posted August 9, 2007
SPARTA, Ill. — More than 1,600 youths from 29 states competed. In the end, Tennessee rose to the top with teams earning two national championships and one third place finish at the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Trapshooting Championships.
Competition was held in four divisions Aug. 6-7 at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Ill. The youth event kicked off the 108th annual Grand American World Trapshooting Championships, which runs through Aug. 18.
"These young shooters not only competed against SCTP teams from around the country, they battled through wind, heat and nerves, and still put up impressive scores. In fact, over 300 shooters broke 190 or better out of 200 targets, and one shooter—Matt Bartholow of Rapid City, S.D.—ran 200 straight," said Zach Snow of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), which coordinates SCTP at the national level.
Tennessee claimed three winning teams, including a first-place finish in the Junior Varsity Division and another in the Rookie Division. The volunteer state sent over 300 shooters to the competition, representing 54 teams.
Tennessee's Chester County Smokin' Eagles bested their nearest Rookie Division competition by 47 targets to win their second-straight national title. Dalton Mitchell of Luray, Blake Carnell of Henderson, Cole Lawrence, Brandon Hughes of Reagan, and Jake Williams of Beech Bluff combined for a score of 919.
"For the past two days, they've been pretty nervous because they really wanted to repeat. It's just awesome. I've got three kids back from last year and two new ones, and all of them just stepped up. They all will move up to intermediate division next year," said coach Janice Cooper of Henderson, Tenn.
Another Tennessee team, the Arlington Trappers, won the Junior Varsity Division championship by edging the second-place finisher by only a single target. Combining for a score of 965 were Cody Cochran of Arlington, Brandon Barker of Arlington, Taylor Garrison of Bartlett, Curtis Robinson of Arlington, and Keaton Irving of Arlington.
"Through the states, regionals and now nationals, this team has continued to improve. I'm just really proud of them. I brought three squads here and all of them improved their scores. This is a great day for Tennessee SCTP," said coach Kermit Simons of Arlington, Tenn.
In addition to the championships won, Ethan Campbell of Middle Tennessee Christian in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Blake Triplet of Henry County from Puryear, Tennessee each posted near perfect scores of 199.
“We are incredibly proud of our Tennessee shooters and coaches. We feel that Tennessee is the #1 youth shooting sports state in the U.S., and we intend to build upon these successes. Tennessee is known as the Volunteer State and I can tell you without the tremendous volunteer coaches and leadership of Tennessee SCTP, these results would not be possible” said Chad Whittenburg, Tennessee SCTP Director.
In addition to the awards presented by NSSF at the SCTP National Trapshooting Championships., TWF and Tennessee SCTP will present the Rudy Cup for the best overall shooter performance and four $1,000 scholarships to each of the top senior shooters from the four Tennessee SCTP regions.
SCTP was launched by NSSF and is run in Tennessee by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation with support from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Tennessee SCTP offers students in grades 12 and under an opportunity to compete as a team in trap, skeet, sporting clays and the international versions of trap and skeet. For more information, visit www.tnsctp.org
Results
SCTP National Trapshooting Championships
(held Aug. 6-7, World Shooting and Recreational Complex, Sparta, Ill.)
Varsity Division (Grades 9-12)
1. Missouri—Arnold Junior Trapshooters, 971 out of 1,000 targets (John Battles of Hillsboro, Nicholas Edwards of Fenton, Benjamin Hutchings of Labadie, Kyle Kopsie of Imperial, Jacob Wideman of Pevely).
2. Missouri—Kansas City Trap Association, 970 (Danny Robertson of Independence, Rachael Hopkins of Pattonsburg, Austin Hunt of Kansas City, Lee Taylor of Indepedence, Brandon Alexander of Platte City).
3. Nevada—Silver State Claybreakers, 968 (Austin Tischler of Sparks, Derek Menezes of Reno, Evan Martin of Reno, Evan Fine of Reno, Garrett Schmidt of Reno).
Junior Varsity Division (Grades 9-12)
1. Tennessee—Arlington Trappers, 965 (Cody Cochran of Arlington, Brandon Barker of Arlington, Taylor Garrison of Bartlett, Curtis Robinson of Arlington, Keaton Irving of Arlington).
2. Alabama—Waterfall Valley Claybusters, 964 (Stephen Mitchell of Russellville, Kollin Hester of Tuscumbia, Jacob Gist of Russellville, Alex Pounders of Russellville, Blake Reed of Spruce Pine).
3. Nebraska—Oak Creek 4-H Seniors, 961 (Tanner Wemhoff of David City, Dillon Petrzilka of Brainard, Tanya Prothman of David City, Taylor Cieslik of Weston, Austin Zeilinger of Rising City).
Intermediate Division (Grades 6-8)
1. Ohio—The Sportsman's Club Clay Crushers, 953 (Nathan Waldock of Attica, Matthew Ritz of Attica, Alisha Lutz of Attica, Joshua Reed of Willard, Clay Mesnard of Bloomville).
2. Missouri—Arnold Junior Shooters, 947 (William Fisher of Arnold, Cody Morton of Hillsboro, Joshua Robert of House Springs, Peter Fritz of St Louis, Michael Kurtzeborn Jr. of St Louis).
3. Missouri—Tina-Avalon, 945 (Garrett Ray of Tina, Wesley Johnson of Chillicothe, Zachary Huffmon of Tina, Lee Rucker of Tina, Dale Weidner of Tina).
Rookie Division (Grades 5 and under)
1. Tennessee—Chester County Smokin' Eagles, 919 (Dalton Mitchell of Luray, Blake Carnell of Henderson, Cole Lawrence, Brandon Hughes of Reagan, Jake Williams of Beech Bluff).
2. Ohio—The Sportsman's Club Clay Crushers, 872 (Aaron Walter of Bloomville, Justin Miller of Covington, Bryan Dearth of Clyde, Alex Scheiber of Attica, Clay McCarthy of Tiro).
3. Tennessee—Hoodlum Alley Claybusters, 818 (Vincent Caldwell of Shelbyville, James Haithcote of Unionville, Chase Smith of Shelbyville, Matthew Townes of Shelbyville, James Anthony of Shelbyville).
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