Clay Target Nation

2024 Browning-Briley Texas State Championship

May 9, 2024 By hdyer

April 16-21, 2024, Greater Houston Sports Club

By R.K. Sawyer

2024 was the first year that Greater Houston Sports Club (GHSC) hosted the Texas State Championship, officially titled the Browning-Briley Texas State Championship (BBTX State). It’s been just over a half-century since GHSC threw its first sporting clay target from a single “dove tower” set on three telephone poles at the 1983 Orvis Cup Classic. From that humble beginning with just a single “sporting clays” station, the club at this year’s BBTX State rolled out 300 machines and lobbed some 500,000 targets. They’ve come a long way!

Nine hundred and nine shooters descended on the slice of prairie south of Houston from April 16 to April 21 for what promised to be six days of fun, festivities, camaraderie and competition. The schedule was stuffed with events: Three courses for the Main, and well over a dozen other shooting contests between the Prelims, FITASC, 5-Stand, sub-gauge sporting and FITASC, side-by-side and pump guns, and then the shoot-off finale. On the social side, the evening schedule boasted a Thursday Ladies’ Snooker and cocktails, Friday’s Hall of Fame banquet, and Saturday’s Browning-Briley bash.

With overall winnings and options of $236,529, 621 trophies worth $55,000, and too many prize shotguns and sponsored gear than one could count, there was an abundance of ways to come away a winner. The Main Event carried a serious payout of $10,000 to HOA, runner-up $5,000, and third with $2,500, its winnings in line with or better than some of the national contests. Cash prizes also included Master to E-class first through sixth, the Ladies Main Event winners, and concurrents. An overstock of options was available, and the back-to-class purses were substantial. The always popular Aguila Cup Super Sporting had $50 back to class and settled at a total prize pool of just under $30,000. There were plenty of reasons to shoot straight!

The BBTX State kicked off on Tuesday with a relaxing schedule of registration, practice, and the first flight of the four-par Cedar Gap FITASC. The pulse picked up on Wednesday with the first flights of the Aguila Cup Super Sporting, Lincoln/R&R Traps 5-Stand, TSCA Hall of Fame Sporting Prelim, White Flyer Prelim, Sporting Lite Prelim, Sub-gauge Sporting, pump and side-by-side Sporting, sub-gauge FITASC, and day two of the Cedar Gap FITASC. Thursday’s events were a carbon copy of Wednesday’s but with the addition of Ladies’ Snooker and evening cocktails. The three-day Browning-Briley Main Event, consisting of 200 targets over three courses, kicked off on Friday, and the Adios Cup was held Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday, 720 contenders hit the field for the first course of the main event. It was a tight race at the end of day one, but after the second day, Gebben Miles pulled away from the pack and maintained his edge to take the open title, giving up only five of the 200 targets offered. Not including his reign in other contests, Miles added the HOA Option purse of $4,250 payout to his $10,000 HOA winnings, plus a custom-made Main Event Eagle trophy. The Main Event runner-up was decided in the shoot-offs between Zachary Kienbaum and Cory Kruse. Kruse, who took third, earned the Texas State Champion title with a pair of 189s. It’s his eighth time as crown holder! Eighty-three Lady shooters competed for the Main Event title, the champion Karen Miles (184), runner-up Savanna Barks (179), and third-place Madison Sharpe (173).

The competition featured three sporting clay Prelim events. Flags with the names of all 38 Texas Hall of Famers adorned the TSCA Hall of Fame Prelim, the event won by Tennessean Wendell Cherry with a perfect 100, with runner-up Cory Kruse (98), and Joseph Pinchin in third with a 97. The White Flyer 12-Gauge Prelim was a true-pair offering, the lead closely contested between champion Mathew Lorio and runner-up Thomas Nasser, both with a 96, and third-place Alan Ailles, who was only a target behind. Dominic Grossi, the 2023 Texas State Champion, won the Sporting Lite Prelim with a perfect score, followed closely by a pair of 99s shot by runner-up Clayton Nance and Bruce Hoger in third.

The Aguila Cup Super Sporting was a nail-biter that ended in a three-way tie between champion Dominic Grossi, runner-up Joseph Franizzi, and third-place Lane Picklo, each with a 96. Karen Miles won it for the Ladies with a 92, three targets in front of runner-up Meagan Grossi. The Saturday and Sunday Adios Cup Sporting laurels went to Lane Picklo (97), 2022 Texas Hall of Fame inductee runner-up Travis Mears (96), and third-place Scott Halcomb (96). For the Ladies, Madison Sharpe took the champion spot, Kennedy Thompson wasrunner-up, and Harlee Alexander finished third.

