The 2024 Minnesota State Skeet Championships (August 23-25) were hosted by the Metro Gun Club in Blaine, Minn. Great shooting conditions prevailed throughout the tournament. Tate Peterson of Ham Lake, Minn., is well known at Metro, having been an employee there for many seasons. He led a field of 40 shooters with HOA honors.
Tate Paterson also worked with Dan Kampa to register shooters and record scores using new NSSA online software. This automation provides access to the national 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 27 competitors. Jared Miller’s 99 won the Doubles championship for the second consecutive year, with Jarret Hayes taking the runner-up spot.
Good weather helped pave the way for Jarret Hayes on Saturday, who posted two lone 100-straights, claiming gun championships in both 12-Gauge and 20-Gauge events. Bruce Pearson’s 99 earned the 12-gauge runner-up title, while third place went to Tate Peterson. Class winners in 12-gauge were Jake Boerboon, Jared Miller, Brodie Schaefer, Bart Ott, Zack Kurtti, and Chase Beckius in classes AA through E.
Brian Hendrickson took the 20-gauge runner-up title, with Justin Staebell coming in third. Matt Robinson won class AA, followed by Roger Plooster, Bob Rick, Bart Ott, and Chase Beckius in classes A through D.
Randy Vaske won Sunday’s 28-gauge event by posting an uncontested 100, his first-ever perfect score in the 28-gauge! Jared Miller’s 99 earned the runner-up spot following a shoot-off with Tate Peterson, who claimed third place. AA first went to Bob Rick. Mark VanderBloomer, Brian Hendrickson, Sam Radford, and Art Peterson won classes A through D.
Bob Rick posted the lone 99 in the .410-Bore event to win the gun championship outright. Tate Peterson posted a 97 to win the runner-up spot following a five-way shoot-off, Third place was won by Bruce Pearson. Class winners were Jarret Hayes (AA), Matt Robinson (A), Chad Herrmann (B), Mark Cameron (C), and Chase Beckius (D).
Tate Peterson’s 390 won the High Over All Championship over runner-up Jarret Hayes, who posted a 389. Bruce Pearson’s 388 won third place after a shoot-off with Chad Herrmann. High Over All class winners were Chad Hermann (A), Brodie Schaefer (B), Bart Ott (C), Dave Seidel (D), and Chase Beckius (E).
Jared Miller won the High All Around Championship with a 487. High All Around runner-up was Jared Miller (486), followed by Tate Peterson’s third place 484.
The MSSA thanks Mark Cameron and his staff at the Minneapolis Gun Club for hosting another excellent state championship.
– Ronald Chandler
