Trap 'super shooters' enjoy success at SCPT Nationals
Led by the national title won in bunker trap and runner-up finish in Skeet by the Buckeye-Chippewa Youth Trap Shooting Sports team of Max Hatfield, Joseph Prentovich and William Browning, area youth had another successful showing at the Scholastic Clay Target Program Nationals in Marengo July 10-16.
The three-man senior/varsity team not only bested the field in the difficult international bunker trap discipline with a score of 317, the trio also finished second in skeet with a 585. In bunker trap, Browning shot a 108, Prentovich a 106 and Hatfield a 103. In skeet, Browning busted 197 of 200 birds, Prentovich 195 and Hatfield 193.
“William, Max and Joseph are all super shooters, and they work at it on their own,” said Buckeye-Chippewa coach Harvey Bechtel. “Ed Butdorf coaches them in bunker, and it’s definitely a growing sport.”
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The Buckeye-Chippewa team also had Culley Emerson repeat as champion in the collegiate singles trap with a 196, and she also was runner-up in handicap trap.
“Culley has always been an excellent shooter. It’s no surprise she won again,” said Bechtel, noting Emerson doesn’t shoot competitively in college.
The team’s other big winner was Paul Tepley, who won it all in the Intermediate Entry singles trap competition as the middle schooler broke 195 out of 200 targets en route to the win.
“He shot 99 the first day, and the one he missed he thought he had shot his five targets and wasn’t ready,” said Bechtel.
Buckeye-Chippewa‘s final top-three finish was its junior varsity trap singles squad of Justin Monroe (179), Brody Johnson (196), Jake Krahe (197), Austin Krahe (181) and Ryan Madrigal (189) taking home the bronze. The all-freshman team finished with a score of 942.
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“As a team, we could have done better, but then again, there were 2,600 kids shooting trap at Nationals, so for our JV team to come in third, that’s pretty good,” said Bechtel.
All told, Buckeye-Chippewa had 52 team members compete at the Nationals, which were held at the Cardinal Shooting Center north of Columbus.
Wooster's Claybusters make good showing, too
The Wooster-based Ohio Claybusters also had a fantastic representation at Nationals, with the Intermediate Advanced team winning gold in Singles trap with a 947. The team consisted of Lane Adkins (195), Bradyn Conner (194), Clayton Kovacs (192), Landen Morris (183) and Carter Gasser (183).
That squad was also a big part of the Ohio Claybusters being named fifth place in high overall, where you combine your team scores in trap, handicap and doubles.
“Trap is what a lot of these kids shoot, but they get bored,” said Ohio Claybusters coach Don Witner. “So they start shooting doubles and handicap and even skeet.”
Individually, the Ohio Claybusters also had some standouts, as Adkins also was the Intermediate Advanced Handicap Trap winner with a 188, and was sixth out of 329 IA Trap singles shooters with his 195, and Conner was seventh.
“It’s amazing how much the scores have come up in the last five years,” said Witner. “We’re shooting scores that would have won it back in the day. The sport is growing up.”
Kovacs won a National title with his Doubles Trap score of 176, best among Intermediate Entry Level shooters. Kovacs was also third in IE Handicap Trap (180).
“We took hardware home, and that’s always a good day when you can do that,” said Witner. “A lot of teams traveled a lot farther than we did and didn’t win anything.
“It was a good year, a solid year,” added Witner. “We had zero issues, and we have a good relationship with Silver Dollar (Sportsman’s Club). They realize these kids are the future of their club.”
At Nationals, Ohio had the second-most number of shooters competing at 525, just behind Wisconsin, with the Claybuster accounting for 40 of those.
Outdoor correspondent Art Holden can be reached at letsplabal@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Buckeye-Chippewa team scores high in bunker trap, skeet shooting