The combined small-gauge Sporting HOA was earned by Jerry Rackley, whose 277 was only a single target in front of runner-up Lee Delaume, with Kirk Cleere (273) in third. Ansley Johnston sailed to the top for the Ladies with 262, her nearest competitor runner-up Tricia Kocurek, down seven targets. Valerie Moore took the third spot with 230.

There were familiar names again in the top three spots of the Cedar Gap FITASC. Gebben Miles’ 91 took the championship honors after a shoot-off with runner-up Zachary Kienbaum, with third-place Austin Kiemsteadt just a single target behind. The sub-gauge FITASC events were a tie-breaker in the 20-gauge with a pair of 47s shot by champion Ryan Turpin and runner-up Phil Gamble. Jacque Portier took the 28-gauge championship outright with a 46. The 5-Stand competition, sponsored by Lincoln/R&R Traps, had 417 shooters, the top spot going to triple crown winner Gebben Miles (99), runner-up Austin Kiemsteadt with 98, and third to Cameron Hicks (97).

Festivities concluded on Sunday with the Zoli-sponsored cash-for-class shoot-offs, its format a GHSC tradition of skeet doubles “miss and out.” Next was the event shoot-offs, and the BBTX State was a wrap when the winners, and new Texas State Resident Champion Cory Kruse, took to the podium at the awards ceremony under a barrage of confetti.

The weather largely cooperated for the fun-filled six-day competition. From Tuesday to Saturday morning, the weather was balmy with calm mornings, bright gray skies with a little sun, and afternoon southeast winds that mostly stayed under 15 mph. All eyes were on Saturday’s front, which sounded ominous with possible hail and flooding. The front pushed through during the night and Sunday dawned cloudy and cool with blustery north winds. If Sunday’s wind created any new target challenges, it wasn’t reflected in the top shooter’s scores.

Target setting was the responsibility of GHSC’s Mike Boire, the assistant tournament director and lead target setter, Henry Velazquez, who sets for GHSC and the Nationals, Jason Menke of Briley, and Brent Flemmings, who was invited to set the Aguila Cup Super Sporting. Mike talked about his approach to the different course levels before the shoot, and it’s clear that a lot of thought went into his final product. He explains that the club’s goal for the tournament was to set targets for every skill level. “Too hard chases them away,” he said, “but if there is a balance, and everyone has fun, they’ll be back.” Mike added that he made every course a little different, with the philosophy behind each more than just its degree of difficulty. When we talked, I heard words like “art and variety,” “transition, speed, and angles,” and strategies like deciding the order of easy and harder stations, such as: “Putting ’em out of position for the second target of a challenging pair, then bringing ’em back with a confidence builder on the next one.”

As always, the tournament was about more than just targets and scores. The Thursday evening Texas State Ladies Snooker shoot-off at the pavilion was the first highlight of the BBTX State social schedule. The top eight ladies were back at the end of the qualifying rounds on Thursday for the honors and cash of winning the single-elimination brackets. Oysters and cocktails rounded out the fun event.

Friday’s target busting concluded with the Texas Sporting Clays Association (TSCA) Hall of Fame program. 2024 marks the 20^th year of the Texas Hall of Fame, and its success was celebrated on the shooting field and off. Flags from the Hall of Fame Prelim event were moved to the front of the pavilion, its inside decorated with the contents of two giant box trucks donated by River Oaks Plant House. During a dinner of prime rib, the giant video screen behind the speaker’s podium featured a slideshow submitted by the families of the two new 2024 blue jacket inductees, Edward V. Arrighi and Mark R. Tipton. TSCA president Ben McAnally made the event particularly memorable with an invitation to all its illustrious alumni to attend the 20^th-anniversary gala.

Saturday evening was the Browning-Briley bash, and it was a celebration. The well-stocked bar was made of ice sporting a carving of the BBTX State logo, and another ice sculpture with the GHSC logo was covered in mounds of shrimp appetizers. The main entree was boiled crawfish, and the 400 or so party-goers consumed most of 2,700 pounds — that’s nearly one and a half tons — of the red crustacean. Then came the Briley Bingo, emceed by Briley’s John Barnes, who charmed the players with both his wit and the prize quality — at the top of the list were Browning Citori 725s and White Lightnings. The evening ended with seven additional Browning shotgun drawings from each of the registered classes.

