Clay Target Nation

The official magazine of the National Skeet Shooting Association and the National Sporting Clays Association

2022 Texas State Skeet Championship

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Legend has it that in 1889, Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, stated that the Patent Office would eventually close, because… “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Some of his descendants are likely clay target shooters since it is often heard, “I have seen everything there is to see in this game, and nothing surprises me.” Those in attendance at the 2022 Paxton Arms Texas State Championships were reminded, however, that there is always something new and exciting to witness in this sport. 

A full slate of events was booked for the four days of the tournament at the Greater Houston Sports Club. Thursday morning started things off with the Texas State Referee Championship. Up for grabs was the coveted Al Topham Buckle and $500 in added money, donated by Sharron and Mike Schmitt. When the dust settled, Stormy Weatherford was crowned the champion, with the sole perfect 100. As is the custom, the added money was divided equally among all participants.

The afternoon saw the start of the doubles championship, sponsored by the Corpus Christi Gun Club. One hundred forty-three competitors took to the field, and at the end of three rotations, Houston Deshotels and Sheaffer Stanfill posted the sole perfect scores. Shoot-off sheets were quickly prepared, and Houston and Sheaffer took to the field to determine the gun champion. A box of shells later, both competitors were still in the running. A second box yielded a champion at the end of the second pass, with Sheaffer missing a high bird from station 4. Five shooters had scores of 99 and shot off for additional honors, including the resident champion title. Three quick pairs determined Cody Sergeant as the state title holder and Melissa Barringer as the Ladies title holder.

Friday’s schedule included four rotations of 28-gauge and two rotations of 20-gauge. Although 10 shooters positioned themselves for championship titles in the 28-gauge, they would have to wait patiently. No shoot-offs were held on Friday to allow for attendance at the TSSA Hall of Fame Banquet, sponsored by the Sandy Springs Skeet Club. The evening saw the awarding of belt buckles to the members of the Texas All-State Teams, auctions that featured Briley 10/22 rifles and engraved knives from master engraver Jon Novak, a drawing for a pallet of Winchester shotgun shells, and a nice plated dinner. The highlight of the night, however, was the induction of three incredibly deserving individuals into the TSSA Hall of Fame. Both Greg Hayes and Lindsay Plesko were enshrined for shooting proficiency. The Buck Stark Award is awarded for outstanding work with the TSSA and for unselfish service to the overall perpetuation of the sport. This year’s honoree was the manager of the GHSC, Kevin Dougherty.

Saturday dawned and the final two rotations of the 20-gauge and four rotations of the 12-gauge events were on tap. The evening started with the Lib and Woody Anderson 28-gauge shoot-offs. Through the first round of the shoot-offs, competitors dwindled until Josh Poole bested Kyle Shumaker on the last pair of the box to become both the gun champion and Texas resident champion. During this shoot-off, Lindsay Plesko overtook Rachel Barringer to gain the Ladies title. Sixteen shooters then took the stage to try their hand at securing the Cody Sergeant / Harper Insurance Agency 20-gauge title. At the end of the first box, Cody Sergeant, Josh Poole, Andre Williams and Rachel Barringer finished clean and headed off to grab a second box of shells. Andre Williams and Rachel Barringer again went clean in the second box. Toward the end of the third box, Rachel let a bird slip by, allowing Andre to secure the gun championship. Rachel was not left out of the cold, however, having secured both the Ladies title and the resident championship.

The final shoot-off of the evening was the GHSC 12-gauge. Notably, Georgie Seagraves had one of the nine perfect scores with her first 100 straight. It was interesting to observe that of the nine competitors, four of the perfect scores were women, portending events to come. The first box narrowed the field to Cliff Moller, Cooper Oliver, and Kaleigh Lawson. After a few pairs in the second box, Cooper Oliver was crowned gun champion and resident champion. Kaleigh Lawson secured runner-up and the Ladies title.

