Colfax Scholastic Shooting Teams hold awards day

Colfax Scholastic Trap Team and  Colfax Scholastic Action Shooting Team had a combined end of the season celebration August 6 at the Colfax/Dunn County Shooting Sports Complex. Both teams are sponsored by the Colfax Sportsmen’s Club.

Jim Nosker, head coach of the teams, put together the family picnic, fun shoot, awards program and served as the master of ceremonies for the awards.

He praised the Scholastic Trap Team athletes for always being ready to compete and always displaying good sportsmanship when attending invitational trap shoots. This year they took part in the five week conference league, The Hudson Raider’s Eau Claire Invitational shoot, the Conference Shoot, the State Shoot and the National Shoot at the Cardinal Shooting Center, Marengo, Ohio.

Although they didn’t set the world on fire, they didn’t do badly either, Nosker said. Each of the athletes posted personal bests during the season. At the National Trap Shoot the three athletes who attended, Lane Unruh, Beau Zelm and Nathan Nosker, all reached new personal bests. Zelm shot his second 25-straight while there.

Since national, Unruh broke his first 25-straight while shooting with his dad at another club. And during the fun shoot the day of the awards program, he racked up another personal best by breaking 91 out of 100 birds.

At the same time, Zelm recorded his third 25-straight.

King-Berg had a tough time producing uniform scores, Nosker said, with his early season count going up and down radically, However, instead of giving up King-Berg stayed with it and posted his personal best during the team’s practice the previous week. He was therefore given the team’s Never Give Up Award.

Unruh is in his second season with the team and was determined to improve on his last year’s performance. He did that handily, Nosker declared, noting that Unruh concentrated during every practice and shot additional rounds of trap elsewhere with his father, who’s the team’s assistant coach. Because of that, Unruh was given the Hardest Worker Award.

Zelm was given the Top Gun Award for breaking the most birds while shooting with the team. His ability also got him named to the all-conference second team. And he received a Silver Medal from the conference for second place, intermediate/advanced.

Nathan Nosker completed his last year of scholastic trap shooting, due to graduating from high school this spring. Week after week during the season he built on his abilities and slowly edged his scores up. That earned him the Steady Improvement award.

Nosker said the Action Shooting Team was still missing some medals from last year’s State Shoot and even though it’s unfair to the athletes, the medals will likely never show up. He explained that last year’s Open Squad medaled in five disciplines, but only received medals for two of them. At that time he was told the remaining medals were on order.

At last year’s National he spoke to the director of development and was told the medals were on the proverbial slow boat from China, held up by supply chain problems as the country recovered from the Covid Pandemic. With the director of development slated to leave the Scholastic Action Shooting Sports Program (SASP) in December, Nosker said he asked again about the medals. That time he was told the director of development would check with the national director.

After having heard nothing more, Nosker checked with the national director and was told he knew nothing of the problem and that there had been plenty of medals on hand after the Wisconsin State Shoot and the Colfax team should have been sent what they needed. He asked what medals the team was short. Nosker said he listed the medals the team hadn’t received and the national director hasn’t spoken to him since, which makes him suspect the medals are a lost cause.

This year the team entered the State Shoot with a different mix of athletes. For the first time in several years it was able to field both a Varsity Squad and a Rookie Squad. That, unfortunately, left intermediate/entry level athlete Eleanor Doyle shooting by herself.

Colfax’ Varsity Squad of Kyle Weller, Kimberly Krista, Nathan Nosker and Nevan Nosker took second place in Rimfire Pistol Optic and each received a Silver Medal.

Colfax also had an Open Squad in the State Shoot consisting of two Varsity athletes, Weller and Krista, and two intermediate level athletes, Alex Johnson and Evelyn Doyle. The Open Squad took First Place in PCC, earning each of the four athletes gold medals.

In addition, Weller placed second overall in iron sighted rimfire rifle, second overall in PCC and third overall in optic sighted rimfire pistol. He was named to the All-State Team and was awarded a jersey for that.

Colfax’ Rookie Squad claimed second place in Optic Rifle and each of the squad members received Silver medals during the awards program. Squad members are Edward Doyle, Emmett Lor, Trizdin Fransway and Camilla Doyle.

Eight Colfax athletes traveled to the National Match at Marengo, Ohio. Wisconsin had more athletes there than any other state. Texas has the most registered SASP athletes of any state, but not as many made the trip to Ohio. Not only was this year National the biggest match SASP has ever had, it was also the largest sport action shooting match in world history.

Colfax fielded two Open Squads because it was unable to scrape together four athletes of any one age/skill level to compete. Because of the SASP age restriction for handgun competition, the Open Squad Two was short members for the handgun disciplines. And while Open Squad Two fielded four athletes in rifle disciplines, it was composed of two Rookie members, one intermediate/entry level and one Varsity. That didn’t make them very competitive.