It’s a cinch this won’t be the last time the Texas State Association will write Greater Houston Sports Club’s name into future Texas championship contests. GHSC’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Dougherty won’t take credit for the success of the event, as he’s quick, instead, to offer the names of the sponsors and the 130 staff people who made up the registration team, referees, target setters, support staff, mechanics, cooks, the parking squad — led by “rock star and MVP Sheriff Wayne” — and a host of others who made the success possible. The BBTX State received nearly universal praise for the quality of the outcome, and Kevin was only half joking when he said that the most positive comments he received were about ice cream. The club provided a never-ending flow of free soft ice cream, and it was so popular the vendor was called back three times to refill the machine!

The membership and staff at GHSC wish to congratulate the winners of the event and extend its thanks to its partners Browning, Briley, Westside Drywall, Aguila, Stellar Bank, Cedar Gap Wealth Management, Zoli, Lincoln, RR Traps, TSCA, White Flyer, Pachuca Sporting Clays, ILEA Hair Restoration, Shoreline Contractors, FIOCCHI, Paxton Arms, Ammunation, and Armadillo Blast and Coat. The next TSCA State Championship will be held May 13 to 18, 2025, at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio. Follow Score Chaser for more details.

Photos by Lefty Ray Chapa. Click on a photo to enlarge.

Paxton Arms Texas State Skeet Championships

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

The 2023 Paxton Arms Texas State Skeet Championships were held at the Greater Houston Sports Club (GHSC) June 1-4. One hundred seventy-six shooters from three continents brought their top target-busting talent to determine the next name to engrave on GHSC’s revered Todd Bender champion’s monument below reigning 2022 HOA Champion Rachel Barringer’s.

Rachel Barringer HOA, 12 and 410 LDY CH with Melissa Barringer and Lindsay Plesko

Early June around Houston is supposed to be about 90 degrees, and it was. The wildcards, of course, are always wind or rain – sometimes both. All four contest days delivered the weatherman’s “average” conditions that, to a clay target shooter, were way above average! Other than a few wind changes around local thunderstorms, tournament weather was ideal.

The 2023 sponsors ensured the tournament would be an event to remember. In addition to helping to underwrite the contest, the list of ways for entrants to win was long. Each Championship event carried a purse of $400, $300, and $200, with an HOA of $600, $500, and $400. There was a Lewis Class purse, a Briley-sponsored Lewis Class Doubles, and Concurrents that offered prize medals and trophies, including the Gene Jackson Trophy for the Senior Vet Champion and, new for 2023, the Woody Anderson Trophy for the Military Veteran HOA.

Past TSSA president and 2007 TSSA Hall of Famer Harry Mach’s family and Greater Houston Sports Club donated seven 28-gauge Beretta shotguns for the 12-Gauge Event class champions. The Chaddock family offered the Champion of Champions option purse for the highest composite score of the last 25 targets in the Main Event. Buckle prizes were awarded for the Five-Man Team, a cash purse for the Two-Man Team option, and a Three-Man Team blind draw in the 28-gauge Event sponsored by myskeet.com. There were even drawings for complimentary entry into the 2023 World Skeet Championships provided by the National Skeet Shooting Association, and the long list of loot didn’t include the gun and pallet of ammo raffle drawings at the Friday night Hall of Fame banquet!

Thursday, June 1, kicked off with the 100-target, 12-gauge Texas State Referee Championship sponsored by Mike and Sharron Schmitt, and the Doubles Championship, sponsored by the Corpus Christi Gun Club. Congratulations to referee Kirk Barringer, whose 98 earned him the champion spot and commemorative Al Topham belt buckle. Timothy Provorse’s 97 took the runner-up slot, and Michael Dowling, with 94, nabbed third place. In the Doubles, only Edward Smith walked away from the field with a 100 straight, although there was a pile of 99s decided by the shoot-offs. Craig Parsons took runner-up, and Collegiate shooter Sheaffer Stanfill, who was fresh off his Briley Blue Goose runner-up trophy just days before, earned third place.