As the sun rose on Sunday morning, the scoreboard revealed that Houston Deshotels was 400 straight, and both Rachel Barringer and Josh Poole were 300 targets straight. Conditions seemed ripe for solid scores in the .410 Bore with a balmy 96% humidity and temperatures rising rapidly from 75 degrees at dawn. By 3:30 in the afternoon, all scores were turned in. The scoreboard revealed that although no perfect HOA or HAA scores were meant to be, several strong scores were posted. Both NSSA Hall of Famer, Kevin Monteleone, and Rachel Barringer posted scores of 398×400 and lined up to vie for the HOA Championship, sponsored by the Dallas Gun Club. The crowd gathered to witness the shoot-off and to see if Rachel could win the open HOA title, after being crowned the second female Texas State overall HOA Champion since the start of the championship in 1931. The format of the HOA shoot-off was a regulation round of singles, total score. It quickly became apparent that Rachel was not to be denied and at the end of the shoot-off, she secured the overall HOA title, the resident HOA title, and the Ladies HOA title. Four shooters with scores of 99 lined up for the S&B Plumbing .410 Bore Championship. Kevin Monteleone bested Alison Boyette to win the open title and Mike Gerschick secured third overall and the Texas resident champion crown.

Hats off to Rachel Barringer and her impressive accomplishment, and many thanks to all the competitors that came to Houston to compete. The TSSA is already looking forward to what excitement the 2023 event holds. Plan on joining us from June 8-11, 2023, at the Greater Houston Sports Club to witness the excitement for yourself.

– Contributed by Patrick Byrne

2022 MS Skeet Championship

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September 9-11 will surely go down in the history books as a weekend to remember in Mississippi! Starkville Gun Club hosted the 2022 Mississippi Skeet Championship, a shotgun wedding and the Mississippi Hall of Fame celebration all in one weekend. Thirty competitors kicked off the events on Friday afternoon with Jeff Sullivan (MS 2020 HOF) claiming victory as 2022 Doubles Champion. Then, with a quick change of clothes, Jeff walked down the aisle (under the front porch due to rain) and tied the knot with his beautiful bride, Penny Pittmann Spooner. Jeff shot his first 100 in .410 at SGC in 2010, so it seemed only fitting that this be the venue for his shotgun wedding. The happy couple generously arranged for a wonderfully lavish banquet of food and drinks in the clubhouse, which was enjoyed by all our shooters, spouses, family and friends. Dancing in the rain was captured on video! 

Saturday’s weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold and not too windy, and three competitors produced perfect 100 scores in the morning. Shoot-offs made Stan Salter the 12 gauge champion, Jessica Wolfe runner-up and Trip Jones third. In the afternoon, shoot-offs broke a three-way tie of 99; this time, Trip Jones prevailed as 20-gauge champion, David Gollott (MS 2021 HOF) runner-up and Jeff Sullivan third.

And then a fabulous steak dinner with our skeet family to honor our two inductees into the Mississippi Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame:

Tony Rosetti, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War with more wins and accolades in both International and American Skeet than we have room to list on this page, was the first to be honored. To his credit are four HOA World Championships, six Open Mississippi Skeet Championships, multiple Mississippi State Teams, world records, plus a 1972 Mississippi HOA score of 399 that set a state record that stood for 30 years.

Clark Hartness, a U.S. Army veteran also who joined SGC in 1992 after returning from Desert Storm, was also inducted. He has been an NSSA Concurrent All-American Team member for 16 consecutive years, with many state championship buckles to his name. He is super competitive but also a leader and innovator in the skeet world. Back in 1997, Clark was instrumental in the creation of one of the first state association websites posting news, scores and results. He has served as Secretary-Treasurer of MSSA since 1995, as NSSA Director for Mississippi since 1996 and Zone VI NSSA Executive Committeeman since 2018. In 2015, Clark led the first iZone VI Championship, which led to the launch of https://ishoots.org. Somehow, this man does all this, runs all our zone shoots, actively competes and still makes time to help anyone who asks. His contributions to our sport at a local and national level are unmatched.

Sunday morning conditions were pleasantly dry. Frank Callahan (MS 2018 HOF) won the 28-gauge championship outright with the sole perfect 100. Trip Jones was runner-up and David Gollott third, both with scores of 99. To close out the weekend, David Gollott took the .410 championship with an impressive 99, with Frank Callahan runner-up with a 98 and Russell Walker third with a 97.

David Gollott was the 2022 Mississippi State HOA Champion with an impressive score of 392. Congratulations to him, the gun champions and the 2022 Hall of Fame inductees.

The Mississippi skeet family may be smaller in numbers, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a more caring and friendly bunch of folks. I, for one, am blessed to be a part of this great group of people.

