Clay Target Nation

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

Blackbird Open

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The Blackbird Open was held at Generations Skeet Club near Patton, Pennsylvania, on May 7. Thirty-four shooters participated in this two-gun event, 12-gauge in the morning and 20-gauge in the afternoon. The weather was overcast with scattered rain showers, mainly in the afternoon, but relatively warm and not too windy.

Chris Kline took HOA honors with a perfect 200. Pat Leyo and Mark Eckert both posted HOA scores of 197. Debra Meade was Ladies HOA champ with a 195. Great shooting by all!

Kline’s 100-straight won the 12-gauge event outright. Meade’s 98 was good for Lady Champion. Class winners in the 12 included: Leyo (AA-97), Jack Harshbarger (A-99), Meade (B-98), John Avolio (C-97), Don Steinert (D-95) and George Gleich (E-89).

Kline was also 20-gauge champ, but not until he bested Leyo and Frank Smithmyer in a shoot-off of 100-straights. Missy Vescovi was Lady Champion with a 98. Class firsts went to: Smithmyer, Leyo, Mark Eckert (99), Scott Hazlett (94) and Andrew Hazlett (86), AA, A, B, C and D, respectively.

Kudos to Ryan Holtz for running the desk and Michael Vescovi, who was chief referee. Non-shooting referees included Renee Calvert, Andrea McMullen, Alex Farrell and Braden Holtz — great job, refs! Thanks also to Pat Leyo for doughnuts and to Renee Calvert for cookies!

Many skeet shooters agree that recruiting young shooters is one of the most important tasks we face as a sport. Generations’ next generation of skeet shooters is on the way! Sub-Junior Luke Holtz (13) and Juniors James and Braden Holtz and Gabe Smithmyer shot on a squad with Gabe’s dad Frank who showed them how to do it with his 100-straight.

Nine pairs of parent and child competitors participated in this shoot. Families represented included: Harshbarger, Sutton, Hazlett, Vescovi, Steinert, Smithmyer and three sets of Holtz teams.

Junior shooter Zak Sutton of the Lawrence County Young Guns from Wampum, PA, shot and did quite well (two 95s). Sporting clays is the main focus of this group of several dozen young shooters, but they also participate in trap and skeet. Zak’s dad, Ed, shot his first registered skeet and finished with very respectable scores.

And speaking of young skeet shooters, Generations also hosted the PA SCTP Championships on May 20, with approximately 90 young people participating. Kudos to Joe Gans 3 for all his efforts with the kids!

– Contributed by George Gleich

John Scott / Henry Grubb Azalea Open

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Fort Bragg Clay Target Center hosted the Azalea Open on April 14-16. Early spring gave us some showers, but the 58 attendees had a fun weekend and posted some great scores. Congratulations to collegiate shooter Anna Wood, who won HOA with the lone 391. Her win was even more special because the former Henry Grubb was her mentor. In her free time, she would practice at Henry and Cheryl Grubb’s range. Anna actually hadn’t lifted her gun since the North Carolina State Shoot last September; obviously, the break didn’t dull her shooting skills. 

Gun champs:

Doubles—Josie Cloninger (99), the lone posted 99
12 Gauge—Chris Brown (100) in a 4-person shoot-off
20 Gauge—Addison Wallace (100), the only posted 100 and her first 100 straight in 20-gauge
28 Gauge—Stuart Brown (99), the only posted 99
.410 Bore—Anna Wood (99), with the single highest posted score

HOA winners:

HOA, Collegiate, Triple-Sub and Lady Champion—Anna Wood
Runner-up; SS champion and RM champion—Stuart Brown
Third—Otto (Chip) Simmons
AA1—Mark Smith
A1—Addison Wallace
B1—Ridge Pearson
C1—Joshua Wayne
D1—Briley Koller
JR CH—Addison Wallace
SU CH—Jason Shell
SR CH—Mark Smith
VT CH—Paul Stemac
SV CH—John Parker
ML CH—Timothy Riordan
MV CH—James Delosh
RF CH—Corrie Cloninger
FR CH—Bill Kluttz
2M CH—Scott Graham and Bruce Colclough

Many shooters look forward to returning for future shoots hosted at Fort Bragg Clay Target Center over the summer, including the U.S. Open.