The Lib Anderson 28-Gauge and start of the Cody Sergeant 20-Gauge competition were on Friday’s schedule, with the shoot-offs held the next day. The highlight of the day was the always-anticipated Friday night Hall of Fame banquet at the Hilton Garden Inn in Pearland. The 2023 inductees were Tim Cudia and Kyle Shumaker. Tim Cudia, a current North Zone TSSA Director, was recognized for contributions to competitive Junior shooting programs. As a five-time state title holder, 2023 Texas All-State Sub-Senior Team member Kyle Shumaker was nominated for shooting proficiency. One of the most coveted awards in Texas skeet is the Art Sideras Rookie of the Year Award. The 2023 recipient was Cash Hicks, a Junior shooter from Weatherford.

Saturday saw the Cody Sergeant 20-Gauge finale and Greater Houston Sports Club 12-Gauge competition followed by the three gun shoot-offs. It looked as if contestants were going to have go deep into their ammo arsenal – there were 11 100-straights in the 28s, eight in the 20s, and 18 in the 12-gauge. Congratulations to 28-gauge champ, TS Chuck Rister, TS Houston Deshotels (runner-up), and JR Connor Thigpen (third). In the 20s, CL Sheaffer Stanfill won the champion spot, with TS Edward Smith runner-up, and CL Carter Royston at third. In the big bore competition, 2022 defending HOA Champion Rachel Barringer took the champion’s spot, SS Les Lala was runner-up, and TS Josh Poole was third. When the guns were cased Saturday afternoon, just two shooters had managed 300x300s – Kevin Monteleone and Sheaffer Stanfill.

One of the more somber parts of the championship is the remembrance of Texas shooters that passed away during the prior year. Many former greats of our game were recognized, including David Marcum, Raymond Adamietz, Jim Pierce, Harry Mach, Mike Cusack, Johnny Moore, Dave Scott, John Hunt, John Martinez, Robert Manskey, WC ‘John’ Hill, Connally Ludwick, and Tom Hupp.

The weather looked like it might be fussy on Sunday. A strong storm line passed through during the night, and a second line was forecast in the afternoon. Instead, light northwest winds and comfortable temperatures prevailed throughout the S&B Plumbing .410 Bore rounds and the Dallas Gun Club HOA shoot-offs. In the small bore, SS George Murray, champion, shined with a perfect score, and CL Sheaffer Stanfill dropped just one target for the runner-up spot. Ten shooters posted 98s for the third place tie, and it was VT Douglas Toulouse, third, who didn’t blink at the end.

With an impressive overall of 399, CL Shaeffer Stanfill was named the 2023 Paxton Arms Texas State Skeet Championships HOA Champion. SS Kevin Monteleone took the runner-up honors with 397. SS George Murray prevailed during the shoot-off over Houston Deshotels to break the third-place tie. In the Lady’s concurrent, congratulations go to Rachel Barringer, whose 395 cleanly took the Lady HOA laurels. Melissa Barringer, runner-up, and Lindsay Plesko, third, were her nearest competitors, each with a score of 392.

The Sub-Junior and Junior Concurrents provided a glimpse of Texas’s next champions, and the talent pool looks strong! Slayde Roktya’s 392 earned him the Sub-Junior HOA, and John Arnett crushed 394 of the fast flyers for the Junior HOA. The Woody Anderson Trophy went to Military Veteran HOA winner Douglas Toulouse, and 2023 Texas All-State Senior Vet Team Captain David Cudia earned the Gene Jackson Trophy as HOA Senior Veteran Champion.

Resident Championships were awarded to George Murray (HOA, 20, .410), Rachel Barringer (12), Chuck Rister (28), and Josh Poole (Doubles). Ladies Resident championships were awarded to Rachel Barringer (HOA, 12, .410), Kayleigh Lawson (Doubles, 28), and Lindsay Plesko (20).

The TSSA Board of Directors extends its thanks to GHSC for helping to organize another fantastic shoot, the sponsors whose support made the contest great, the referees whose dedication and tireless talent made the contest precise, and the shooters whose participation made it competitive. We look forward to seeing all of you at next year’s 2024 Paxton Arms Texas State Skeet Championships.

– Contributed by R.K. Sawyer

George Murray HOA Resident 20 Resident and 410 Resident CH

Michelson Youth Skeet Clinic

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

Saturday, September 23 was the second annual Harry Michelson Youth Clinic held at St. Joe Valley Conservation Club, sponsored by Sandy Michelson, Harry’s daughter. Harry was a lifelong NSSA member and chief referee for many years. After his passing, Sandy wanted to continue her father’s legacy by introducing young shooters to the game of skeet.