– Contributed by Susan Galloway

Kasle Family Charity Open

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Aah, September! When the nights are cool and the days are warm and sunny! The Kasle Family Charity Open held September 16-18 at the Detroit Gun Club was blessed with blue skies and very little wind. Over 80 competitors, with a number of first-timers and some friends from abroad, were in attendance, and they were all anticipating the Saturday night show that is the hallmark of the Kasle Open. The shoot always starts with a .410 bore, 75-target Event 6 in which the top 10 scores, plus the high Lady, participate in a themed shoot-off Saturday night. Two 75s, six 74s and the high Lady automatically qualified for the finals, while 10 73s had a shoot-in for the remaining two spots, setting the stage for the 11 shooters to compete for the coveted crystal bowl.

DOUBLES. Given the great conditions, surprisingly, there were no perfect scores; however, 10 99s shot off, settling everything through B class. Cody Sergeant missed on the last pair for third, while it took going in to the third box for Mark Vaillancourt to emerge the winner over Des Ivanov. Class winners with their 99s were David Ballerini (AAA), Brent Edwards (AA), Charlie Parks (A) and Crystal Stoddard (B and Lady champ). Jim Gingrich (C) and Theresa Buonocore (D) won their classes outright.

12- and 20-GAUGE – Saturday morning’s conditions were severe clear, quickly warming up into 70s and no wind. Not surprisingly, 15 100s were posted in the 12-gauge and nine perfect scores in the 20-gauge. Add to that the plethora of 99s (14 in each event), and it’s a wonder there weren’t more 100 straights. Three shooters made it through the first box. The second time on 4 coming back, David Ballerini let the high bird get by unscathed, settling for third. On the next station, Brent Edwards missed low 3 and Alessandro Vitale hit his pair for the championship. 100s by Bruce Christian (AAA), Ed Smith (AA) and Jason Johnson (A) put them at that top of their classes, with Diana Riddle, Lady Champion. Mike Suwinski (B) and Jim Rogers (C) won their classes outright with 99s, as did Theresa Buonocore (E), and Jenna Tenore won D class in a shoot-off. Diana Riddle was Lady champ.

In the 20-gauge event, the 100-straights took the field with Craig Parsons the victor over Charlie Parks, one station shy of the box. Cody Sergeant was third, Bryan Rogers AAA1, Dennis Lehman AA1 and John Clark A1 with their 100s. Larry Israel (B), Greg Buonocore (C) and John Tucker (D) won their classes outright, with Crystal Stoddard repeating as Lady champ. With two events in the books, four shooters were perfect and another 15 down only one or two targets.

KASLE CUP. Twenty-two years ago, in 2000, the Kasle Cup started as the Walker Cup, named for the original sponsor, Spike Walker. Over the years, it has had different sponsors and, hence, different names, but the idea behind the event has always remained the same – to put some fun back into skeet shooting. Each year has had a different theme, with the shooters making it to the finals dressing the part; often the contestants are on different teams, with the crowd getting into the action. The themes over the years have been WWF, Rock Stars, West Side Story (Sharks vs Jets), Heroes and Villains, NFL (AFC vs NFC), NASCAR, Professional Rodeo, Pirates, the Olympics, Woodstock, Caddyshack, Top Shot, Slap Shot, Dr. Seuss, Stripes, Top Gun, Snow White, Dorf on Skeet, Detroit Skeet City based upon the classic movie Detroit Rock City featuring KISS, the Greatest Shoot (Show) on Earth, Looney Tunes, Old McDonald’s Farm, Wayne-o’s World (based on the Saturday Night Live skit and subsequent movie) in honor of the late, great Wayne Mayes, and last year’s theme of Gomer Pyle, USMC, a tribute to Spike Walker, who had recently passed away and had the nickname Sergeant Carter. This year’s theme was American Ninja Warrior, featuring a variety of obstacles the shooters had to confront. The show started with a spectacular fireworks display. The contestants were announced by the emcees, Billy Ray Suggs and Mike Kremski. The banner hanging below the announcer’s booth read “Bigger Obstacles – Tougher Contestants,” but it was quickly pointed out that was a misprint and should have read “Bigger Contestants – Tougher Obstacles.” In years past, the competition was skeet doubles on stations 3, 4 and 5, shooting flash targets, with music playing and the crowd heckling, making for quite a spectacle. This year, however, was kicked up a notch by having to shoot a variety of sporting clays targets. Rarely has the shoot-off gone more than a round, which is understandable given all the commotion, but the new format provided more excitement and shooting, and a bigger challenge. When the smoke finally cleared, Bruce Christian was the winner of the coveted crystal bowl – his second!

