Taylor and Dylan Imperatrice asked if we could turn it up and leave it playing for the entire shoot! We’ll take that under advisement.

Registration continued early Friday morning while Rick Anderson, Rob McCormick and Jun Vergara set the targets in preparation for doubles. They must have done a good job because on the first flight out, a perfect hundie was broken by Daniel Bocks. Daniel is a fine shooter who has won a number of titles recently. However, this was his first perfect in doubles, so a hat would be shot later. Two 99s came in right behind, resulting in Layman Reid taking runner-up and Jack Bernardi third. Melissa Taylor broke a beautiful 98 for Lady Champion.

Friday also included the first two flights of 12-gauge, the final being shot Saturday morning. J.R. Fernandez broke his first 100 in the 12-gauge, and Joe Fry ran ‘em as well. A slew of woulda-shouldas came in right behind them. High scores abounded, and something else was becoming apparent. The young shooters were going to have to be contended with; they weren’t going away. After shoot-offs, young Joe Fry was champion, Fernandez runner-up and the skilled Caroline Church third and Lady Champion. 99s won class champion and runner-up all the way to B, with one exception.

Saturday also included the 20-gauge in its entirety, with five 100s, plenty of 99s and other great shooting. Junior shooter Jace Sulzmann broke his first perfecto in just the 13th tournament of his young career. We’re guessing more will follow. After the tie-breakers, Dan Lewis was the gun champ, Bocks runner-up, and Sulzmann third. This time, 100s and 99s took the class champion and runner-up positions through B. High HOA scores were setting up.

Each year the CSSA hosts a Hall of Fame banquet. State teams are announced and new inductees to the Hall of Fame are honored. Pacific Sporting Arms and the Fry and Fitzgerald families added sponsorships, resulting in a number of niceties for the already top-shelf event. Taking place at a local hotel, pressed shirts and dresses abounded. The banquet was very well attended by shooters and families, including a nice group of children from one inductee’s family. So who are the new Hall of Fame members? Glad you asked.

Joe Falabrino, inducted by Rick Anderson. In addition to many titles and years of great shooting, Joe has been a silent supporter of our sport, physically and financially.

Bill Williams, inducted posthumously by Bob Mills. Bill was a legendary SoCal shooter and instructor whose accomplishments go back decades.

Jim Wong, inducted by Billie Barsotti. In many ways, Jim is the backbone of SoCal shooting. He volunteers countless unpaid hours ensuring local tournaments go smoothly.

Congratulations to the latest inductees. A night a little later than preferred, everyone retired to their abodes. The tournament would conclude the next day.

Once again Vergara, McCormick and Anderson arrived early to set targets. A flight of 28-gauge needed to be shot, along with the entire .410 event. The weather hadn’t changed. One group of Central Californians remarked that they almost needed a sweater! Back home, temperatures were over 100. Speaking of 100, two more were registered in the 28, one each by Dan Lewis and Nick Ballentine. Several 99s followed. When the dust had settled, Lewis had the gun title, Ballentine runner-up and Bill Borrelli third. Joe Fry’s 98 took Junior Champion and Melissa Taylor Lady Champion.

After 300 main event targets, there was a logjam at the top. Ballentine was leading, down only two targets. Bocks and Lewis were right on his tail, having missed only three. Out-of-stater Larry Blount was sitting at 296, and four others were down five at 295. It seems like it always comes down to the .410, and this time was no exception. Lewis’s 96 in the noon flight opened a door a bit. Bocks broke a gorgeous 99, resulting in an HOA of 396. Blount’s 94 effectively took him out. At 1:30, a terrific squad of young shooters, including Ballentine and Fry, went out. Both were clean through three boxes when Nick dropped one. Joe Fry ran it for the .410 bore championship. After shoot-offs, Ballentine was the .410 runner-up and Bocks third.

After three days of shooting at 400 targets, Nick Ballentine won his third California State HOA title with a score of 397. Nick is a fantastic champion and has represented the Golden State well. The talented Daniel Bocks captured runner-up with a score of 396, followed by Joe Fry with 395. Melissa Taylor was the Lady Champion with 391. The youth abounded. It would appear the game is in good hands in the West. Congratulations to all the champions.

First 100 straights were shot by Daniel Bocks, J.R. Fernandez, John Heim and Jace Sulzmann. Although attendance was a bit lower than in past years, HOA scores were the highest in the past four years, owing to a combination of awesome talent, conditions and targets. The tournament stayed on schedule essentially the whole weekend – no doubt the result of the behind-the-scenes workers led by the CSSA Board of Directors. The tournament was also conducted safely.

Many have inquired about new ammunition restrictions in California. Gun ownership in the state is a moving target, but everyone got to the tournament with all the ammunition they needed. Make California a stop on your next shooting trip. There are great ranges located throughout the state. Bring sunglasses and shorts, you’ll fit right in. Come shoot with us!

– Contributed by Chris Baker