– Contributed by Belinda Tiner

 

84th Virginia State Skeet Championships

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The 84th Virginia State Skeet Championships were held at Fredericksburg Rod and Gun Club on September 8-11, 2022. The Club was ready and looked great, thanks to the hard work of Bud Hitchcock, Brian D’Souza, Nick Gravina, Jim Hart and others.

Wood – HOA CH

The shoot kicked off on Thursday with the 12-Gauge Preliminary Event and the first flights of doubles. Garrett Jordan posted a fine 100 to win the Preliminary Event.

Friday morning brought great weather conditions for the 28-gauge event, the start of the 20-gauge, and the last doubles flight. Conor Stephens captured the 28-gauge title, with John Snyder runner-up and Dick Weinley third. Class winners were Garrett Jordan (AA), Brian D’Souza (A), John Allen (B), Bob Myers (C) and Barry Akers (D). Class winners were awarded beautiful belt buckles, thanks to Virginia’s State Shoot Assistance Grant from NSSA. Tom Williams was the Doubles Champion, winning his fourth doubles title. Highlights of the evening included the presentation of VSSA Sportsman of the Year, awarded to Mark Parker, and Referee of the Year, awarded to James Reinhold. Kevin Baker won the drawing for a complimentary entry to the main events of the World Shoot.

Saturday evening marked two first-time state title winners and several personal bests. Junior shooter Ethan Shiflett shot his first 100 straight and won the 12-gauge title! John Snyder was runner-up and Meredith Tunick-Kling third. Class winners were Keythe Hancock (AA), Jim Hickerson (A), John Allen (B), Robert Williams (C), Allen Parker (D) and Cody Ellis (E). Jim Hart won the 20-gauge, Fred Wood was runner-up and Garrett Jordan third.

The B-C-D-E HOA shoot-off was the final shooting event for the day. Class winners were determined by shoot-offs, and the lucky winners (B-David Whipp III, C-Ethan Shiflett, D-Becky Myers) returned to the shoot-off field to vie for the cash prize generously donated by Mark Scott. When the dust settled, Ethan Shiflett continued his winning streak and was the 2022 B-C-D-E HOA winner.

Following shoot-offs, shooters and their guests sat down together to enjoy the Hall of Fame dinner hosted by Fredericksburg and prepared by Jeremiah Burns MGy Sgt USMC (Ret) and his crew from Jeremiah’s Kansas City BBQ. VSSA President Richard Haynie recognized the 2021 State Teams and presented their plaques. Then it was time for the highlight of the evening, the induction of Al Ange into the VSSA Hall of Fame. Al was accompanied by his wife Peggy and his family, and it was wonderful to celebrate his shooting accomplishments and contributions to our sport.

Sunday morning, September 11, brought us all together as we held a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. to honor those who lost their lives in the attacks 21 years ago.

Fred Wood took top honors in the .410 event with an outstanding 98, followed by Brian D’Souza, runner-up, and Garrett Jordan, third. Class winners were Jim Hickerson (AA), Steve Kling (A), Savannah Morrow (B), Dale Flory (C) and Cody Ellis (D). High Over All title went to Fred Wood, runner-up to Conor Stephens and third to Garrett Jordan. Meredith Tunick-Kling was the Lady HOA champion. Savannah Morrow was Sub-Junior HOA winner, and Ethan Shiflett, 12-gauge champ, was the recipient of the Bond NSSA Life Membership Award. Our Sub-Junior and Junior shooters continue to enjoy the support and generosity of the Milton Mills Memorial awards and benefits, and the VSSA Award.

Many thanks to the outstanding Shoot Management Team – Mark Parker, our Chief Referee, Tonda Finney, Kristi Garstang and Darlene Jeffrey on the desk (and Darlene and Mark coordinating awards and trophies), and Bud Hitchcock for their tireless work to help make this shoot a success. We especially appreciate our dedicated referees, who come from far and near to help make this shoot happen.