28 GAUGE and .410 BORE. Sunday’s conditions were a little cooler than Saturday’s; the dreaded white puffies usually make an appearance for the .410 event, but they failed to show. Ten shooters posted 100s in the 28-gauge event, and it quickly got down to two, with Cody Sergeant taking third. Andy Peter prevailed over Mark Vaillancourt for the championship. Bryan Rogers (AAA), Owen Knight (AA) and John Clark (A) finished at the top of their classes with 100s; Pat Wusthoff won his shoot-off for B1; and Gary Trilli (C) and John Tucker (D), won their classes outright. Crystal Stoddard was again Lady champ.

The .410 bore saw three perfect scores in the afternoon, but it took little more than a handful of stations to sort it all out. Ballerini was the Champion, followed by Owen Knight, runner-up, and Ed Smith, third. Shoot-offs were needed to settle AAA, AA and C classes, with Fred Tschantz, Dess Ivanov and Bill Brown the respective winners. David Duncan (A), Paul Johnston (B) and John Tucker (D) were at the top of their classes. Trish Magyar was Lady champ.

HIGH OVER ALL. In the High Over All race, after three events Cody Sergeant was straight, with five shooters down two targets, and another five down just three or four targets. So, once again, it would all come down to the baby bore. When the final shot was fired in the .410, Ed Smith was on top with a 398 – that’s what running 100 in the .410 can do for you! – with three tied at 397. David Ballerini missed first, settling for AAA1, then Cody Sergeant missed, handing the runner-up spot on the podium to Bruce Christian. Steve Wood (AA), Steve Patke (A), Greg Buonocore (C), Andrea Lehr (D) and Theresa Buonocore (E) stood at the top of their classes, with Larry Israel (B) winning his shoot-off for top class honors. Crystal Stoddard was Lady Champion.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Once again, everyone – shooters and spectators, alike – had “Too Much Fun!” Untold thanks go to our sponsors Roger, Lisa, Matt and Jill Kasle, without whose generous support this shoot, the fireworks show and charity donation would not be possible. Without fail, once again, Scott Behnke and his assistant manager, Danny, did a fantastic job ensuring the targets flew true; the referees were first-rate, keeping their thumbs on the buttons and giving us the targets when we called for them; the kitchen staff of Chef Kristina, with waitresses Jenny and Carol, made sure that no one went hungry or thirsty; and our shoot staff of Debbi Perry and Debbie Behnke promptly entered and posted the scores and ensured the shoot-off sheets were ready to go after the last shot was fired. Debbie Behnke even did double duty as a referee.

Next year the Motor State is scheduled for July 7-9 and the Kasle Family Charity Open, September 15-17. Watch for our ads in Target Talk or go to MichiganSkeet.com. Get your registration in early so you, too, can have “Too Much Fun” at Detroit Gun Club.

– Contributed by Trish Magyar

 

Grand Prairie World Warm-Up

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In true style, shooters came out to enjoy some awesome shooting and camaraderie! It was a pleasure to have worldwide shooters join us for their first shoot in three years. Shooters from the United Kingdom and New Zealand were a welcome sight, as they have become friends of the Grand Prairie Gun Club over the years and it was awesome to see them again. Martin Brister, Kerri Fallon, Matt Fallon, Shane Quinn, Ray Rogers and John Tonkin joined us, and it was so nice to see their smiling faces – it has been a long three years.

We also welcomed out-of-state shooters James George and Bill Myers from Louisiana and New Mexico, respectively.

The first World Warm-Up Mini was held this year due to the generous support of Jason Foshea and Brian D’Souza, with 12-gauge in the morning and doubles in the afternoon. The Mini was eventful for at least one shooter who shot the lone 100 for the entire weekend. If you were there, you know who it was, and we were all reminded several times by this person of his achievement as the lone 100 – congrats to Randy Walhood!  He kept us smiling. We also congratulate Brian D’Souza as champ of the doubles event as well as his HOA win. Jason Foshea was the Mini runner-up, and Richard Funk captured third place.

Sixty-one shooters joined us for the Main. Jason Foshea was a big winner, capturing the champ slot for 12-gauge, .410 and HOA. Brian D’Souza landed 12-gauge runner-up, and Houston shooter Pat Byrne was third in 12-gauge.