The clinic was designed to provide young shooters with the opportunity to learn about the game of skeet and take instruction on the field with certified skeet instructors. Eleven youth from around the area participated in the afternoon session. Youth from Central Noble, Aboite Clays and St. Joe Valley Conservation Club participated in the clinic.

Mike VanZile and Bruce Christian organized and coordinated the activities. Mike Lasley, Larry Easley and Ted Nussbaum assisted with the field instruction. Larry Easley covered gun safety and skeet etiquette in the classroom. All the participants were given approximately two hours of field instruction covering foot position, hold points, gun mounting and how to have fun.

At the end of the session a 25-bird tournament was held for all the participants. Grant Reith was first, Alex Gilot was second and Joseph Fellows was third.

A big thank you to Sandy Michelson for sponsoring this event and for her commitment to our sport and our youth.

– Contributed by Ted Nussbaum

New York State Championship

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

Competitors from New York, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Canada arrived at Rochester-Brooks Gun Club for the annual state/open championships the weekend of August 25-27. Interestingly, half of the championships were won by shooters capturing their first open state titles – a changing of the guard? Too soon to tell, but it made for some exciting moments!

A questionable weather forecast proved accurate for the first events, with tropical humidity levels and a slight mist kicking off the Referee, Doubles and start of the 12-Gauge on Friday. Kerry Henderson defeated runner-up Terry Winders for the Referee Championship, leaving the crew free to push buttons for the rest of the weekend.

No perfection in doubles, as three 99’s took to the shoot-off field to settle the podium. Don Lewandoski took six stations to defeat runner-up Bill Kalwas for his first New York State Open title, with Pennsylvania’s Dennis Lehman winning third along with the non-resident champion medal. There was no battle for the New York-resident third step, as John Boone’s 98 was good for the medallion.

For a complete listing of all winners, please go to www.ishoots.org which was utilized during the competition for texting shooters scores and shoot-off statuses and scrolling scores throughout the universe. Thank you, Clark Hartness!

The “Swamp” returned on Friday evening, 80 pounds of ribs to benefit the Heitman Fund, which in turn benefits youth shooting in New York. Old-time skeet can now be enjoyed by the young generation of hotshots.

The 12-gauge event concluded Saturday morning under much more pleasant weather conditions, sunny and mild, no humidity – whew! Four perfect scores resulted in Swamp-master Dave Cooley returning to the championship podium, followed by Mat Kelley and Craig Parsons winning third. Dennis Lehman also won his second non-resident champion medal.

Saturday also saw the conclusion of the 20-gauge event, where it took half a round of doubles for another first-time champion, Clay Tietjen, to win out over seasoned veteran Craig Parsons. In a shoot-off of 99’s, Steve Wood ascended to the runner-up spot on the podium, and Dave Ballerini won the non-resident champion prize.

Saturday night’s festivities featured the usual traditions, including one more belt-buckle win by the squad of Craig Parsons, Dan Morris, Ed Smith, Cam Baker and Andrea Lehr, plus the Heitman-sponsored Sub-Junior/Junior shoot-off for flats of ammo, snapped up by Owen Cooley, Weston Nichols and Ethyn Moore. These two shoot-offs are crowd pleasers and especially fun to watch the kids just destroy targets!

A cocktail party and delicious Dinosaur BBQ dinner, both sponsored by the host club, was followed by the awards presentations. This year, the NYS Executive Committee honored long-serving NSSA EC member Roland Smith by bestowing the award in his name on our most recently retired Executive Committee member, Dr. Michael Ferchaw. This award is a closely held secret; surprises are always great, and for once, Doc was speechless!

Sunday morning kicked off the conclusion of the 28-gauge event, with sunny skies and perfect temperatures for shooting. Surprise, surprise, only one perfect score, and our third first-time NY open champion was Scott Janowski. 99’s settled the remaining podium rungs as PA’s Chris Kline took runner-up and the non-resident champion medal, and Ed Smith won third. To complete the NY resident podium, Rick Ayers was awarded the NY third medallion.

Sunday afternoon’s .410 event resulted in only one score of 99, posted by Craig Parsons, followed by a shoot-off of 98’s settling Ed Smith as runner-up and Zach Jacot as third. Dan Morris won the non-resident champion medal.

