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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.

HOA Open – L to R- Mike Stasio – RU, Josh Crofutt – CH, Tyler Mroczka – 3RD

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 Bob 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

Filed Under: Clay Target Nation - ARTICLES, NSSA News, NSSA Shoot Reports, Shoot Reports, Skeet, Skeet Events, Skeet News, Skeet Photos Tagged With: clay target shooting, Pennsylvania State Skeet Championship, skeet, skeet shooting

Nebraska State Skeet Championships

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

The 91st annual Nebraska State Skeet Championships were held August 18-20 at the Lincoln Trap and Skeet Club (LT&SC) in Lincoln. The action started on Friday with the Oak Creek Engineering Champ of Champs event, with 25 targets in each gauge/bore, starting with the .410. Kurt Mann bested all others with an impressive 99.

Jacob Uphoff – 28 GA CH, HOA CH, HAA CH

Friday afternoon brought pleasant weather – the last of such weather for quite a while – and the Cornhusker Winnelson Doubles event. Squadmates Chris Lutz and Kurt Mann shot off 97’s and were champion and runner-up, respectively. Third place went to Blaine Frizzell, one of the notable Junior shooters from the weekend, and class winners included Jacob Uphoff (A), Bill Buettgenbach (B), John Rossi (C) and Mike Vainosky (D).

Shooters and guests were treated to pizza and appetizers after the Doubles shoot-offs. Thanks to Jerry Classen and all who contributed.

Saturday morning brought clear skies, calm winds, and a preview of the impending heat for the Morton Buildings 20-gauge event. When the smoke cleared, two 100-straights were shot, both by Junior shooters. Mason Pillard outlasted Blaine Frizzell in the shoot-off to take his first state title, along with his first 100-straight in the 20 gauge! Third place was Kurt Mann. Class winners were Derek Pollock (AA), Chris Lutz (A), Don Serna (B), Michael Day (C) and Mike Vainosky (D).

Oddly enough, the Nebraska winds stayed fairly light for the afternoon and the Class One Machine .410 state championship event. Chris Lutz had the lone 98 to take the championship buckle. Runner-up was Derek Pollock and third place was Jacob Uphoff. Class winners were Tristin Duff (AA), Rob Predmore (A), Tim Hartzog (B), Charles Burgess (C) and Mason Pillard (D).

On Saturday evening, shooters and guests enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner from Del Gould Meats with sides and more desserts than you could count. Thanks to everyone who grilled, provided food and drinks, etc.!

Sunday brought a continuation of high temps and humidity for the Conreco 28-gauge event. Two of Nebraska’s great young shooters, Jacob Uphoff and Michael Day, shot 100-straight for champion and third place respectively, with Rob Predmore taking runner-up after shooting his first 100-straight in the 28-gauge at a state championship shoot. Blaine Frizzell (AA), Chris Lutz (A), Adam Classen (B), Charles Burgess (C) and Don Hansen (D) took class honors.

Sunday afternoon brought out almost 75 shooters vying for the Anderson Auto Group 12-gauge title. Three perfect scores were posted, with Lane Sorensen taking his first ever state title, Jacob Uphoff claiming runner-up and Kurt Mann taking third place. Class winners included Derek Pollock (AA), Rob Predmore (A), Charles Burgess (B), John Rossi (C), Rick Standley (D) and Kaela Hinze (E). The highly coveted Zych Drywall 5-Man Team Trophy went to Bill Buettgenbach, Jake Uphoff, John Rossi, Michael Day and Mason Pillard.

The Kolar HOA title went to Jacob Uphoff with a very impressive 394. Rob Predmore (393) was runner-up, and third place was Chris Lutz (391). Class winners were Derek Pollock (AA-386), Kurt Mann (A-389), Blaine Frizzell (B-389), Roger Plooster (C-385), Rick Standley (D-349) and Kaela Hinze (E-335). Lady HOA champ was Claire Kee, and Junior HOA champ was Jacob Uphoff. Chris Cobb (CO) was high gun for out-of-staters, shooting an HOA score of 386.

Highlights from the weekend included a great showing from the young shooters from around the state, with Jacob Uphoff taking three state titles and shooting 200-straight on Sunday. There was a great turnout of shooters from outside of Nebraska, including representation from South Dakota, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas and even New Mexico. Their presence was appreciated, and we hope the trend continues in the future! A big thanks goes out to the LT&SC staff and all the volunteers that helped keep the shoot running smoothly. The 2024 Nebraska State Championships will be headed west to Grand Island next year. We hope to see you there!

