Team Results from F-Class Nationals
Up in the woods of Wisconsin, the “Guns of October” are cutting loose. Many of America’s (and Europe’s) top F-Class shooters are competing in the Fifth Annual F-Class Championship in Lodi, WI. The 5-day event at the Winnequah Gun Club continues through October 4th. The event kicked off with a practice match (won by Forum member Charles Ballard), followed by team competition. (The individual championship will be contested last.)
Hard-Fought Team Matches and Record-Breaking Performances
Team match results are available, with complete results posted on Long-Range.com. In the US Nationals Open Class Team Match, Team Spindle Shooters prevailed with a 1590-81X score, followed by Team Berger (1569-62X), and Team 4 Aces (1565-60X). Spindle Shooters’ Coach Praslik praised his shooters: “These guys shot very straight and fast. I believe we broke two national records today. The 600-yard team score of 797-42x is a new record. The 1000-yard team score of 793-39x is a new record. The aggregate of the two scores, 1590-81x, is a National Championship record. Well done, Spindle Shooters. It was a privilege to coach you.”
| Open Class Teams | F-TR (Target Rifle) Teams |
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Spindle Shooters 1590-81X Captain: Jeff Cochran / Coach: Emil Praslik III Shawn Ahrens Jeff Cochran Jeff Traylor Brett Solomon Team Berger 1569-62X Team 4 Aces 1565-60X |
Team Sinclair 1544-47X Captain: Dan Phillips / Coach: Raymond Gross/Paul Phillips Brad Sauve Paul Phillips John Droelle Raymond Gross Team USA F-T/R 1535-50X Team Savage 1509-26X |
USA Wins Challenge Match
In addition to the regular Team Competition, International honors were at stake in a USA vs. Europe challenge match. Facing the combined forces of multiple European nations, the American shooters prevailed in both F-Open and F-TR Classes. Team USA-Open posted a 3117-121X score to best the Europeans, who totaled 3073-73. That was a great performance by Team USA-Open members Eric Bair, Shiraz Balolia, Robert Bock Jr., Mike Downey, Dagbs McIntosh, Dean Morris, Bryan Otey, and Larry Taite. In the F-TR division, the American team of Dale Carpenter, Warren Dean, Mike Miller, and Jeff Rorer outscored their European counterparts 1535-5X to 1447-16X to notch another victory for the Red, White, and Blue.
New Records Set Last Weekend
Preceding the Nationals, during last weekend, Wisconsin long-range team matches were held. Larry Bartholome reports: “The weather was near perfect with light, but tricky winds and sun shine some of the time. Six F-Class and Five Sling teams competed. I only have F-Class scores. USFCT1 (Team Berger/Norma) won Saturday’s Palma match with a new US record of 1781-94x. Two points back was USFCT2 (Spindle Shooters). The new record is 54 points and 45Xs ahead of the old one. Four of the five F-Class teams broke the old record.”