While the Open Squad 2 shot alright, Nosker said, it never had a chance of getting into medal winning territory. That squad was composed of Nathan Nosker, Eleanor Doyle, Camilla Doyle and Edward Doyle.

Colfax’ Open Squad One was composed of Weller, Krista, Evelyn Doyle and Johnson. They brought back more trophies than the team has ever won before in National competition.

Open Squad One took the Bronze Medals, and a trophy cup, in PCC. The Silver was claimed by the Ballisticrats of Wright City, Mo. The first place Gold was won by Boone/Hartford Hotshots of Hubertus, Wis.

Silver Medals and a larger trophy cup were won by Colfax in Iron Pistol. The first place Gold was claimed by Team Gotta out of Custer, Wash.

Gold Medals and larger yet trophy cup were claimed by Colfax in Optic Rifle. Second place went to Wilco Shooting Sports of Liberty Hill, Tex., and third place was won by Dubuque Scholastic Shooting Sports of Peosta, Iowa.

Johnson also claimed two individual Silver Medals, taking second place, intermediate/advanced, in Iron Rifle and in PCC. He was edged out of first place both times by Jesse Grant of the Central Florida Rifle & Pistol Club, Orlando, Fla.

Camilla Doyle, in her first National Match, took the individual Silver Medal for second place, Ladies, Rookie Division, Optic Rifle. She was beaten by Tinsley Marlowe of the Hub City Topshots, Boiling Springs, S.C.

Team awards were given to Colfax athletes, based upon their individual merits.

Weller received the Trigger Meister Award for his quick shooting and performance at State. Krista was given the Pulled Us Through Award for putting in extra practice to improve her pistol shooting, which was critical to Colfax taking second place.

Evelyn Doyle received the Unflappable Award for not letting anything outwardly bother her when she’s competing. Johnson got the Top Gun Award for his overall times in competition and for pulling down two individual Silver Medals at the National Match.

Nathan Nosker was given the Steady Under Pressure Award for turning in the times expected of him at both State and National Matches. Nevan Nosker, who wasn’t at the awards program, will get the Essential Member Award for being on the Silver Medal winning Varsity Squad at the State Match.

According to Nosker, Eleanor Doyle was the most overlooked athlete this year, despite her speed and value to the team. Having transitioned to intermediate/entry level status this year, she wound up mostly competing by herself, because there weren’t any other athletes of her experience level. Because of that, she received the Team Player Award. And like the other athletes this year, she  received a participation medal and for competing at National she received a National Match pin.

Emmett Lor was given the Quick Learner Award. Nosker explained that Lor had never fired a rifle before coming up to the accuracy drill for the first time in February. He needed to be guided through each step of using the rifle and shooting the various stages. He learned quickly and when he steps up to compete now, he knows what he’s doing and acts like he does as well. Plus, he helped the Rookie Squad take Silver at the State Match.

Trizdin Fransway received the Ammo Makers Friend Award because she likes to shoot. A lot. Nosker said that basically as long as her grandfather keeps her in ammunition, she’s willing to shoot it up, which is a desire that competitors need to have.

Edward Doyle got the Hung In There Award, Nosker said, because he was forced to shoot one of his sister’s rifles at the National Match. With Eleanor Doyle and Evelyn Doyle both shooting optic and iron sighted rifle this year, Edward’s rifle had to be pressed into service as a second iron

rifle and Edward had to share an optic rifle. He didn’t like the idea and was convinced his sister’s rifle was not as good as his own. Despite that, he didn’t display any displeasure or doubts at the National Match and shot fine, Nosker said.

Camilla Doyle had to drop out of the National Match last year because she scratched an eyeball the night before she was scheduled to shoot. That was hard on her, Nosker said, but she bounced back this year and took the individual Silver Medal in Optic Rifle, Ladies, Rookie Division. Therefore, she received the Top Rookie/Best Comeback Award.

Nosker said neither of the teams would be doing well if it wasn’t for the support of the Colfax Sportsmen’s Club, which subsidizes both teams in one way or another. He pointed out that Dorothy Enger runs the clubhouse every Sunday the teams are there for practice during their seven month season.

On top of that, parents need to bring their athletes to the range most Sunday afternoons during those seven months, which is a commitment in time, as well as money for the firearms and ammunition.

Without assistant coaches the teams wouldn’t be able to exist, he  said, and he acknowledged Rob Unruh for coaching the trap team, and action shooting assistant coaches Lance Johnson, Jason Weller, Jim Krista and J.P. Doyle.

Both teams will be hosting an Open House 3:00 pm Sunday, September 24, at the Colfax/Dunn County Shooting Sports Complex. The purpose is to give elementary and high school students the opportunity to try both competitive sports. Nosker said students must be accompanied by a responsible adult. There’s a $5 fee and the teams will then furnish ammunition for trap shooting and/or action shooting, as well as providing loaner firearms if needed. All shooting will be under the direction of trained and certified range safety officers and coaches.