Clay Target Nation

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

38th Annual Conesus Lake Open

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The Maple Leaf flew proudly along with the Stars and Stripes on June 3-5, as we welcomed our Canadian friends back to Conesus Lake for our 38th Conesus Lake Open. 

Clear blue skies dominated the weekend weather, as did Canadian Brad McRae, who escaped back across the border with both the HOA and HAA titles.

In the HOA, Mathew Kelley finished as runner-up. That big guy known as “Little Charlie” Parks, of Ohio, finished first in AA, with Dave Sobiegray (A), B.J. Jensen (B), Marc Bennett (C) and John Yackiw (D) rounding out the class winners.

Ricky Laurito finished one target shy of McRae to take HAA runner-up, while Jeff Ventry (AA), Kody Hoth (A), Doug Paddock (B), Ron Casella (C) and Owen Cooley (D) emerged victorious in the classes.

Friday’s festivities got off to a raucous start as two of New York’s perennial “big dogs” went head-to-head to see who would take the doubles championship. Ricky Laurito emerged as victor after the shoot-off of 98s. David Cooley was runner-up. Congrats to Kody Hoth (AA), Dave Sobiegray (A), Doug Paddock (B), Glen Safford (C) and John Yackiw (D) for taking their classes.

At the CLO, we shoot the 12-gauge first and work our way to the little gun. Saturday was a bit breezy, and David Cooley tackled the conditions with the lone 99. Brad McRae outdistanced John Boone (A) and B.J. Jensen (B) for runner-up. John and B.J. settled for their class victories. Terry Prem (C), Marc Bennett (D) and Victor Stirpe (E) rounded out the class champs. We want to thank our sponsor, Steve Morsch, of Morsch Pipeline and Excavation for his support of this event!

In similar fashion, Rochester native Colin Smingler shot the lone 99 in the 20-gauge to emerge as champion. A three-way shoot-off between McRae (AA), Laurito and Jim Johnson (A) resulted in Laurito prevailing as runner-up. Chad Seelbinder eked out a 1-target margin over Mike Haff to win B honors, and Jim Reilly outdistanced the pack in C class. Junior shooter Owen Cooley triumphed in the D class shoot-off.

Saturday also includes an optional event – the 20-gauge Red Hot. In this event, a shooter’s 20-gauge score is handicapped, and all shooters compete head-to-head for a 4-way split of the money. In the shoot-off, participants receive half of their original handicap. Scott Van Etten finished fourth, Ricky Laurito third and Marc Bennett second. Junior shooter Owen Cooley hung on to beat the old guys for the win! This is not the last you’ll hear of Owen.

Saturday night festivities included a fine chicken barbecue for participants and their guests.

On Sunday, the 99s continued with Kelley, McRae and Laurito all gathering to shoot off for top dog. Brad McRae kept it clean to win, with Kelley taking runner-up and Laurito winning B class. Congrats to Dave Sobiegray (A), Cynthia Johnson (C) and John Yackiw (D) for their class victories.

The president and vice president of the New York State Skeet Shooting Association faced off to determine the .410 champion. Both Jeff Ventry (president) and Mathew Kelley (VP) shot solid 97s to “get to the dance.” Matthew smoked the pair to win and was promptly delegated the responsibility of handing out awards every night at the New York State Shoot by president Jeff! Class winners were McRae (AA), Sobiegray (A), Michael Haff (B), Dr. Kristen Harshman (C) and John Quealy (D).

There were some dominant performances in the concurrent events. Owen Cooley swept the Junior concurrent, while Jack Mutchler stole all the Senior Veteran titles.

John Boone won all 6 Military Vet Championships with Dave Cook finishing runner-up for them all.

Kristen Harshman was our Lady Champion in the HOA, HAA, 20 and .410. Cynthia Johnson grabbed the 12 and 28. The same two great lady shooters split the runners-up – Johnson the HOA, 20 and .410, Harshman the 12 and 28.

Mathew Kelley captured Sub-Sub-Senior champion to keep Brad McRae from the sweep. Runners-up included Kelley (HOA, HAA, 20, 28), B.J. Jensen (12), and McRae (.410).

Veteran awards went to Pennsylvanian Ron Johnson (HOA Champion, HAA Champion, 28 Champion, .410 Champion), Doug Goodman (12 and 20 Champion, HOA and HAA runner-up), Glen Safford (12 and 20 runner-up) and John Quealy (.410 runner-up). Canadian Dan Duhamel captured the 28-gauge runner-up with some nice shooting, eh?

In Triple-Sub, Kody Hoth was champ in the HOA, HAA and 12. Clay Tietjen won the 20, and Peter Bogdon the two smaller guns. Runners-up were Bogdon (HOA, 20, .410), Tietjen (HAA 28) and Zach Jacot (12).

