Owatonna ‘Solid, Consistent’ in First State Trap Appearance
Owatonna's trap shooting coaches were quite pleased with the team's performance in their first-ever appearance at the Minnesota State High School League clay target shooting championships. "Solid. Consistent. Finish strong," was the reaction after the Huskies shot on Friday at Minneapolis Gun Club in Prior Lake.
The Huskies shot 471/500 to finish in 17th place out of 40 teams. OHS shot 474 in Alexandria earlier in the week to qualify for the MSHSL event. This year is just the second that Owatonna has sponsored a trap shooting team. St. Michael-Albertville repeated as champion with a score of 491.
Owatonna scoring breakdown:
- Jon Klecker, jr, 24-24-24-25=97
- Joe Earl, so, 23-25-24-25=97
- Thomas Earl, sr, 23-24-22-24=93
- Joshua Kiefer, fr, 19-25-24-25=93
- Joe Edel, jr, 24-22-23-22=91
- Weston Wilson, sr (alternate)
During the regular season, true team scoring is used and teams are grouped together based on the number of shooters on the team. During the post-season events, team scores are based on five shooters. Each participant shoots four rounds of 25 targets.
NRHEG's Chancellor Olson and Medford's Cole Volkmann each shot 96/100 in the individual portion of the event to finish in a tie for 42nd place. Five competitors drilled all 100 targets to tie for the state title. The high school league has hosted a state tournament since 2012 and is the first high school association in the country to do so. In 2018 nearly 350 schools are represented by over 12,000 shooters.