As usual, the .410 event settled High Over All, with Craig Parsons winning the championship over Ed Smith and Steve Wood – all uncontested. Dan Morris won AA1 along with the non-resident champion prize and Sub-Senior HOA. Brian Mayeu defeated Rick Ayers in a shoot-off for A1, Justin Aldrich won B-class, Dan Ficarra headed up class C, and Victor Stirpe wrapped up the class medals with a win in D.

Concurrent HOA winners included Sub-Junior Champion Weston Nichols, Junior Champion Cam Baker, Ed Smith in Triple-Sub, Chris Kline won the Sub-Sub Senior shoot-off, Parsons took Senior, Bob DeFrancesco won Veteran honors, and Victoria Ferchaw won the Lady award. Michael Cerce won First Responder, and the military was well represented by champions Jon Zywiczynski (Military), Jeffrey Groh (Retired Military) and John Boone (Military Veteran).

The final championship of the tournament, Champ of Champs, involved a shoot-off of 99’s where Steve Wood captured the medallion.

Thanks to Rochester-Brooks for hosting this annual event. The club and grounds were in great shape, and Howell Traps was hired to set targets. Thanks to Dan Caryl, NY chief referee, who worked his Rolodex to bring in the best, a move appreciated by all shooters. Mother Nature cooperated after we showed her Rite-in-Rain sheets the first day, and the social activities, club food, contributed to a memorable state championship. See you all next year!

– Contributed by Andrea Graham Lehr

87th Pennsylvania State Shoot

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

PSSA held the 87th annual Pennsylvania State Open Skeet Championships at Shenecoy Sportsmen’s beautiful 16-field facility in McConnellstown, PA, on August 18-20. Overall, the weather was nice. A bit of wind on Friday afternoon, a bit of fog Sunday morning, nothing too bad, although some of the doubles shooters (Friday afternoon) might not agree.

One hundred ninety-five participants shot at least one gun, including 45 out-of-state shooters from 14 different states. Thank you so much for coming, folks! There were 178 four-gun shooters, and the shoot difficulty factor was 24.6.

Open HOA winners were Josh Crofutt (champion, 397), Mike Stasio (runner-up, 395) and Tyler Mroczka (third, 394). PA HOA winners were Crofutt (champion), Mroczka (runner-up) and Fran Kosmacki (third, 393). Open HAA Champion and runner-up, respectively, were Crofutt (494) and Stasio (493); Mike Rykacewski Jr. (491) was third. PA HAA honors went to Crofutt, champion; Rykacewski Jr., runner-up; and Mroczka, third.

The .410-bore Prelim on Friday morning involved 32 shooters. Lissette Grunwell-Lacey broke 95 birds and was the open champ. Alyssa Gormish (93) and Peter Bogdon (93), respectively, were open runner-up and third. PA winners were Alyssa Gormish, champion; Clay Gormish, runner-up; and Joe Gans III, third. David Darrough, Meghan Darrough, Charles Ford and Shawn King, respectively, took PA class A-D firsts.

There were 145 doubles shooters on Friday afternoon, and some pesky wind. Mike Rykacewski Jr. (98) was open champion, while Mike Stasio (98) and Kenny Riddile (97), respectively, were runner-up and third. PA champion, runner-up and third, respectively, were Rykacewski Jr., Riddile and Crofutt. PA class firsts went to Chris Kline, Frank Smithmyer, Mroczka, Steve Hildebrand, Gavin Glossner and Mark Hunt (AAA-D).

In the main event, there were nine 100-straights in the 12-gauge, six in the 20, seven in the 28 and three in the .410.

PA champion, runner-up and third, respectively, were Mark Eckert, Mroczka and Crofutt in the 12-gauge (with Jack Krispin as open champion); Rykacewski Jr., Jack Harshbarger and Crofutt in the 20 (Krispin and Meredith Tunick, respectively, open runner-up and third; Crofutt, Kosmacki and Nick Boerboon in the 28 (Sam Armstrong and Tunick, respectively, open champion and third), and Roy Holtz, Rich Vensel and Tom Hillard in the .410 with PA shooters taking the top three open spots with 100-straights.

Class first places (PA) were won by Denny Lehman, Smithmyer, Joe Vescovi, Michael Vescovi, Kurt Fisher, Gavin Glossner and Andrew Wojtaszek (12-gauge AAA-E); Kline, Ed Call, Tim Vescovi, Evan Martin, Bill Sellitto and Gavin Glossner (20-gauge AAA-D); Rykacewski Jr., Tom Johnson, Mroczka, Joe Paul, Grant Glossner, and Colby Eckert (28-gauge AAA-D), and Kline, Joe Vescovi, Adam Vollmer, Meghan Darrough, John Stough and Jerry McCullough (.410 bore AAA-D).