Sub-Senior was a battle between six great shooters. Champs included Scott Van Etten (HOA, .410), Dave Cooley (HAA, 12), Jim Johnson (20) and Don Lewandowski (28). The runners-up went to Mike Haff (HOA), Van Etten (HAA), Brian Milanese (12), Cooley (20), Haff (28), and Lewandowski .(410).

Dave Sobiegray captured three Senior titles (HOA Champion, 28 and .410 runner-up), Ricky Laurito four (HAA and 28 Champion, HOA and 20 runner-up), and Jeff Ventry two (.410 Champion, HAA runner-up). Single winners included John Boone (12 Champion), Colin Smingler (20 Champion), and Mike Ferchaw (12 runner-up).

This leaves one story yet untold. We are thankful to have Pete Hamann of Pete’s Stockworks (https://petesstockworks.com/) sponsor a unique event that mirrors the NCAA Basketball March Madness. This is a FREE event where all 4-gun shooters are assigned to one of four brackets based on their 4-gun average. They shoot head-to-head in each gauge using a handicapped score (handicap is 70% of difference between average and 100, max 100). Any ties are shot-off each night.

After shooting all four guns, four shooters remain. They go to the shoot-off field for their chance at $500. When the dust settled late Sunday afternoon, Mike Haff, Ron Casella, John Boone and Owen Cooley became the representatives of their respective brackets and took to the field to see who would be crowned the Pete’s Knockdown Round Champion. Now, I’m not here to tell you that youthful exuberance, great eyesight, cat-like reflexes, and great training from a storied doubles shooter/coach/father had anything to do with it, but junior shooter Owen Cooley “schooled” the field. Nice job, Owen!

Since its inception, the Conesus Lake Open has been a regular member of the Top 100 shoots in the NSSA. We take great pride in hosting the event and welcoming our shooting community to our facility! See you in 2023!

– Contributed by Dan Caryl

3F Summer Classic at 3F Club

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The 3F Club in Lewiston, New York, hosted the 3F Summer Classic on July 15-17. The 3F continues to host one of the top money shoots in New York, with over $2500 added money. The weather for the weekend was great with sunny blue skies and light winds. Mother Nature was kind this year compared to last year’s monsoon rains.

Friday’s doubles event resulted in two 98s posted by Brian Milanese and Dave Cooley, setting up a battle of the southpaws. Milanese took the championship, and class winners were Mat Kelley (AA), Matt Lenehan (A), John Boone (B) and Doug Goodman (C).

Saturday’s bright morning sun for the 12-gauge brought out the dark shooting glasses. Dave Cooley posted the lone 100 for the championship, and four 99s shot off for runner-up – Kody Hoth, Steve Wood, Jeff Ventry and Colin Smingler. After a lengthy shoot-off, Hoth claimed the runner-up title. Class winners were Steve Wood (AA), Jeff Ventry (A), Jon Zywiczynski (B), Dan Holdsworth (C), Owen Cooley (D) and Victor Stirpe (E).

After the lunch break sponsored by Ventry’s Pizza, shooters took to the fields to start the 28-gauge event. Two 99s were posted by Dr. Michael Ferchaw and Jon Zywiczynski; Ferchaw won the championship and Zywiczyski runner-up. Class winners were Steve Wood (AA), Bernie Lenehan (A), Brian Milanese (B), Cindy Johnson (C) and Owen Cooley (D).

Saturday night shooters and guests were treated to pulled pork, Natural Link locally made Italian, Polish and jalapeno sausage, shrimp, fruit trays and a dessert table. Thanks to our key sponsors this year, we were able to keep our traditional added money pay-outs in these uncertain times: Manth Manufacturing (our keynote sponsor for many years), Dawson Enterprises (ammo and reloading supplies from Massillon, Ohio) and Cambria Game Farms. Jimmy Johnson had the luck of his Swedish heritage, winning both 50/50 raffles, that paid for his weekend instead of his shooting.

Sunday had ideal weather conditions for the day. The lone 100 in the 20-gauge was posted by Kody Hoath, taking the championship. This was also Kody’s first 100 in the 20-gauge. Dave Cooley captured the runner-up title with the lone 99. Class winners Steve Wood (AA), Matt Lenehan (A), Christopher Dole (B), Doug Goodman (C) and Victor Stirpe (D).

In everyone’s favorite event, the .410, 97s were posted by Victoria Ferchaw and Aaron Burnett, with Aaron outlasting Victoria in the shoot-off to win the championship. Class winners Mat Kelley (AA), Jon Zywiczynski (A), Matt Lenehan (B), Victor Stirpe (C) and Owen Cooley (D).

