Colfax pistol and trap teams take top honors at state, nationals

COLFAX  —  The saying, “They came. They saw. They conquered,” comes to mind.

For the first time ever, in 2015, Colfax High School had a scholastic pistol team and a trap team.

The trap team competed at the state meet in Rome, Wisconsin, in June.

Members of the scholastic pistol team were the first place champions in both the junior and senior rimfire divisions at the state meet and took eighth place in the nation in junior rimfire at the national competition in July against 45 other junior rimfire state squads.

In honor of the teams’ accomplishments, the Colfax Sportsmen’s Club held a Youth Recognition Night at Colfax High School December 17.

“We had three kids that made all-state this year, so that was pretty cool. This was the first year we did it, and we had three kids in the top. We had 14 kids that shot for us this year. We had two girls, and we had 12 boys on the team,” said Vince Ross, one of the trap team coaches.

The Colfax Sportsmen’s Club sponsored the pistol and trap teams.

“The Colfax Sportsmen’s Club has been very good to us. They put in a new trap for us to shoot out of for next year,” Ross said.

The season started last April and ended in June.

“We don’t do a fall league because we have too many hunters. Many of them are out in their tree stands. So we decided to let them be sportsmen in the fall of the year and shoot in the spring of the year,” Ross said.

“In Minnesota, this is the fastest growing sport that they have. It is what they spun this league off. They are thinking in two or three years, it will be a WIAA sport,” he said.

“There are many schools in southern Wisconsin that have been shooting for a long time, 15 years. Minnesota started in 2001 or 2003, and it’s growing like crazy. It’s fun to do,” Ross said.

The trap team shoots at clay targets that, on the Olympic scale at least, are traveling at 75 miles per hour.

The scholastic pistol team is a sport where four-person squads shoot at circular or rectangular steel plates in a timed event. The scores are reported in the number of seconds it takes to shoot at 80 targets.

Rome

The three trap team members who qualified as all-state at Rome (in the southeastern part of the state) were Ethan Leach, Trey Gullickson and Hunter Lieffort.

Ethan had an average score of 20.3 for the season, and Trey and Hunter were tied for 20.7, Ross said.

“Peggy and George (Richards) (of the Colfax Sportsmen’s Club) opened this up to us,” he said.

George Richards is president of the Colfax Sportsmen’s Club.

“They were always running to make sure we had enough clay targets. They took extra time and got a grant, so now we’ve got about a $10,000 machine out there that will last for years even if we shoot all the time. We can shoot and shoot, and we can fill it and fill it and fill it,” Ross said.

In addition to Gullickson, Gunnufson and Leach, trap teams members included Spencer Herrick, Taylor Meyer, Zach Meyer, Nokomis Nosker, Grant Phillips, Trevor Rothbauer, Greg Schulze, Trevor Seston, Jared Taylor, Phillip Taylor, and Ross Taylor.

During the youth recognition night, Ross recognized Nokomis Nosker as the most improved.

“We were out there to have fun, to be safe, to learn something new, to get a program started. It doesn’t hurt to try, and it’s pretty fun to do. The kids enjoyed it,” Ross said.

“A lot of times, when kids go hunting, they don’t get to shoot at all. So then they are shooting at signs. This way they all get to shoot,” he said.

Pistol team 

“Scholastic pistol is all speed shooting,” noted Jim Kraft, one of the scholastic pistol team coaches.

The team as a whole went to their first state match in Eagle, Wisconsin.

“Little Colfax. In our tee-shirts. We upgraded shirts after going to state,” Kraft said.

“Someone forgot to tell us that we were little Colfax. We were all the ‘up north’ people. These were Division 1 schools. Someone forgot to tell our kids they weren’t supposed to win. We came home as state champions in both the junior and the senior divisions. They were pretty pumped up,” he said.

“I was so impressed with those kids. They were so professional, humble and courteous. If they hadn’t won a thing, I would have walked out of there like they were the top dogs,” Kraft said.

The scholastic pistol team is made up of members from the ages of 12 to 21, and the team members can be from other communities.

“Practice instills personal character traits for fair play, compassionate understanding, individual responsibility, sportsmanship, self-discipline and personal commitment,” Kraft said.

Kraft named Trevor Rothbauer of Colfax as the most improved team member.

“The first time you came up with your pistol, you said, ‘I have not done this before, and I’m not sure about this.’ After the fifth round, I thought your face was going to snap from the smile,” he said.

Rothbauer went on to state with a score of 68.8 seconds to shoot 80 targets.