Grant Glossner, David Darrough and Ryan Harshbarger, respectively, were Sub-Junior open and PA HOA champion, runner-up and third. Kyle Krispin, Gavin Glossner and Marcus Rosenstiel Jr., respectively, were Junior open HOA champion, runner-up and third; Gavin Glossner, Rosenstiel Jr., and Adam Smith, respectively, were Junior PA HOA champ, runner-up and third.

Open Lady HOA winners were Meredith Tunick, champion; Meghan Darrough, runner-up; and Crystal Stoddard, third. PA Lady HOA winners were Meghan Darrough, champion; Alyssa Gormish, runner-up; and Missy Vescovi, third.

Saturday evening was busy, beginning with 12- and 20-gauge shoot-offs and ending with several hat shoots and the BCDE Challenge shoot-off.

Tyler Wagner had his first registered 25-straight in the 12-gauge event; Rich Vensel and Tom Hillard had their first 100-straights in the .410. All three of their hats were well ventilated.

Between the shoot-offs and the hat shoots:

Roy Holtz from Generations Skeet Club was inducted into the PSSA Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame. Roy is and has been a strong ambassador for skeet for many years. His favorite avocation is teaching youngsters what skeet is all about, often providing guns, ammo and targets. I can think of no one in the State who deserves this honor more than Roy. He is not a bad shooter either, as evidenced by his 100-straight in the .410 which was good for the gun championship.

PA’s top shooters for 2023 (2022 data) were recognized. All-State first and second teams were named, and each received a nice wooden plaque. The first team includes Mike Rykaczewski Jr. (state high gun with a 0.9824 HOA average), Josh Crofutt, Fran Kosmacki, Tom Hillard and Alyssa Gormish; second team members include Denny Lehman, Clay Gormish, Jack Harshbarger, Gary Nace and Debra Meade.

All Juniors (8) and Sub-Juniors (15) who shot in the 12-gauge had 50% of their entry fees paid by PSSA.

Denny Lehman, again, conducted a fund drive for the State Shoot that resulted in over $26,300 added money. Many thanks to Denny, and especially to Elite Shotguns, the major sponsor of the PA State Shoot, who matched donations received from businesses and individuals up to $10,000. Special thanks also to all the businesses and individuals that made donations.

The PSSA President’s Cup award for 2023 was presented to Lori and Barry Sheffield for all their work over the years to make and keep Shenecoy the premiere shooting facility that it is.

Added money was capped so that gun champion, runner-up and third received $400, $300 and $200, respectively. All class first through fifth places received cash from added money (e.g., in the 12-gauge E1, E2, E3, E4, and E5 received $90, $85, $80, $75 and $70, respectively).

In a field of 67 shooters, Gavin Glossner won the BCDE Challenge shoot-off. Class champs B-E, respectively, were Ted Capers, Grant Glossner, Gavin Glossner and Luke Holtz. All winners were from PA, and all received cash awards.

The 5-person team belt buckle championship involved three teams. The winning team members were Jared Shaffer, Mark Eckert, Bill Calvert, Stephen Rupprecht and Tim Vescovi. Each received a beautiful belt buckle.

Members of the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Company served a tasty dinner of tortillas and tacos with all the fixins to the shooters and their guests on Saturday night. Many thanks to John Ramagli who graciously paid for the meals of the competitors!

Kudos to: Tami Daniel-Means and her hubby Al for handling registration, scorekeeping and posting; Bobby Wilkin, Chief Referee and shoot-off announcer and his outstanding group of referees; the Generations Skeet Club team who handled medal preparation and distribution; and Nick Boerboon, PSSA President, who was involved in most everything, in addition to shooting very well.

Special thanks to the following folks whose hard work was greatly appreciated: Barry and Lori Sheffield and all the Shenecoy staff; Rod Shyda (Lincoln Traps); Bob Woods (Elite Shotguns); and all of the crew from Petersburg Volunteer Fire Company for running the kitchen throughout the shoot and feeding the hungry masses.

Please mark your calendars for the 2024 Pennsylvania State Skeet Shoot which will be held at Shenecoy on August 16-18. We are anticipating having $20,000 plus added money, again, and being the most highly attended State Shoot in the country again.

– Contributed by George Gleich

Click image to enlarge.