We look forward to next year’s 85th Virginia State Skeet Championships, to be held at Arrowhead Gun Club, September 7-10, 2023.

– Contributed by Hannah Goddard

 

86th Pennsylvania State Shoot

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PSSA held the 86th annual Pennsylvania State Open Skeet Championships at Shenecoy Sportsmen’s beautiful 16-field facility in McConnellstown, Pennsylvania, on August 26-28. The weather was great! Not too hot, not too humid, not much wind, no rain, not many clouds.

Two hundred nineteen participants shot at least one gun, including 50 out-of-state shooters (from AZ, CA, DE, FL, IL, IN, MD, NC, NY, OH, TX, VA, and WV); thank you so much for coming folks! There were 183 four-gun shooters. The shoot difficulty factor was 22.8.

Open HOA winners were Owen Knight (Champion, 397), Mike Rykacewski Jr. (runner-up, 397) and Nick Boerboon (third, 396). PA HOA winners were Rykacewski Jr. (champion), Boerboon (runner-up) and Chris Kline (third). Open HAA Champion and runner-up, respectively, were Kline (495) and Knight (493); Boerboon (492-PA) was third. PA HAA honors went to Kline (champion), Boerboon (runner-up) and Rykacewski Jr. (third).

The 28-gauge Prelim started the festivities on Friday morning with 59 shooters participating. The top score was 99, and there were three of them. After shooting off, Tyler Mroczka was Open Champion, Alyssa Gormish and Larry Blount, respectively, were Open runner-up and third. PA Prelim winners were Mrozcka (Champion), Alyssa Gormish (runner-up) and Ethan Cree (third). Mike Zavasky, Clay Gormish, Mark Eckert, Greg Valentine, and John Tucker, respectively, took PA class AA-D firsts.

There were 158 doubles shooters on Friday afternoon and two 100 straights. Chris Kline emerged as Open Champion by winning a shoot-off of the 100s with Alyssa Gormish, runner- up; Sam Armstrong was Open third. PA Champion, runner-up, and third, respectively, were Kline, Alyssa Gormish and Josh Crofutt. PA class firsts (AAA-D) went to Boerboon, Denny Lehman, Carl Biddle, Andy Trayer, Marcus Rosenstiel Jr., and Mike Rykacewski Sr. In the main event, there were ten 100 straights in both the 12 and 20, eight in the 28 and one in
the .410.

PA Champions, runners-up and thirds, respectively, were: Tyler Mroczka, Pat Leyo, and Adam Vollmer in the 12-gauge (215 shooters with PA shooters taking the top three Open spots); Jeff Holtz, Carl Bathurst and John Brickner in the 20 (205 shooters with Sam Armstrong Open Champion, Brian D’Souza Open runner-up, and Mike Stasio Open third; Tyler Mroczka, Mike Rykacewski Jr., and Tom Shields in the 28 (194 shooters with Kurt Suprynowicz Open Champion); and Nick Boerboon, Mike Rykacweski Jr., and Chris Kline in the .410 (187 shooters with PA shooters taking the top three Open spots).

Class first places (PA) were won by Mike Rykacewski Jr., Frank Smithmyer, Gary Nace, Allison Shaffer, Mark Strickland, Greg Mahoney and John Lavrich (12-gauge AAA-E); Nick Boerboon, Joe Vescovi, Pat Leyo, Ed Call, Joe Gans V and Kurt Fisher (20-gauge AAA-D); Joe Vescovi, Fran Kosmacki, Matt Sanders, Pat Leyo, Zak Sutton and Bill Plunkett (28-gauge AAA-D); and Adam Vollmer, Rich Vensel, Mark Saussure, Marcus Rosenstiel Jr., and Allison Shaffer (.410 bore AA-D).

Grant Glossner and Wade Smith, respectively, were Sub-Junior Open and PA HOA Champion and runner-up. Owen Knight, Zak Sutton and Marcus Rosenstiel Jr., respectively, were Junior Open HOA Champion, runner-up and third; Sutton, Rosenstiel Jr. and Colby Eckert, respectively, were PA HOA Champion, runner-up and third.