“It was incredible from where you started to where you ended up,” Kraft said, noting that Trevor started out with a score of around 160.

Ross and Kraft noted that the interesting aspect of both the scholastic pistol team and the trap team is that some team members had never shot a gun before joining the team.

Trin Gunnufson (Colfax), Jackson Zunker (Menomonie) and James Budnaitias (Eau Claire) also had scores in the 60s — Zunker at 68.86 seconds to shoot 80 targets; Gunnufson at 66.6 seconds; and Budnaitias at 66.11.

Ethan Leach and Trey Gullickson brought the scores down into the 50s with a score of 58.25 seconds to shoot 80 targets for Ethan and a score of 55.54 for Trey.

“Ethan probably consumed more ammunition than anyone else. He has got the itchiest, fastest trigger finger of anyone I know … As fast as he is, he is also pretty accurate,” Kraft said.

“Trey was always organized. He was a role model for the team,” said Kraft, who awarded Gullickson the leadership award.

James Delambert of Onalaska had the best score at 46.25 seconds.

“One thing James did for the team, he made them realize they could go fast. It brought everybody up. He had a 46.25 at nationals on 80 targets,” Kraft said.

Temperatures at the national competition in Sparta, Illinois, were in the 90s with about the same amount of humidity, he said.

“It was hot, and I was concerned how the team and the guns would hold up. The squad rose to the occasion and beat their state time by over two seconds and came in eighth place in the nation competing against 45 other junior rimfire state squads. It was impressive to say the least,” Kraft said.

Additional pistol team members were Keharron Bogstad (Eau Claire); Caslin Kasten (Elk Mound); Nokomis Nosker (Colfax).

Rock of the Marne

Caslin Kasten and Nokomis Nosker received the “Rock of the Marne” award from Kraft.

“I am so impressed with these two young ladies,” Kraft said.

Nokomis has a Ruger “that I swear is going to tip her over. But she stayed with it.” he said.

“Neither one of you ever gave up. More rounds. Extra practices. I was so impressed with your spirit and your attitude,” Kraft said.

Kraft devised a special award for Caslin and Nokomis that he named after the United States Army Third Infantry Division that was in the center of the line with the French Army in July of 1918.

“As the French units were being driven back on either side, exposing the U.S. Forces’ flanks, the French generals in charge called for the Third Infantry Division to fall back. The U.S. general in charge simply replied to the French commander in French and said, ‘We shall remain.’ In doing so, they held their positions, defended the positions abandoned by the French and saved Paris. For that, the division earned the nickname, ‘Rock of the Marne,’” Kraft explained.

The certificates for Caslin and Nokomis included the Third Infantry Division unit crest and the words “We will remain” in French.

The certificates were presented for their “never give up” attitude, Kraft said.

Teamwork

The scholastic pistol team is “really about building teamwork, character, individual responsibility. And those kinds of qualities you want to see in a young person. We want them to be safe. We want them to have fun. And we want to work on their personal character to make sure they turn out to be the kind of people we want operating in our society,” Kraft said.

“For a first-year team, we went to state and won the championship. We went to nationals in July and took eighth in the nation. It was an incredible accomplishment for these kids,” Kraft said.

In addition to Kraft, Jennifer Leach of Colfax and Tony Anderson of Eau Claire also served as coaches for the scholastic pistol team.

Tony Anderson was valuable to the team because of his knowledge and skill and his ability to pass that information onto the team members in a way that allows them to grasp and implement key concepts, Kraft said.

As for Jennifer Leach, “without Jen, Tony and I would not be able to spend the time we need with the athletes. She keeps the scores straight and takes care of the little things that would otherwise be lost on Tony and I,” he said.

Kraft also appreciated the efforts of Brian Hostak and Tim Zunker.

“I can’t say enough about them. You have no idea what they meant to the club and making sure we got to the nationals,” Kraft said.

Regarding the Colfax Sportsmen’s Club, “George and Peggy made this possible. I had ideas. They turned me loose. We went through about $3,500. That’s with the kids buying their own ammo. Through the support of the (sportsmen’s) club and the support of (the parents), we sent nine to state and five to nationals,” he said.

“It takes more than one person. It takes more than two people. It takes team work to make it happen,” said George Richards.

“I think the kids did pretty good this year. I’m proud of our teams. I’d like to see them all next spring,” he said.

“They are our future. They are the future of the Sportsman’s Club,” Richards said.

Richards said he hopes that even more young people come out for the pistol and trap teams this spring and emphasized that the participants are not required to have prior experience with shooting a firearm to go out for the scholastic pistol team or the trap team.