— Contributed by Chris Lutz

Mason Pillard – 20 GA CH
Lane Sorensen – 12 GA CH

Filed Under: Clay Target Nation - ARTICLES, NSSA News, NSSA Shoot Reports, Shoot Reports, Skeet, Skeet Events, Skeet News, Skeet Photos Tagged With: clay target shooting, Nebraska State Skeet Championships, skeet, skeet shooting

Minnesota State Skeet Championships

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

The 2023 Minnesota State Skeet Championships were held at the Minneapolis Gun Club in Prior Lake, Minnesota, on August 25-27. The weather was ideal throughout all events, with a few tricky periods of wind to keep shooters alert. Jared Miller, a 17-year-old Junior from East Bethel, Minnesota, led a field of 42 shooters, winning High Overall, High All Around, .410 Bore, and Doubles championships.

Jake Boerboon

Bob Muehlenkamp, Brian Hendrickson, and Justin Staebell managed recording of the scores and winners using MySkeet software which provided online access to reports throughout the tournament. It communicates with the NSSA database, eliminating many tasks in the registration process and avoiding the misspelling of competitor names and their associated information (classifications, concurrents, etc.). Mike Quigley did a great job handling the shoot-offs.

The Friday Doubles event drew 26 competitors. Two Juniors claimed top honors. Jared Miller won the Doubles Championship with the lone 96, and 18-year-old Junior, Gabriel Anderson, won the runner-up title. The Doubles class winners were Tadd Stanton (A – another Junior), Bruce Pearson (B), Jeffrey Schneider (C), and Art Peterson (D).

MSSA President Randal Baker hosted the annual year-end meeting, noting that 33 Minnesota shooters posted 100-straight scores to date, and first-100 straights were posted by Justin Staebell, Brodie Schaefer, and Randy Vaske.

David Baker posted the first perfect score of the tournament in Saturday’s 12-gauge event. Gabriel Anderson’s 99 claimed his second runner-up title. Class winners were Matt Robinson, Jared Miller, Tim Olson, Erin Quaranta, Emily Wraspir, and Jon Parranto in classes AA through E.

David Baker’s 99 won the 20-gauge championship after a shoot-off with Tim Olson and senior veteran Don Tesch. Tim Olson took runner-up. Bob Rick won class AA, followed by Chad Herrmann, Jared Miller, Don Tesch, and Roger Carlson in classes A through D.

Jacob Boerboon won Sunday’s 28-gauge event by posting an uncontested 100, his first-ever perfect score in the 28-gauge. A lone 99 posted by Jared Miller earned the runner-up spot. AA-1 went to David Baker, and Randy Vaske, Tim Olson, Bart Ott, and Mark Cameron won classes A through D.

Jared Miller posted the lone 99 in the .410-Bore event to win the gun championship outright. Dan Kampa posted a 96 to win the runner-up spot, followed by David Baker (A), Tim Olson (B), Erin Quaranta (C), and Jon Parranto (D). Mike Quigley made Minnesota state history by shooting (and breaking) his 200,000th registered target.

Jared Miller’s 393 won the High Over All Championship over runner-up David Baker, who posted a 390. Jared Miller also won the High All Around Championship. HAA runner-up was Jacob Boerboon.

The MSSA thanks Mark Cameron and his staff at the Minneapolis Gun Club for hosting another excellent state championship.

– Contributed by Ronald Chandler

Jared Miller
David Baker

Filed Under: Clay Target Nation - ARTICLES, NSSA News, NSSA Shoot Reports, Shoot Reports, Skeet, Skeet Events, Skeet News, Skeet Photos Tagged With: clay target shooting, Minnesota State Championships, skeet, skeet shooting

9th Annual Couples Shoot at Generations Skeet Club

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

Generations Skeet Club in beautiful central Pennsylvania hosted its 9th annual Couples Skeet Shoot on September 3. Over the years, 14 to 38 couples have participated in this shoot; 19 couples participated this year. The weather was sunny and warm, just a lovely late-summer day for skeet shooting, if you could ignore the wind. Yes, it was windy, but it was an “equal opportunity” wind.

L to R – Joe Vescovi and Paige McMullen RU. Renee and Tom Hillard – CH, Makaela and Bryon Stanek – 3rd

A number of the shooters had never fired a shotgun before. Shooters’ ages ranged from 10 to 83. Shotguns, shells, ear plugs, etc. were provided as needed. All four of the skeet fields were used. Squads of four or six shooters were formed, and each couple shot 50 birds, shoulder-to-shoulder. The atmosphere was informal, but safety was stressed. Pulling and scoring was handled by experienced referees, and qualified coaches were present to help as needed.

After the 50 birds were shot at, a top-secret, but rather liberal, handicapping system was applied which resulted in all 19 teams (four or five teams per skeet field) participating in a 3-4-5 doubles shoot-off. The eight winners (two from each field) then shot off again to decide the shoot winners. Plenty of encouragement was provided by the onlookers. And the winners were: Renee and Tom Hillard, champs; Paige McMullen and Joe Vescovi, runners-up; and Makaela and Bryon Stanek, third.