The HOA crown came down to a pair of 389s posted by Mike Ferchaw and Steve Wood, squaring off on the shoot-off field. Ferchaw outlasted Wood for the win. Class winners were Mat Kelley (AA), Victoria Ferchaw (A), Christopher Dole (B), Doug Goodman (C) and Owen Cooley (D), as well as Junior Champion.

Thank you to all of our dedicated sponsors – without them, the shoot would not happen. Thanks also to our referees who did an excellent job and had the stamina to hang in there, and to all our volunteers who made this shoot possible – Mike Clarke, Fredo Vanoni, Dave Sobiegray, Jeff Ventry Rich Falcone and Tim Baldwin. Our thanks to Jackie Ventry and Lisa Kelly for running the shoot and dinner table and to all the shooters for making our event a growing success. Please join us again next year and bring along your new shooting friends. Hopefully things will get back to normal by then.

– Contributed by Dave Sobiegray

Generations Awards President’s Cup to George Gleich

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As an ambassador to skeet, one name that stands out among all is George Gleich. George has supported and promoted the game of skeet all across the country. He has shot over 250,000 NSSA lifetime registered targets at sanctioned events at gun clubs in 16 states. But more importantly, George has supported his club, Generations Skeet Club, and the Generations family. From attending league nights, rain or shine, to shooting all the club’s registered shoots and doing write-ups and photos of all those registered shoots for Clay Target Nation (and previously Skeet Shooting Review) for many years, to running the club on Sundays, George has been an amazing member of the Generations skeet family. He is helpful to all and will lend a shotgun or ammo to anyone in need or to help get a new shooter started.

George Gleich

George is a Level 1 NSSA Certified Instructor and has been a registered referee for years. He volunteers to referee the SCTP State Championship held there each year.

You won’t find a more honest or gracious man in the game than George.  He is a constant gentleman on and off the field. For these and many other reasons, Generations has awarded the first Generations Skeet President’s Cup to George Gleich.

– Contributed by Roy Holtz

Oregon Celebrates 30th Championship and Hall of Fame Inductees

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Oregon celebrated its 30th anniversary State NSCA Sporting Clays Championship on June 23-26. Host club Mid Valley Clays and owners Dave and Vandy Fiedler put on a great event enjoyed by 193 competitors from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Hawaii, Montana, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. At the traditional Saturday night awards banquet, the Sustain Oregon NSCA Fund raffled 40 boxes of shotgun shells as a large group of enthusiastic shooters and guests enjoyed a great BBQ dinner.

Dave Abel, Ellen Deleganes, Jerry Martin

A highlight of the annual awards banquet is the Hall of Fame (HOF) induction ceremony. A Nomination/Selection Committee looks back over the years and identifies those individuals who have achieved significant shooting accomplishments and/or made significant contributions in advancing the development and success of our sport. Congratulations to the following Oregon NSCA HOF inductees for 2022:

Shooting Achievement Award: Jerry Martin, Sr.

Service Award: David Abel and Ellen Deleganes

Each recipient received a crystal award, had their names added to the Oregon Hall of Fame Perpetual Plaque and their photo and career highlights displayed on the state association’s website, which you can see at www.ornsca.org/hof.html.

– Contributed by Tom Jones

David Abel
Ellen Deleganes
Jerry Martin

Ohio Cup at Mad River Sportsman’s Club

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The 2022 Ohio Cup was held in its usual place, Mad River Sportsman’s Club, outside of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and on its usual date, Father’s Day, but that’s where the similarities end. This tournament has always been challenging. The terrain is incredible. The rolling hills and the deceptive backgrounds have historically produced lower scores. It can be very tricky to read the targets correctly.

But participation has fallen off over the years, and this year’s tournament sadly only had 82 shooters present. There was a time when this was arguably one of the premier events in Ohio; if you weren’t signed up for it by the end of February, you weren’t getting in.

A number of dynamics go into the making of a successful club – great targets, price, aesthetics, customer service, housekeeping and more. Neglecting any one of these things can be the death knell for a club. But maybe, while you are boycotting a place, it is actually growing and learning from its mistakes. That seems to be the case for club manager Tony Stratton. When we talked about this year’s tournament, I told him I thought these were the best targets he’s ever thrown. It was crazy hard, but every bird was hittable and fair. You just had to have a solid plan and execute it with precision.

Arthur Ansley won this one with a 90. That was a phenomenal score for this course. There were only two other shooters in the 80’s, yet no one complained about the targets. Tony said if he had thrown this kind of targets a few years back, everyone would have grumbled. But he’s seen how the game has changed and decided to step up and compete with the other top clubs in Ohio. He added a 50-bird AFS game this year as well. It, too, was well thought out and provided another opportunity for shooters to challenge themselves.

If you haven’t shot the Ohio Cup for a while, maybe consider trying it again next year. You might just be surprised to find there are a few more target presentations you can still learn from.

– Contributed by Sandy Welti

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