Trap shooting: Alexandria finishes among Class 7A’s best

ALEXANDRIA - On the seventh day of the nine-day Minnesota State High School Clay Target League’s trap shooting championship at the Alexandria Shooting Park, Alexandria shined and finished among the best in Class 7A.

Sam Stuve / Alexandria Echo Press

Alexandria finished tied for first with Benson and Buffalo as all three shot a score of 477 in the overall team totals out of the 24 programs competing on Sunday in some hot and windy weather conditions.

Alexandria's 477 won it first place in the varsity division due to its second score of 97 being higher than Benson's second score of 96. Buffalo actually shot a 472 among its top five varsity shooters, but junior varsity student-athlete Spencer Peterson stepped up with a 97 at the championship to propel his program in the overall standings.

“We've just had a really good year and the kids did a great job,” Alexandria coach Scott Green said.

Devin Dummer and Ashton Schlosser led the way for Alexandria with the team’s high-gun scores of 97 out of a possible 100.

“Those guys are experienced shooters,” Green said. “They know that you can make up excuses for the conditions, but that trap shooting is all in a person's head. If you see the target, you should be able to hit the target. They’re very excellent shooters, and they did a very nice job for the team.”

Sam Stuve / Alexandria Echo Press

Dummer and Schlosser’s scores put them in a tie for seventh individually among all varsity shooters. Perham’s Colby Vroman, Holdingford’s Evan Lichy and Buffalo’s Brody Baumann each shot a 99 to finish tied for first in the 7A field.

Rounding out Alexandria’s top five, Hunter Walz shot a score of 96, Cody Lea shot a score of 95 and Gavin Hjelle shot a 92.

Green said that the wind didn’t have as much of an effect as the heat did on Sunday and that their tent location helped.

“I don't always say we have a home field advantage there, but being that we had that tent and we got shade for everybody, I think that made a huge difference for our trap shooters,” Green said. “I would say there was the heat and the lack of shade that had a big effect, but we had plenty of water.”

Sam Stuve / Alexandria Echo Press

Green said that prior competitions helped them prepare for windy shoots.

“Our year has been a difficult year the seven times we’ve shot. We’ve had to do our competition shooting five times with a northwest wind,” Green said. “I always say the wind is our friend. Our students shoot in the wind a lot. So that's why I think we had an advantage because we actually go out of our way to shoot on a windy night. We'll shoot no matter what.”

The nine-day championship event in Alexandria puts the top 40 teams from the championship into the Minnesota State High School League’s state tournament on June 24 in Prior Lake at the Minneapolis Gun Club.

1/16: Alexandria's Hunter Walz posted a score of 96 on June 19, 2022, at the Class 7A Championships. Walz helped Alexandria finish 10th at the 2022 State Tournament on June 24, 2022.

2/16: Alexandria's Nicholas Hiles shoots down a clay target at the Class 7A Championships on June 19, 2022. Hiles and company finished tied for first at the championships.

3/16: Alexandria's Ashton Schlosser shoots down a clay target on June 19, 2022, helping Alexandria finish in a tie for first with Benson and Buffalo.

4/16: Alexandria's Katheryn Hanson aims at a clay target at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022.

5/16: Alexandria's Haddan Steen shoots at a clay target at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022. Alexandria finished in a tie for first with a score of 477 and put itself in a good position to qualify for the state tournament.

6/16: Alexandria's Lucas Jablonski shoots at a clay target at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022.

7/16: Alexandria's Noah Beulke aims at a clay target at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022. Beulke shot an 86 at the championship shoot.

8/16: With a score of 96, Alexandria's Hunter Walz cracked Alexandria's top five scores and helped his team finish in a tie for first at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022.

9/16: Alexandria's Ashton Lickness aims at a clay target at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022. Lickness shot a 90 out of a possible 100 at the championship shoot.

10/16: Alexandria's Braxton Steidl shoots at a clay target at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022.

11/16: Alexandria's Lucas Jablonski shoots down a clay target at the MSHSL Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022.

12/16: Alexandria's Owen Anderson shoots at a clay target at the MSHSL Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022. Anderson shot an 89 at the championship.

13/16: Alexandria's Parker Tollefson aims at a clay target at the MSHSL Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022. Tollefson shot a score of 92 at the championship shoot.

14/16: Alexandria's Blake Erickson aims at a clay target in the MSHSL Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022. Erickson shot a score of 85 at the championship shoot.

15/16: Alexandria's Andrew Pritchard shoots down a clay target at the Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022.

16/16: Alexandria's Braxton Steidl shoots down a clay target at the MSHSL Class 7A shoot on June 19, 2022.

The qualifying event in Alexandria concludes on Tuesday with the Class 9A tournament.

Alexandria’s score of 477 has it sitting in the top 20 (four way tie for 13th) after Sunday and the team feels confident that score will hold up as a qualifying mark.

“We practice like we’re going to get into this top 40 every year,” Green said. “That’s what our goal is. Winning the sections is not that big a deal for us but winning this championship is a big deal. We went up to a tournament in Bemidji to prepare for this. Getting that top 40, we prepare for that the whole season.”

Wayzata is still atop the overall scores after posting a 492 on June 15 in the Class 3A shoot.

The teams that qualified for the state competition will select five individuals to compete, as well as bringing two alternates.