Other gun winners included:

12-Gauge – Jason Foshea, champion; Brian D’Souza, runner-up; Pat Byrne, third

20-Gauge – Brandon Cade, champion; Gary Jaggears, runner-up; Donny Penwell, third

28-Gauge – Richard Funk, champion; Brandon Cade, runner-up; Jason Foshea, third

.410 Bore – Jason Foshea, champion; Matt Fallon, runner-up; Gary Jaggears, third

Jason Foshea and Brandon Cade shot off for the HOA Champion position, with Jason coming out on top. Gary Jaggears captured third place. Lady shooters at the top for the Warm-Up were Jo Ellen Collin, champ; Emily Nevin, runner-up; and Jenny Pang, third. Emily and Jenny have been shooting a couple of years and are coming on strong in these competitions.

One other activity that was memorable and a lot of fun was the 3-Man Blind Calcutta for the 28-gauge event. The 3-Man Blind teams were determined via the MySkeet software to place teams together based on their classes/averages. The teams were announced, and after the completion of the 12- and 20-gauge on Saturday, shooters dined on a steak dinner to study and determine their strategies for the auction of these teams. It was quite entertaining to see the bidding war that ensued, including consortiums that were formed to pool their monies to gain the highest bid for a team.

Hope to see everyone again next year as well as new ones – we love to see new shooters come to Grand Prairie.

The Grand Prairie Club is a volunteer-run club. Many, many thanks go to the awesome group that made sure we had awesome targets and every need met. There were no delays due to machine breakdowns or waiting on someone to load houses. Volunteers also swept the fields, kept us hydrated by filling the coolers with ice and water multiple times during the day and made their work look effortless – like a fine-oiled machine. In addition, Grand Prairie fed the shooters lunches and dinners, again with volunteers providing the food and services to ensure everyone was well-fed and enjoyed themselves. Their hard work was noticed and appreciated. Thank you to all!

– Contributed by Jo Ellen Collin

WorldWide Summer Classic at Victor Rod and Gun

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Victor Rod and Gun Club hosted the sixth annual WorldWide Summer Classic, the “Richest Little Shoot in New York State,” on August 7. This 12-gauge and doubles one-day registered skeet shoot is highly favored by shooters in the Western New York region. Enticed by $3000 in added money, 41 shooters took to the freshly cut and trimmed fields with high expectations of cashing in on the abundant prize money. The shooters started to arrive for registration early in the morning, and the machines were dialed in to throw great targets against a perfect background.

Left to right: HOA Champ Bill Kalwas, Shoot Sponsor Rick Simmonds, and HOA RU Don Lewandoski.

Mother Nature provided a hot and humid day, but the winds were calm, and the blue skies complemented the club’s great background. The morning started with the 12-gauge event. Kody Hoth crushed all 100 targets for the only perfect score of the day, claiming the 12-gauge champ title. There were four scores of 99. Don Lewandoski prevailed in the spirited shoot-off for the runner-up spot. Mat Kelley’s 99 earned him the AA1 title. Bill Kalwas’ 99 took A1. Other 12-gauge winners included Zach Jacot (B), Scott MacIntosh (C), John Quealy (D) and Cheryl Henderson (E).

In the afternoon, Mother Nature turned up the temperatures into the 90s, but the winds remained calm for the doubles competition. Bill Kalwas and Mat Kelley each broke 98 targets. Kalwas won a short shoot-off to claim the doubles title, with Kelley taking the runner-up spot. Doubles class winners were Don Lewandoski (AA), Clay Tietjen (A), Mike Haff (B), John Yackiw (C) and Terry Prem (D).

For the eighth year in a row, a shoot-off was not required to crown the HOA champ. Bill Kalwas bested the field with a superb 197×200 score. Kalwas needed every target, though, as three shooters were just one target behind. In the shoot-off for runner-up, Lewandoski prevailed to take the HOA runner-up spot. The other two shoot-off contenders, Hoth and Kelley, claimed AA1 and AA2 respectively. The remaining HOA class winners were John Boone (A), Scott MacIntosh (B), Jack Mutchler (C) and Cheryl Henderson (D).

Victor Rod and Gun Club’s all-volunteer team did a great job of preparing for the shoot and working during the day of the shoot. Everything ran smoothly from registration through the shoot-offs. Special thanks go to shoot chairman, Andy Nolan, and the administration team.

We cannot thank enough the generosity of Rick Simmonds for sponsoring this shoot. Rick is a long-standing member of VRGC and an avid shooter. We also want to thank Chief Referee Jim Thompson and his crew of referees, who did a fantastic job. Most importantly, we would like to thank the shooters. Without shooters willing to travel from across the region to participate, we could not have a successful shoot.

– Contributed by Wes Bailey

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