Open Lady HOA winners were Meredith Tunick Kling (Champion, 391), Sue Huszai (runner-up, 383) and Allison Shaffer (third, 379). PA Lady HOA winners were Allison Shaffer (Champion), Alyssa Gormish (runner-up) and Debra Meade third.

Saturday evening was busy, beginning with shoot-offs and several hat shoots. Evelyn Zutter had her first 25 straight, Gavin Glossner and Dan Amsler had their first 50 straights, and Allison Shaffer had her first 100 straight this weekend. All had their hats well ventilated. Chris Kline was inducted into the PSSA Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame. Chris has been one of Pennsylvania’s top skeet shooters for years, and he is one of the very best people in the
Pennsylvania skeet community. Congratulations, Chris!

PA’s top shooters for 2022 (2021 data) were recognized. Fran Kosmacki with a 0.9767 average was the state’s Top Gun. All-State First and Second teams were recognized, and each member received a nice wooden plaque. The First team included Fran Kosmacki, Mike Rykaczewski Jr., Josh Crofutt, Tom Hillard and Alyssa Gormish; Second Team members included Denny Lehman, Clay Gormish, Kenny Riddile, Gary Nace and Jack Harshbarger.

All Juniors and Sub-Juniors (25 shot in the 12 gauge) had 50% of their entry fees paid by PSSA.

Denny Lehman spearheaded a drive for the 2022 State Shoot that resulted in over $22,250 in 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 2021 was presented to Murry Gerber of Elite Shotguns in recognition of his ongoing and outstanding support of Pennsylvania skeet. Murray is leading from the front in growth of this sport, and we look forward to continued successes together.

Added money was capped so that gun champion, runner-up and third received $350, $250 and $150, 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 $75, $70, $65, $60, $55, respectively).

In a field of 43 shooters, Guy Barr won the BCDE Challenge shoot-off and received $220. Class champs, B-E respectively, were Tyler Mroczka, Colby Eckert, Ethan Cree and John Lavrich, and each received $75. All winners were from PA.

The Three-Man Team event involved 16 teams picked by the computer. The winning team included Randy Browning, Brian D’Souza and Allison Shaffer, whose 12-gauge scores were 97, 95 and 93, respectively. Each received $80.

The 5-person team belt buckle championship involved 10 teams. The event started and finished on Station 3 with the second team up breaking nine of 10 birds (5 doubles) and none of the other nine teams matching that total. The winning team members, from Tarentum District Sportsmen’s Club near Sarver, PA, were Josh Crofutt, Murry Gerber, Mike Rykacewski Jr., Mike Rykacewski Sr. and Bob Waite. Each received a beautiful belt buckle.

Five shooters participated in the HOA handicap option on Sunday afternoon. Nick Boerboon, Chris Kline and Rich Vensel were first-, second- and third-place winners.

Tyler Mrozcka had quite a weekend shooting his first 100-straight in the 12-gauge and then breaking his first 100-straight in the 28-gauge as an encore. His hat was demolished, of course. Tyler was Open Champion in the Prelim and 12 and PA Champion in the 28.

Members of the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Company provided the delicious catered dinner for all, at no extra cost to the shooters and their guests, on Saturday night. Many thanks to John Ramagli who graciously donated this dinner!

Kudos to Tami Daniel-Means and her hubby Al for handling registration, score keeping 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 lights out.

Special thanks to the following folks whose hard work was greatly appreciated: Barry and Lori Sheffield and all the Shenecoy people who always work so hard; Rod Shyda (Lincoln Traps); Bob Woods (Elite Shotguns); and Wendy and Steve Dunmire and crew (Petersburg Volunteer Fire Company) for running the kitchen throughout the shoot and providing tasty food. Make sure to mark your calendars for the 2023 Pennsylvania State Skeet Shoot which will be held at Shenecoy on August 18-20. We are anticipating having $20,000 plus added money again, along with many other great things.

– Contributed by George Gleich

 

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

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