After the shooting was finished, all retired to the Youth Center (one of the nicest barns you will ever see) onsite for a yummy picnic dinner. Many shooters brought covered dishes and/or desserts, and the main entrée, a special-recipe grilled chicken, was provided by Ryan Holtz. The dinner this year was even more exceptional than usual, with a wide variety of delicious items. One of the desserts was a large cake commemorating Roy and Lynn Holtz’s 45th wedding anniversary. And speaking of Lynn, she wasn’t planning on shooting this year until her 10-year-old grandson, Camden Simanski, asked if she would shoot with him, so she readily agreed. He shot a 21 x 50 for his first time at shooting 50 targets, and he was thrilled to make it to the championship shoot-off!

All in all, it was a great event, and most of the participants said they would be back when Roy asked for a vote on whether Labor Day weekend would be appropriate for this shoot next year. Kudos to Ryan, Michael and Roy for organizing this shoot and to all of the Generations folks who helped make it the rousing success that it was!

– Contributed by George Gleich

 

Roy and Lynn Holtz
Renee and Tom Hillard -Winners

 

    

Filed Under: Clay Target Nation - ARTICLES, NSSA News, NSSA Shoot Reports, Shoot Reports, Skeet, Skeet Events, Skeet News, Skeet Photos Tagged With: clay target shooting, Generations Couples Shoot, skeet

3rd Annual Newark Open

October 19, 2023 By Cara Woodard

The 2023 Newark Open was held on July 28-30. Once again, great scores were posted. Three years running and HOA scores have been 397, 398, 398. If you like good targets, great scores, added money, a free handicap event, and plenty of free food, you should put this on your schedule.

HOA CH, RU, 3RD

This year’s tournament started out on Friday afternoon with some pretty good conditions, although quite humid. Some fine scores were posted, highlighted by Ontario, Canada’s Dan Morris winning a shoot-off of 99’s with Craig Parsons. Third was captured by Steven (Woody) Wood.

Saturday started out calm and humid again, but our noon flight of 12-gauge shooters were not so lucky. They got drenched! They were able to brave the downpour to conclude their third round but were called in to wait out the storm before being able to finish the event. After a 30-minute or so pause, shooting resumed in the rain. The first flight of the 20-gauge shooters also got soaked, but good scores still prevailed. Once everyone got dried out and guns were dried and cleaned, lunch donated by Newark member Craig Halstead and his wife Cindy was served.

Luckily, the remainder of the afternoon was dry, and we were able to complete the day’s events in time for all to enjoy dinner provided by the Newark club. This year’s dinner was catered by local favorite Bad to the Bone BBQ, and at the end of the evening, only a few scraps were found to be left over.

The winners of the day were:

12-gauge champion, Don Lewandoski; runner-up, Dess Ivanov; and third, Craig Parsons, after a shoot-off of 100 straights, and

20-gauge champion, Dess Ivanov; runner-up, Steve Wood; third, John Boone.

The 20-gauge B-C-D handicap event with free entry, sponsored by Pat Breen and Cliff Patridge, was won by Walt Aldrich with a fine score of 99. Runner-up was Larry Clarke, and third place was split between John Greco and Victor Stirpe.

Sunday brought dry conditions and more great shooting highlighted by Newark’s own Cameron Baker smoking his very first 100 straight, in the 28-gauge event. Dess continued his hot streak with another 100 straight as well. Several people reported that they heard Dess breathe quite a sigh of relief when he heard that Cameron had left the club after smashing his straight to honor his commitment to play on his summer soccer team and would not be able to shoot-off the event. 28-gauge winners were champion, Dess Ivanov; runner-up, Cameron Baker; and third, Woody Wood.

In the afternoon .410 event, all eyes were on the Bulgarian. Everyone was pulling for him, as he was the only competitor at 300 straight. I suppose the lack of sleep caught up to him Sunday afternoon, as he had just arrived home from a trip to Bulgaria at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Some fine shooting on a few short hours of sleep! Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t what everyone was hoping for, but he posted an awesome 98 in the small-bore event, capturing the HOA championship with a great score of 398X400. Other winners in the HOA were runner-up Craig Parsons and third-place Steve Wood.

The .410 champion was Dan Morris, and runner-up was Craig Parsons, after a shoot off of 99’s. Third went to Dess.

– Contributed by Craig Parsons

DBLS, CH, RU
12 CH & RU
20ga CH & RU
Cameron’s 1st 100

Filed Under: Clay Target Nation - ARTICLES, NSSA News, NSSA Shoot Reports, Shoot Reports, Skeet, Skeet Events, Skeet News, Skeet Photos Tagged With: clay target shooting, Newark Open, skeet

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